Have you had an immobilizer-equipped car stolen?

June 11, 2013 3:23 PM

Have you had an immobilizer-equipped car stolen? By immobilizer, I mean the cars (typically post-2006) that have a ROM chip in the key which is required for authentication to start the engine. If so, how was it stolen? If you have such a car, has someone attempted to steal it and failed due to the factory-equipped immobilizer?
posted by thewalrus to Travel & Transportation (3 answers total)

I've heard multiple stories, both with cars and motorcycles(Like ducati, other high end stuff with the smart keys) where the thief just shows up with an entire new ECU and swaps them. And there's also issues like this.

Sorry if this doesn't directly answer your question as no, no one has stolen my families immobilizer equipped car(although the immobilizer unit has malfunctioned twice resulting in the car getting towed...grr), but it's also not a super attractive car to thieves. It's definitely extremely possible though and only a hurdle to the most amateur crackhead.
posted by emptythought at 6:11 PM on June 11, 2013

Apparently (in the uk at least) in 4/10 car thefts the keys are stolen from the owners home in a burglary.
posted by Ned G at 2:16 AM on June 12, 2013

A fair proportion in the UK are stolen when the vehicle is left unattended with the keys in the ignition. Most UK insurers no longer cover such incidents.
posted by BenPens at 2:28 AM on June 12, 2013