Question is pretty straight forward. On my last car with a regular keyed ignition I purchased this. Wasn't sure how much more secure the electronic key was on the Prius. Thanks for your help.
I asked about that at the dealer and the answer was no. The Prius has to detect a key or it will not start, I was told.
LoJack is a retrieval system, not a theft prevention system. Someone could still tow your Prius away. That being said, I don't have LoJack.
If someone really want your car that bad by employing a tow truck, they will know where the LoJack is located and how to disable it.
This hasn't been the case in my area. I work in law enforcement, and I've seen MANY recoveries from flat-bed thieves. If you live in an area near any major port, then LoJack is worth every penny. A common practice in port areas is to steal a car using a flat-bed and chain, rush it to the docks, crate it and ship it. 2 days later, Pablo Escabar's nephew is driving your brand new prius off the boat in Columbia as a birthday present. The only system I know of that gives consumers a good chance of retrieving their property before it's gone forever is LoJack. Local contractor's even put lojack on the generators they use at job sites.
I asked my dealer about theft, and he said the no-key system is very secure. However, technically speaking, a real clever thief could secretly record the electronic signal from the fob. That would be a very difficult and unlikely, except for the really smart thief. More likely is sameone leaving the vehicle unlocked and "running." A thief could drive until it ran our of gas, but would not be able to restart it.
As you said, once it is loaded into a container box, LoJack is useless. For those stealing for joy ride or for chop shop, Lojack may help to recover sooner. But they cannot steal a Prius with the SKS system anyway by hot wiring.
If you're very worried about your Prius being stolen, and wish to recovery it quickly then LoJack might be an option. Or you could put one of those personal GPS trackers in it.
The Prius has an immobilizer, so they''re going to have to flatbed it since they can't start it. If they're that professional, I suspect there are bigger fish to catch than a $25K - $30K car. Lojack is not cheap, and not money well spent IMHO.
if someone steals my car, i don't want it back. who knows what they did to it? kind of annoyed that after i bought the car, i got hit hard to buy: 1. extended warranty b/c car will die after 3 years... 2. maintenance plan b/c prices for repairs will only rise! 3. lojack b/c car will get stolen!
Secretly recording the signal from the fob does no good, unless, perhaps, you get to have your way with it for an extended period of time. The process of cracking a code hopping system such as that on the Prius is much more complicated than simply recording the key exchange. Tom
Well, you will care when you see what the insurance company will pay you if it's not recovered. It will be a very expensive eye opener, especially if you have a loan or a lease. If you live in a safe area, don't bother with LoJack. If you think your car might get stolen and you don't want to suffer a big financial loss, it's worth considering. Remember, all security systems are vulnerable at the weakest link. With the Prius key, that's the new guy in the parts department that can get the key for any car. It's harder to steal a Prius than to steal a ten year old car without a chip in the key, but it's been done.
You are correct here to a point. The weakest link. As for the key, even with a new fob, the car has to be programmed to accept it, not the key to the car. So this could only happen when you car was in the shop, if you have a crooked person close by who can access that equipment. But someone just getting a fob and trying will not succeed.
I'd recommend it to anyone. Agencies in my area have a 98% recovery rate with LoJack. I wouldn't buy it from the dealer though, unless they offer it to you for the same price it costs direct from LoJack. (Should be between 600 and 700 bucks if I remember correctly.)
If this is about a $50K and above luxury vehicles, I would probably consider LoJack. Other than that, like Young said, if mine got stolen, I pray to God that I don't get it back at all. It is much easier to steal your "difficult to steal" Prius than you think. It has been done to BMW, MB, and other luxury cars. - tow it (flat bed) - swap the computer box (two trips: break it, get the box. Return with new box and key - drive away) - install proprietary software that deals with specific brand and model. You can crack the codes in less than 5 mins. A guy was caught with a hand-held device that has been installed with software that can crack security codes of MB S-/E-/C-class in 5 mins or less. MB was shocked to learn that and has been investigating it. Police found that he had stolen more than 20 MBs. The last time, he was not unlucky enough. The police was nearby when the owner spotted him stealing it. Prius is safe from being stolen because it is cheap enough that high-end thieves don't care for them. If thieves know they have to look for LoJack, they will find it. Often than not, they don't know there is LoJack on board. That is when they get caught before the vehicles get into steel containers (no signal!!!).
So far no holes have been found in the code system for the Prius. This isn't to say that they don't exist, but no one has found one to date that has any chance of practical application. The cypto guys work hard to keep these things secure, and they get better and better. The current system in the Prius is so good that any thief will use one of your other two options. Tom
i basically got mine for free from the dealer. When i purchased the extended warranty and prepaid for all my servicing, they threw it in. I figured mind as well.
Like I said, Prius is not financially attractive enough for them to work on it really hard. Yes, it is always certain leak from inside. The thief I talked about kept asking the Police if he could get his "special device" back. The Police laughed at him. He spent so much money on it. He claimed that each version (to crack certain model of MB) costed him $3000.
