Paragon OBD2 Port Lock
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Apr 2024
Posts: 335
Likes: 106
From: Annapolis, MD
Paragon OBD2 Port Lock
https://paragonperf.com/products/par...i-theft-device
Paragon has put out a new product, a locking faceplate for your OBD2 port. I'll give a short preface of "no one thing is going to stop a thief" and "if they want it badly enough they're going to take it" so other people don't have to say it. Get a GPS tracker for those times and hide it well, and make sure you have other security features like a faraday box in your house… but for this thread, the question is: will this thing be a nice addition of deterrent/difficulty for a thief looking to clone a key like they have been doing to hellcats for years and recently just started doing to 6th gen Camaro ZL1s?
I like that it's very discreet and not an inconvenience. Only times you would need to remove it should be diagnosis, emissions inspection, and tuning. It's not very expensive either, and it will actually fit other cars too as it isn't specific to the C8.
One interesting thing they add is that if your vehicle is tuned, a dealership could screw that up if they decide to update your car through the OBD2 port... This IS how HPTuners connects, after all, so it makes sense that it is possible even though I thought updates for the car were only done over-the-air. I don't do software updates in my car because everything works and I don't trust GM after the stunt they pulled selling driving data to Lexis Nexis, who insurance companies bought it from to identity speeders and raise their insurance. My speeding is between me and the police, I don't want monitoring software in my cars other than my GPS tracker that reports to ME.
There's the obvious downside of losing your keys which can't be replaced, so I guess have fun drilling out those bolts or otherwise damaging the thing like a criminal would have to. Like pounding a socket onto a wheel lock, but I feel like this might be a little harder? At least without destroying the wires or connector and rendering the thing unusable and defeating the purpose.
Does anyone have a similar product they would recommend instead if not this? I have heard of turning the OBD2 port into a dummy and hiding the real one behind the plastic trim, but I haven't ventured to removing the trim under the steering wheel to see what that would be like.
Paragon has put out a new product, a locking faceplate for your OBD2 port. I'll give a short preface of "no one thing is going to stop a thief" and "if they want it badly enough they're going to take it" so other people don't have to say it. Get a GPS tracker for those times and hide it well, and make sure you have other security features like a faraday box in your house… but for this thread, the question is: will this thing be a nice addition of deterrent/difficulty for a thief looking to clone a key like they have been doing to hellcats for years and recently just started doing to 6th gen Camaro ZL1s?
I like that it's very discreet and not an inconvenience. Only times you would need to remove it should be diagnosis, emissions inspection, and tuning. It's not very expensive either, and it will actually fit other cars too as it isn't specific to the C8.
One interesting thing they add is that if your vehicle is tuned, a dealership could screw that up if they decide to update your car through the OBD2 port... This IS how HPTuners connects, after all, so it makes sense that it is possible even though I thought updates for the car were only done over-the-air. I don't do software updates in my car because everything works and I don't trust GM after the stunt they pulled selling driving data to Lexis Nexis, who insurance companies bought it from to identity speeders and raise their insurance. My speeding is between me and the police, I don't want monitoring software in my cars other than my GPS tracker that reports to ME.
There's the obvious downside of losing your keys which can't be replaced, so I guess have fun drilling out those bolts or otherwise damaging the thing like a criminal would have to. Like pounding a socket onto a wheel lock, but I feel like this might be a little harder? At least without destroying the wires or connector and rendering the thing unusable and defeating the purpose.
Does anyone have a similar product they would recommend instead if not this? I have heard of turning the OBD2 port into a dummy and hiding the real one behind the plastic trim, but I haven't ventured to removing the trim under the steering wheel to see what that would be like.
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 4,305
Likes: 3,202
From: Oro Valley Arizona
The Rest of the Story
Determined thieves will destroy a car trying to defeat the owner's efforts to deny them. Gadgets and gizmos. To protect our car, we buy great insurance. If the car is stolen I don't want it back.
Moderator
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 39,160
Likes: 18,002
From: DFW Area TX
Software updates done by the dealer are primarily done via the ODB2 port, a GM MDI 2 (Multiple Diagnostic Interface 2) and GM's computer systems. There are some updates (Infotainment) that require a USB drive. OTA is only for end users. Obviously, if they update the ECU, it would wipe out a custom tune.
