Here's a mystery for you. Friends of mine recently purchased their 2008 Prius - loved the car ... while it lasted. It was stolen, and they're very suspicious. They had questions which I will put to you: The car was stolen outside the husband's place of work. It's an all glass building, and the car was situated outside. We're not sure, but we think the key was accessible on husband's desk for most of the day - but they still have their keys, just not the car. They insert their key into the dashboard, so I am assuming they don't have a smart key. (They aren't sure, they just always stick the key in the slot) They had recently taken the car into a dealership for servicing - it required a minor paint job. Questions: If the key was accessible on husband's desk, someone could open the car from the office - but I don't think they could start the car without the physical key in the car. Therefore, can't be a co-worker. But the time proximity between the repair work and the theft makes them wonder whether or not it was an inside job from the dealership. Is this easy to do - duplicate a key within a relatively short period of time, and steal the car a couple of days after? What do you think.
If it was an inside job from the dealership, someone could have simply programmed a third key for their car. It's that....or flat bed tow it.
A minor correction: it's not a duplicate fob, but an additional fob for which the car was programmed. Each fob is unique. Tom
If the car was situated outside of the glass building, a flatbed tow(stole) will be such a scene to draw 'extra' attention. Is it possible the husband didn't Power-Off the car (just pull the key and go), and someone is savvy enough to take it as a free ride? Instead of wondering how the car was stolen, guess it's harder to figure out how to get a replacement these days.
i would also investigate the dealership to see if they know of anything that could help. like who has access to the key creator thingy... otherwise i thought the car could not be moved without a flatbed truck to put it on. it was supposed to be immobilized.
Very suspicious indeed. With Priuses being so hot (no pun intended) these days it does not surprise me that more of them are not stolen to just be chopped up for parts.
Yes, very suspicious indeed . . . "Friends of mine . . ." First post. Nuts2U. I am more suspicious of the poster than I am about how a Prius MAY have been stolen. :suspicious:
In resopnse to Envy - good catch on your part ... but I must deny. I used to be TorontoSusan but couldn't find my password and thought TorontoSusan sucked as an ID - so I changed it! But the story's true, it is a co-worker friend of mine: her daughter and son in law bought a 2008 Prius and owned it for 2 months before it disappeared! So soon after a dealership visit made her suspicious, and that's why she asked me about it, as a Prius owner myself. I didn't think it possible from my perspective, but you guys are sharper than I am. Funnily enough she and I wondered if someone would think that I was a thief looking for insider info ... so I had to laugh when I saw your post. I assure you, the post was legit - but I can't assure you that others reading it are. But good catch nonetheless.
Did they report it to the police? Did they go online and do a search on VIN#. Perhaps too soon for that. Perhaps it's still there but in stealth mode? Sorry! It's late Friday afternoon and I need to get out of here! :crazy: :dizzy: :wacko:
your going to have to wait until they find/recover the car and the insurance company will probably have the car examined to find out how the car was stolen. be prepared to fight for the claim. many insurance companies will automatically not believe you and will not pay your claim if you have all the keys. it seems to me that the 2008 prius, or any prius without smart key can still be copied by someone else besides the dealer. so it could not be just the dealer. maybe a disgrunted employee stole it. it sounds to me like all you need is access to someones non smart fob for 5 minutes and another key and you can walk away with the car. references http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-modifications/48079-programming-extra-fob-2008-prius-success.html http://priuschat.com/forums/knowled...lly-how-program-non-sks-key-fob-detailed.html the following was refeered to as the monkey trunk and got a few laughs, but i include it as a public service ---------------------------------------------------------------------- this is a warning to all toyota prius owners with the smart key system: never ever store a spare key in your hatchback area (for example if you are moving). the prius has a "smart" back door, none of the doors are like the hatchback door, this only works on the hatchback door. if you lock a spare in your hatchback area, anyone can just walk up to your car and touch the hatchback door and the car will automatically unlock. if you do not like this default behavoir your only choices are to store a spare key outside of the range of the rear door sensor, or go to the toyota dealer to have this 'smart door' feature turned off
regardless of how many times people keep posting the 'flat bed' myth about stealing prius cars, and the known fact that historically car immobilizers are only secure for 5-10 years. i think we should all at the very least should ask our toyota dealers to get the anti theft system activated. they might be willing to do this for free. and to the extreme scenerio, we might want to consider getting a lojack installed anyway. with a lojack you would be protected from 'all knowing' insurance companies who like to refuse payments to people who have intelligent keys and still wind up getting thier car stolen ( primary honda civic owners )
I'm not up to speed on the intelligent keys vs the insurance companies issue. Would anyone please explain?
if your car has a keyfob, either it be the regular keyfob or the smart key system, the insurance company might not want to honor your claim and think you are commiting fraud, because their point of view is that a system equipped with a vehicle immobilizer system is impossible to steal. quote the investigator concluded, but the engine couldn’t have been turned on. “Since you reportedly can account for all the vehicle keys, the forensic information suggests that the loss did not occur as reported,” the company wrote to Wassef, denying his claim. The barely hidden subtext: Wassef was lying. references Wired 14.08: Pinch My Ride
yes. there will be an entry to the new key the only time you need the secret toyota 4 digit PIN number to the car when programming keys is if you want to erase all keys and start over
how to steal acura cars with its immobilizer ACTIVE Info for starting without transponder key. - Acura Forum - Acura World.com how to steal honda cars with its immobilzier sytem active The Wired magazine presents a much simpler possibility in issue 14.08: supposedly, Honda-manufactured cars each have code (based on a VIN number) that allows a stranded motorist to start the car, using a series of pushes and pulls on the emergency brake. The author says he actually tried this and it worked, but I can’t seem to find any verification from an official source. I’m not sure if Lexus/Toyota would have the same technology. Of course, your biggest problem is where your character manages to get the code for the specific car. some russian website pin-code.net (also in english) says soon you will be able to get prius codes from them, as long as you furnish the cards vin number and seed number from the hand held tester, they will caculate the correct key. afaik you only need this if you wish to erase all the keys
