Stolen 2024 Tacoma Houston TX

[trailhunger]

Somebody suggested in another thread to pull your starter relay fuse for peace of mind. At first I thought that wasn’t the best idea just the physical removal / re-insertion every day and what that would do to the panel but now that I think about certain areas with elevated theft, hotel parking & apartment complexes, the trade off in the long run seems worth it until Toyota can develop a more secure fob system.

Bear in mind thieves are reading up on all these preventative tips as well so whatever people do, do it in the ‘periphery’, not as exact, make it a royal pain in the ass

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[tacorancher]

Well hey at least I really got to make some good memories. I recently had driven from Houston to Denali.

After 30 days they will declare a total loss and get you a new one . Hope it works out man. You may not want this one after someone abused it. HPD did literally zero for me.

 

[Bravada]

Now y'all are getting me paranoid, ready to order this kill switch kit.

 

[RokeHi]

It might be accross the border since you are from TX

 

[TrustButVerify]

Well I have a hunch that someone that lives here knows something. I have my suspicions particularly because the day I parked it I clocked someone that just gave me an odd feeling. Anyways none of that if actual evidence but I’m not giving up on at least finding the responsible party. I’m really grateful for all the pointers that everyone has provided. Truly a great community. @tacorancher im game anytime.

I don't want to throw salt on your wounds. But lately I've been making a serious point to NEVER ignoring that feeling of "off." A few serious near misses happened to me in the past few years where, if luck hadn't been on my side, I would be dead. I got to thinking about them and every one was preceeded by a feeling I couldn't wrap my mind around. I knew something was off, but part of my brain deceived the survival instinct and I betrayed my own safety because I didn't want to listen.It's 50,000 years of human brain evolution that society would tell you to ignore. That you're being "paranoid" or being judgmental or being irrational.

You're not.

I don't question it anymore. If I go somewhere and it feels off, even slightly, I leave. Call it spider senses, a hunch, paranoia, street smarts or the voice of God, I don't care what you want to do to make sense of it, but that part of your brain that kept ancient humans alive for eons exists for a reason.

So going forward, for now, and forever, don't question those feelings. Just act on them immediately. I do. I've walked into stores and walked right out immediately because the vibe was bad. Went camping, set everything up, and someone showed up that put off a bad feeling. I left. Met to do a P2P transaction with someone but it didn't feel right. I said no thanks and left.

Can't tell you if I made the right call, maybe, maybe I wasted my time because I'm a little bit paranoid, but I'm done ignoring that feeling because it exists for a reason. I appreciate you sharing your story because it reaffirms that we have a lot more intuition in our brains than we appreciate. It's not logical, it can't really be quantified, but its there.

 

[jvperez]

Sorry dude, I feel for you though. I don't have a tacoma yet but my 25 Civic Type R was stolen recently in a very similar manner. Even feels like a neighbor is involved as there was a dude just sitting on his car watching me pull in a week or so before it was stolen.

Not sure if it works for toyota but hondas can be stolen using an autel $500 scanner. You don't even need any of the existing keys, just access to the obd2 port and you can program a new key. I would suggest getting a obd2 lock like this VTT OBD Lock and a faraday box for the keys. I unfortunately only had the faraday box.

I'm still dealing with the insurance on the stolen type r a month and a half later, it has not been recovered and the overall process is a major pain in the ass.

 

[Cordoc]

Yea this is a key takeaway, disable your fob at night, at places you routine like the gym. I’d go as far as to just use my phone’s digital key for daily driving, requires Face ID to activate the key, closer proximity, etc

The fobs are the vulnerability here. Put em in sleep mode, into faraday bags and into a metal safe until you have a trip that’ll take you far from home.

That is good advice, but I see no button for that.
How does one do it?

 

[TX-BluStreak]

Sorry dude, I feel for you though. I don't have a tacoma yet but my 25 Civic Type R was stolen recently in a very similar manner. Even feels like a neighbor is involved as there was a dude just sitting on his car watching me pull in a week or so before it was stolen.

Not sure if it works for toyota but hondas can be stolen using an autel $500 scanner. You don't even need any of the existing keys, just access to the obd2 port and you can program a new key. I would suggest getting a obd2 lock like this VTT OBD Lock and a faraday box for the keys. I unfortunately only had the faraday box.

I'm still dealing with the insurance on the stolen type r a month and a half later, it has not been recovered and the overall process is a major pain in the ass.

Well now y’all got me paranoid and if @tacorancher ever decides to hold a Taco meet up at his house. I’ll need all the safeguards installed in & on my truck so it too doesn’t get stolen in front of his house. (kidding aside)

I think this is another great protection detail to have. So far, I have:
• Bobbercycle lock for my tailgate
• Advance conical wheel locks
• 24hr dash cam
• Faraday pouch for my key fobs
• and now, ODB-Lock

Aside from armor plating and forcefield…I think I have all my bases covered.

 

[trailhunger]

That is good advice, but I see no button for that.
How does one do it?

hold the lock button and press the unlock button twice until you see the fob blink 4x. Wake by pressing any button.

to sleep the key card fob: remove the battery. Some Toyota fobs will just “turn off” transmissions after inactivity or after being stationary for a while.

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