Attempted Theft of my RX450h 2020

[DoozeUK]

2 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

You shouldn't need a tracker. The vehicle should have adequate security and even if it is stolen that's one of the reasons why you have insurance. You shouldn't have to pay hundreds of pounds on top of all the other costs.

At the end of the day it is 'just' a Lexus RX, replaceable with hundreds of identical vehicles - if it was an irreplaceable classic then I see the value in a tracker.

I could only get Tescos to insure me as the vehicle didn’t have a tracker in it! Just because my RX is a Takumi and even Lexus wouldn’t insure me but the dealership didn’t mention that when I brought the car, I had to flag it to them

[Fsport]

Unsurprisingly, my local dealer Lexus Sidcup has no knowledge of this.  Looks like I will have to email Lexus UK.

[Spock66]

24 minutes ago, Fsport said:

Looks like I will have to email Lexus UK.

If your car is a 2004 RX300 as per your profile you don't need to worry as the problem is with the 4th Gen (2016 onwards) only.

[Fsport]

Mine is a Gen 4 2018.  Need to update my profile.

[northpolar]

That's exactly what I have done - airtags in addition to the factory fit tracker unit!

Peter

[WipeOut]

So I've had the anti-theft plates fitted today. They're fitted to both sides. I don't want to say too much or post photographs for obvious reasons, but looking at the fix, the scrotes are going to have a much tougher time. 

 

It's taken time for Lexus to get there. But credit where it is due they've got a solution to this for an out of production car. They've collected the car, fitted the plates, and returned in clean. 

Let's hope this helps greatly reduce the number of RX450h thefts.

[kenvin100]

14 minutes ago, WipeOut said:

So I've had the anti-theft plates fitted today. They're fitted to both sides. I don't want to say too much or post photographs for obvious reasons, but looking at the fix, the scrotes are going to have a much tougher time. 

 

It's taken time for Lexus to get there. But credit where it is due they've got a solution to this for an out of production car. They've collected the car, fitted the plates, and returned in clean. 

Let's hope this helps greatly reduce the number of RX450h thefts.

But have they marked your vehicle from having the plates I mean what's stopping a thief from vandalism

[WipeOut]

4 minutes ago, kenvin100 said:

But have they marked your vehicle from having the plates I mean what's stopping a thief from vandalism

No marking on the vehicle.

Marking may cause them to come better prepared with power tools that may overcome the anti-theft plates, or try other methods to access the CAN bus and leave much more damage. I am willing to accept some broken clips and maybe a piece of trim.

[owen leleu]

I wrote to Lexus UK yesterday morning explaining my displeasure at the number of RX450s being stolen. They replied yesterday afternoon stating that are no design issues and that the thefts were mainly around London and within the M25. I mentioned the fact that whilst we don't all live in that area, we may have cause to visit occasionally. I copied in my local dealer Cheltenham Lexus.

Anyway I had a phone call this morning from the service department at Cheltenham saying they were expecting the part on Thursday and I booked in my car for next Monday to have it fitted FOC.

I must say I was impressed.

[ColinBarber]

28 minutes ago, owen leleu said:

I must say I was impressed.

A good outcome for you but seems like they aren't going to proactively fit these for people. Only those that know there is a theft issue, that an upgrade is available and enquire will get these fitted 😞 

[peniole]

Still waiting to hear about a plate for our ES. They've been targeted too. Already a couple on here.

[Glyn Jennings]

I have a Pandora Storm immobiliser fitted on my car but since reading all the updates on this post have now contacted Lexus UK about having the plates fitted. One easy trick to prevent relay theft on Lexus and Toyota cars is to disable the remote key fobs to pre vent keyless entry. You can do this by after locking the car then while holding the lock button on key fob down press the unlock button twice and the red light on the remote fob flashes four times. The key fob is no longer sending a signal and you can now only unlock the car by pressing the unlock button on the key fob. You can test this by trying to unlock the car by the door handle and it should no longer work.  I am now in the habit of doing this every time I leave the car.

[Huwge]

3 hours ago, peniole said:

Still waiting to hear about a plate for our ES. They've been targeted too. Already a couple on here.

I'd certainly be interested in getting the plates fitted to my ES 

[ivancrx]

14 hours ago, owen leleu said:

I wrote to Lexus UK yesterday morning explaining my displeasure at the number of RX450s being stolen. They replied yesterday afternoon stating that are no design issues and that the thefts were mainly around London and within the M25. I mentioned the fact that whilst we don't all live in that area, we may have cause to visit occasionally. I copied in my local dealer Cheltenham Lexus.

 

I also emailed them yesterday and as I expected not come back to me at all. Not impressive when I have a brand new UX for the wife we are collecting in 4 weeks time.

[Glyn Jennings]

14 hours ago, Glyn Jennings said:

I have a Pandora Storm immobiliser fitted on my car but since reading all the updates on this post have now contacted Lexus UK about having the plates fitted. One easy trick to prevent relay theft on Lexus and Toyota cars is to disable the remote key fobs to pre vent keyless entry. You can do this by after locking the car then while holding the lock button on key fob down press the unlock button twice and the red light on the remote fob flashes four times. The key fob is no longer sending a signal and you can now only unlock the car by pressing the unlock button on the key fob. You can test this by trying to unlock the car by the door handle and it should no longer work.  I am now in the habit of doing this every time I leave the car.

So I emailed Lexus UK last night at 8.00pm enquiring about having the plates fitted to my car. At 9.30am today I get a phone call from my local dealer to arrange booking it in to be done.  I asked if it would be FOC and he said Lexus are paying for it at the moment. I have to say I am extremely impressed at the speed Lexus have responded to my request.

[ivancrx]

8 hours ago, ivancrx said:

I also emailed them yesterday and as I expected not come back to me at all. Not impressive when I have a brand new UX for the wife we are collecting in 4 weeks time.

Well I have had an email and call from Lexus Customer Relations today and also from my dealer, my car is now all booked in for the fitment of the plates next week, they are collecting the car on Wednesday for me. 

I spoke to them about the UX and they say that with production changes as far as they are aware the software criminals are using at the moment is ineffective, but there is always someone who wants to ruin your day.

I am pleased Lexus are actually doing something about this problem and hopefully they will be informing insurance companies this is the case.

[Sybaris]

On 7/31/2023 at 2:25 PM, ColinBarber said:

You shouldn't need a tracker. The vehicle should have adequate security and even if it is stolen that's one of the reasons why you have insurance. You shouldn't have to pay hundreds of pounds on top of all the other costs.

At the end of the day it is 'just' a Lexus RX, replaceable with hundreds of identical vehicles - if it was an irreplaceable classic then I see the value in a tracker.

You are right, one shouldn't need one but we live in a world where people just want to take your hard earned items.  Things you have put so much effort and time in to being able to enjoy, and some sub-human who has no sense of right and wrong, who has no guilt, who doesn't care about anyone else, wants to take it from you.  To some people maybe it is irreplaceable.  To some people they have a one off chance to own a car like the RX. Then again would you leave a cheap lock and no security on your home and just say well I spent enough on it and thats life if you get burgled, after all, your contents are replaceable with hundreds of identical items?

[Lux]

On 7/31/2023 at 4:32 PM, DoozeUK said:

I could only get Tescos to insure me as the vehicle didn’t have a tracker in it! Just because my RX is a Takumi and even Lexus wouldn’t insure me but the dealership didn’t mention that when I brought the car, I had to flag it to them

I attempted to purchase an Rx450h Takumi to replace my stolen Rx450h F Sports on 20/07/23, but I was utterly shocked when I tried to find affordable insurance on Confused.com and MoneySuperMarket.com. Both websites quoted prices above £3600, a stark contrast to the £800 I paid for my F Sport last year. Unfortunately, I couldn't find an option to add theft protection solutions while obtaining insurance quotes on these comparison websites. If any of you have managed to secure a cheaper quote from insurers with theft protection coverage, I would greatly appreciate your advice.

[PDM]

14 hours ago, ivancrx said:

Well I have had an email and call from Lexus Customer Relations today and also from my dealer, my car is now all booked in for the fitment of the plates next week, they are collecting the car on Wednesday for me. 

I spoke to them about the UX and they say that with production changes as far as they are aware the software criminals are using at the moment is ineffective, but there is always someone who wants to ruin your day.

I am pleased Lexus are actually doing something about this problem and hopefully they will be informing insurance companies this is the case.

I asked the guy from Toyota UK that came to oversee the fitting of the plate to my RX if the fitting of the plate would cause my insurance to fall if I notified them. He said no, because it is not a Thatcham approved device. We simply have to wait until there is a bigger roll out and RX thefts, hopefully, reduce. That may then reduce premiums.

In the mean time, I suggest anyone with other models that have this issue email customer relations and ask when there will be a solution for ES, NX, UX, LC available.

[Paul Mingay]

On 3/10/2023 at 11:37 AM, Rob62 said:

A couple of weeks ago someone tried to steal my RX using the wheel arch CAN BUS method. I was extremely lucky that I saw the thief and he ran off before completing the job, but not before managing to disconnect the cables.

Lexus were extremely helpful and spent more that 30 minutes reconnecting everything and did not even charge me.

It is absolutely ridiculous that this is such a simple way of stealing cars and surely something like a software upgrade could solve the issue. Maybe not?

I have now taken to using a steering lock which I hope can act as a visual deterrent. I have also disabled keyless entry in the car (not sure if this makes any difference) and put the keys in a Faraday pouch at home.

You have all these conveniences in the car that you pay for, only to have to disable them and make everything more inconvenient.

There must be a solution..............

Just wondering if the plate that lexus are fitting behind the wheel guard is easy to get off ,or will it be riveted /bolted etc ?

[Paul Mingay]

On 7/24/2023 at 4:35 PM, Spock66 said:

Mine was fitted today and there was no charge, took 1.5 hours whilst I waited.

I had previously contacted Lexus Customer Relations and just got the stock response that has been posted on this thread, then got an unprompted call from my local dealer to have the plates fitted

How exactly do they fit it out of interest ,is it screwed /welded ?it has to be difficult for the scrotes to be able to remove the plate 

[Rob62]

1 minute ago, Paul Mingay said:

How exactly do they fit it out of interest ,is it screwed /welded ?it has to be difficult for the scrotes to be able to remove the plate 

Please ask your dealer. These things should not be discussed on here for the 'scrotes' to read and learn from!

[KzA]

On 7/31/2023 at 4:36 PM, Fsport said:

Unsurprisingly, my local dealer Lexus Sidcup has no knowledge of this.  Looks like I will have to email Lexus UK.

I used Lexus Sidcup. Getting it fitted today. It's taking longer than expected but I think I'm their first one. I emailed lexus customer service last month to push them.

[Sybaris]

Maybe they can connect the plates to the Battery so that the "scrotes" get a belt from it when they touch it.  

[Sybaris]

I complained that it is mad that Lexus own branded insurance wont insure their own cars at a sensible price if at any price at all.

I was told that the big wigs at Lexus are having a meeting with their underwriters and insurers as nobody is taking out their insurance or there is a noticeable drop in revenue from their insurers and that just like its taken customers to push Lexus CS, it will take customers to push complaints en mass to their insurers.

We got them to listen about the plates, lets get them to listen about sensible insurance quotes.