Stolen

[cerbylondon]

My Jaguar XJ Sportbreak was stolen this week, over night in Fulham SW6. No body saw or heard a thing, which is usual considering the certain twitching in my road. I thought with all the modern security of a 2016 car, stealing it would be rather difficult and who buys stolen cars?

[liner33]

Wow so stolen without keys ? Gutted for you

I'm guessing most cars like this get exported

[cerbylondon]

Yes it was stolen without the keys!! I am baffled how it was done ???

[tomtom]

Does it have keyless access? Plenty of reports of BMWs with the 'Comfort Access' option being stolen without keys. Hypothesis is that the keys frequencies get cloned somehow.

[captainhook]

Keyless entry? Recently taken to a garage for a service?

These types of cars are made to order.. Someone somewhere out there probably has the same model as you and they need parts, instead of buying it from the stealers they'd rather get the parts for free.

Or likely with the particular car in question, it's probably in the process of being shipped overseas to North Africa/South Africa.

[fatboy b]

Gutted for you. But do you mean and XF Sportbrake?

[xjay1337]

Yes they tend to clone the key.
With all the encryption types out there I can't see why it's acceptable or even possible to clone the keys.
I can understand it may unlock the vehicle but surely wouldn't start it.

[MitchT]

I'm I missing something or is it fair to ask why expensive modern cars don't have some kind of tracking device buried deep inside, with its own battery, which uses mobile networks and location services and can be activated when the owner discovers that the car is missing? If nothing else we could find out where these cars are going.

[Rtype]

Everyone thinks the key cloning is 'made up' - it is so incredibly easy to do, can be completed in approximately 30 Seconds. There are key jammers available which keep vehicles doors unlocked for keyless entry, all the thief needs to do is be in the vicinity of the vehicle as the driver leaves it, then all the thief needs to do is the following;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v5FxgyUhiY

The above is on a Range Rover, same JLR system, widespread across luxury SUV/4X4's.

That is why a cat 5 tracker is needed now on higher value keyless entry vehicles.

[cerbylondon]

Sorry yes XF sportbreak. It did have key less access and it has been to the dealership in the last month.

[tomtom]

MitchT said:

I'm I missing something or is it fair to ask why expensive modern cars don't have some kind of tracking device buried deep inside, with its own battery, which uses mobile networks and location services and can be activated when the owner discovers that the car is missing? If nothing else we could find out where these cars are going.

BMWs do but I believe it requires a request from the police for BMW to tell someone where it is. The BMW app only lets you see where your car's parked if you're within a mile or two I think. I'm currently sitting 2 miles from mine and my phone has just shown me where it is - thankfully still where it's usually parked.

[liner33]

I've been having issues recently where my XF couldnt see the keyless fobs, getting into the car with the backup metal key resulted in the alarm going off

Sure keyless cars can be cloned but they still need to get in the car

[cerbylondon]

This is fascinating, thank you.

Rtype said:

Everyone thinks the key cloning is 'made up' - it is so incredibly easy to do, can be completed in approximately 30 Seconds. There are key jammers available which keep vehicles doors unlocked for keyless entry, all the thief needs to do is be in the vicinity of the vehicle as the driver leaves it, then all the thief needs to do is the following;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v5FxgyUhiY

The above is on a Range Rover, same JLR system, widespread across luxury SUV/4X4's.

That is why a cat 5 tracker is needed now on higher value keyless entry vehicles.

[groomi]

I always lock my Sportbrake by pressing the doorhandle button twice, rather than using the fob - for exactly the reason that a jammer can't be used to leave the car unlocked.

[Rtype]

groomi said:

I always lock my Sportbrake by pressing the doorhandle button twice, rather than using the fob - for exactly the reason that a jammer can't be used to leave the car unlocked.

Doesn't stop a broken window and then 30 seconds cloning your key.... easy to replace window glass if you know the right places, only possible issue for thief is being seen breaking the window but in the time it takes to generate a new key the reward outweighs the risk.

[groomi]

Rtype said:

groomi said:

I always lock my Sportbrake by pressing the doorhandle button twice, rather than using the fob - for exactly the reason that a jammer can't be used to leave the car unlocked.

Doesn't stop a broken window and then 30 seconds cloning your key.... easy to replace window glass if you know the right places, only possible issue for thief is being seen breaking the window but in the time it takes to generate a new key the reward outweighs the risk.

Noise of breaking the glass, then the alarm going off for 30 seconds = much bigger risk of being caught, interrupted or reported to police before you've made your escape. Isn't going to stop a determined thief, but I don't understand the argument for making their life easier?

[Rtype]

groomi said:

Rtype said:

groomi said:

I always lock my Sportbrake by pressing the doorhandle button twice, rather than using the fob - for exactly the reason that a jammer can't be used to leave the car unlocked.

Doesn't stop a broken window and then 30 seconds cloning your key.... easy to replace window glass if you know the right places, only possible issue for thief is being seen breaking the window but in the time it takes to generate a new key the reward outweighs the risk.

Noise of breaking the glass, then the alarm going off for 30 seconds = much bigger risk of being caught, interrupted or reported to police before you've made your escape. Isn't going to stop a determined thief, but I don't understand the argument for making their life easier?

30 seconds into the car, they can switch this alarm off and probably a cover story for the noise if questioned especially if they can show a member of the public they have a working key and you came back to your car and the window was smashed....... Breaking car glass, yes a bit of noise, but easily hidden with traffic / no one around, I agree the alarm may deter some but ultimately, it is really not a problem, especially in urban areas - which is where the thefts are most common, this just becomes 'white noise' in the end. Not every car is parked outside owners, can be streets away, esp in London.

Reward still far outweighs any risk.

There is no argument for making their life easier - the fact is, nicking these cars is easier than ever before.

[anonymous-user]

Modern car security is a joke. JLR have a problem, so do BMW. My M3 was almost taken, from that incident I learnt all sorts about the inadequacies of the OBD port and factory alarms.

Sorry to hear OP but it really isn't very difficult.

[boyse7en]

groomi said:

Noise of breaking the glass, then the alarm going off for 30 seconds = much bigger risk of being caught, interrupted or reported to police before you've made your escape. Isn't going to stop a determined thief, but I don't understand the argument for making their life easier?

Some scrotes broke the window of my Saab on my drive a few years ago and I didn't hear a thing.
And i live in the middle of nowhere, so no traffic/urban noise to cover it up in the middle of the night. Sharp point and a tap from a hammer or similar and it just disintegrates nearly silently.

[rfsteel]

Breaking glass, with a center punch doesn't make much noise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dv0UU66CbU