buhdeh

In Canada (of course).

They entered the car by breaking the rear window. Then it appears that some panels and wiring was pulled apart at the front-passenger side footwell to take control of the vehicle. Police recovered it but when I arrived, my key fob no longer worked. The Lexus app also didn't send any notifications or anything about the window being broken nor did the parked location update anymore after a certain point. I assume they disabled the network connectivity.

I've made quite a few posts in this forum since picking up the (2022 model) car and I've had nothing but issues with this car since I bought it -- stuff like waiting 10+ months for the car with no updates along the way at all, vibrating driver side mirror, defective backup cameras (TWICE), frozen door handles (still no resolution), and the rear dome light button getting stuck.

I am fortunate enough that the big financial loss on getting rid of the car so soon won't affect me too much but I'd really be angry buying this car if it did. Anyways, I really do like a lot about the car but the huge amount of issues combined with how frequently these things are targeted for theft... this just pushed me over the edge.

lsft

It looks like they can't break open the lock and can't do a canbus attack.

Did they break the windshield or the door window?

lsft

Sorry to hear that your NX got stolen. Looks like a new method of stealing the NX. Can't do it via the OBD port so they find the smart key module in the foot well. Looks like they programmed a new set of keys and erased all previous keys. Unfortunately, Lexus and Toyota vehicles in Africa are so hot... and organize crime uses all the resources to hack and find ways to steal them.

buhdeh

Sorry, I meant window. I edited the post. Breaking the windshield would be quite a stupid thing to do, lol.

Yes, it does seem like that's what they did. The police informed me that the tow driver who brought it to the lot actually mentioned to them that he hopes that my fob still works with the car so maybe it's a common thing?

websurfer

Sorry to hear about your story, thanks for sharing.

No matter how the vehicle is theft proof, it the people really want it, they will take it.

maxman

Sorry for your lost! This is so concerning as someone also in Canada and am waiting for my NX to arrive...

Both the issues you mentioned having with the car and of course the fact the 2nd generation was stolen.

Did you have any extra form of anti-theft protection? I was planning on getting a decent steering wheel lock (i.e. bright and yellow Stoplock for instance) as a small deterance, but it sounds like I may now need to think about doing more to protect myself.

buhdeh

Most of the issues with the car I can kind of forgive but the frozen door handles thing is the worst. You literally cannot get into the car. My dealership won't do anything about it because they "can't reproduce it"... like no ****, if I have to wait 4 days before I can come in and you have the car sitting in the service garage for hours before you get to it, it's not going to be frozen anymore.

I didn't have any extra form of protection. I'm going to use a steering wheel lock when I get my car back though until I figure out what car I'm going to trade this in for. I'll just say that the Lexus app is completely unreliable for any sort of theft / tracking purposes. Thieves can just disable all connectivity and it won't even tell you if a window's broken, a door's unlocked, or if the car's parked in another location anymore. Use an AirTag (even though police probably still won't help you) or install an additional immobilizer or install the TAG system thing.

Sadly, I would say that without any visually recognizable deterrents like wheel or tire locks, your car is at high risk of being targeted since it appears to be quite easy to steal the NX.

maxman

That "we can't reproduce it" sounds so infuriating considering it is such a well-documented issue with the NX by now. Why would a customer bother raising the issue otherwise? It should be an automatic "we are aware of the issue and will take care of it".

Thanks for making us aware. Sounds like I will need to consider an immobilizer / TAG / kill switch after all.

Glad you were at least able to recover it without a tracker installed.

JasDmw

That last part of the last sentence says it all to me. I have a steering wheel lock. I doubt if the thieves that took you car would have been deterred by that, these are pros. They would likely have cut it with bolt cutters or perhaps a portable grinder.

Have said this many times, if mine's stolen, I'm buying something else. The new Mazda CX70/90 are looking pretty good. Police told a neighbour when his 2022 ES350 was stolen last year that the best way to prevent theft of a Lexus is to buy a Mazda. They are never stolen.

GoPDemon

Yah TSK/LSK has been defeated… looks like we need an aftermarket immobilizer.

GoPDemon

i linked you a Tundra video before on one of your YouTube comments. If you look for a Corolla cross video it’s even easier showing just starting the vehicle and having a pre built wire harness to the security module. I’m hoping denso could do some sort of update to prevent this.

lsft

Yes I'm totally aware of it and thanks for the video. I'm trying to figure out a few things after learning about it. They know the front windows are not as easy to get into. So they smash the rear one. It seems like they did more to the car to cut out the telematics and removed the 4G network. Then they reprogrammed the keyfob to drive it away.

Lexus Canada needs to do more and as you said they might need to do an update to protect programming of keys. Reality is. If they want your car they can just lift it from it's wheels and then tow it away. Cover it will a large faraday bag and the car will no longer have any 4G/ GPS signals. No matter what protection you have it's done.

lsft

You would wonder why Mazda are not being stolen. There is no demand in Africa? I doubt they have a more secure system than the TSK that they implemented. This new method is not going through the canbus, but programming a new set of keys. His original keys do not work anymore which tells me they erased all keyfobs and programmed a new set.

websurfer

How about security window film for the back windows. I haven't used the product but saw this on youtube.

midcow3

Go back to standard shift cars, best theft deterrent ever. This add on security items are not the answer especially with theft and crime continue to increase with apparently very little consequence.

YMMV,
MidCow3