Why did car thieves disconnect my rear-view mirror?

[efred]

This morning I noticed a dry patch on the ground under where my 2011 Land Cruiser, Apocalypse One, was supposed to be, plus some pieces of the driver side door lock. I was a little upset but to skip to the end, less than an hour and a half later I've got it back. I recommend hiding a AirTag in your car!

The thieves had pulled out phone charger cords and topped off their phones, otherwise leaving almost everything else alone, except that they removed the plastic covers from behind the rear view mirror and disconnected the two connectors there (nondestructively, happily).

Anybody have any idea why they did that?

That's my question, but if you're interested, more backstory: The Seattle PD got back to me pretty quick about this and since I was able to tell them where it was, they got to it while I was on the way there with my buddy, and they waited for me to get there. They said a lot of stolen cars get ditched there by the local miscreants (Pasadena Pl NE). They left the right passenger window down and the heater on 80 degrees. I have no idea how they started the car. Some sort of tech hack I suppose.

 

[CanadianRockyCruiser]

Glad you got it back, but saddened to hear about your experience. I can't claim to know why the thieves disconnected the mirror, but they may have thought it had a GPS transmitter in it. I'll be following your lead with respect to an air tag!

 

[CSteppe82]

This morning I noticed a dry patch on the ground under where my 2011 Land Cruiser, Apocalypse One, was supposed to be, plus some pieces of the driver side door lock. I was a little upset but to skip to the end, less than an hour and a half later I've got it back. I recommend hiding a AirTag in your car!

The thieves had pulled out phone charger cords and topped off their phones, otherwise leaving almost everything else alone, except that they removed the plastic covers from behind the rear view mirror and disconnected the two connectors there (nondestructively, happily).

Anybody have any idea why they did that?

That's my question, but if you're interested, more backstory: The Seattle PD got back to me pretty quick about this and since I was able to tell them where it was, they got to it while I was on the way there with my buddy, and they waited for me to get there. They said a lot of stolen cars get ditched there by the local miscreants (Pasadena Pl NE). They left the right passenger window down and the heater on 80 degrees. I have no idea how they started the car. Some sort of tech hack I suppose.

View attachment 3811040

They probably thought we have some type of “on star “ system and it’s connected to mirror.

I’ve recovered stolen cars where they have ripped out entire headliners - trying to disconnect any tracking.

 

[TeCKis300]

Glad to hear you got it back, and in not too bad of shape.

I imagine they were trying to ensure no dashcam was in place to capture video evidence.

 

[dudemancool1904]

This is the second case of this in about a month, can’t remember if it was her or FB group but someone had an attempted auto theft and the thief removed the mirror and harness. Not sure what’s up.

 

[ryanCA]

my 60/62/100 are all garaged as too many people steal them

200 - no one used to touch them

now with this - gotta be more careful i guess

glad you got yours back

 

[AcmeSys]

you have a semi pro crew in your area...

now that all the mopar hot hemis have all been stolen with pro pads plus the VIN or had secondary ignition cut switches installed the Toyota are next inline for parts scavenging.

you can clone fobs from a locksmith tool like an xtool tablet without having the original fob then program a $20 amazon blank fob and you are off to the races.

as mentioned- they disconnected the harness to kill cameras or the onstar type tracking.

This isn't a dip**** meth fueled junky job like a smash and grab. it was parked in a cool down area to see if it had a tracking system installed before being moved to a chop shop in 24-48 hours. the charging cords were probably for the programming tablet to stayed powered up while driving or a wave bubble type RF jammer (yeah it is a thing).

tip- shove a post-it note over the dash VIN so it can't be seen externally. It is at least a starting point for security.

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[AcmeSys]

I think techstream can show how many keys are programmed? might check to see if three keys are now programmed into the immobilizer

 

[efred]

I think techstream can show how many keys are programmed? might check to see if three keys are now programmed into the immobilizer

Oh, all very interesting. I’ll have to get techstream, whatever that may be, and check it out. And look into a cut switch too. And I’ve got a Joker over the vin now, although it wouldn’t have helped today. Thanks (and thanks all) for the info. The gps/onstar stuff must be reason and I guess they were polite about the wires because it was going to be their car now. I wish they’d be a little gentler with the door panel too but really this could have gone much worse.

 

[AcmeSys]

ironically they can use the xtool type system to clone the fob without gang raping the lock core and body work using the Toyota touch-to-unlock RF system

 

[Battleship]

Sorry, man. Something similar happened to my LX in Montreal a few years ago. They weren't so rough with my door, but I still had to get it painted/replace the locks, etc....

 

[AcmeSys]

final note- if you air tag anything for theft recovery- open it up and epoxy/super-glue the speaker so it can't do the "find me" beep

 

[bloc]

tip- shove a post-it note over the dash VIN so it can't be seen externally. It is at least a starting point for security.

Implication being without the VIN they can’t program a key without physically breaking in to the car first?

 

[AcmeSys]

Implication being without the VIN they can’t program a key without physically breaking in to the car first?

correct- the VIN is part of the system encryption and key generation after interrogating and decrypting/generating the crypto key. Without the VIN you have to force entry and get it off the door sill or read it off OBD. XTOOL is the new chicom knockoff of the limited availability (pro user use only) version of the $10k PROPAD locksmith tool (those are how all the hellcats & redeyes were being stolen in large numbers from the dodge factory shipping lots 5ish years ago).

it will be the most powerful theft tool for the next decade. $1k hardware cost and it will get damn near anything opened and started in minutes without smashing windows and without sniffing the OEM fob.

how to guide for anyone curious on how easy this is:

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Xtool tech released 2019+ Toyota 8A/4A Smart Key Programming (Via key emulation & generation) function on Oct. 2022. Check Instruction below. Tools you need Xtool tablets (X100 pad3, x100 pad elite, D8, D8 BT, D9, D9 Pro, A80/H6 pro etc)… Continue Reading →

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[bloc]

correct- the VIN is part of the system encryption and key generation after interrogating and decrypting/generating the crypto key. Without the VIN you have to force entry and get it off the door sill or read it off OBD. XTOOL is the new chicom knockoff of the limited availability (pro user use only) version of the $10k PROPAD locksmith tool (those are how all the hellcats & redeyes were being stolen in large numbers from the dodge factory shipping lots 5ish years ago).

it will be the most powerful theft tool for the next decade. $1k hardware cost and it will get damn near anything opened and started in minutes without smashing windows and without sniffing the OEM fob.

how to guide for anyone curious on how easy this is:

Xtool Program 2019+ Toyota Lexus 8A/4A Proximity with AnyToyo SK1 Bypass Pin | OBDII365.com Official Blog

Xtool tech released 2019+ Toyota 8A/4A Smart Key Programming (Via key emulation & generation) function on Oct. 2022. Check Instruction below. Tools you need Xtool tablets (X100 pad3, x100 pad elite, D8, D8 BT, D9, D9 Pro, A80/H6 pro etc)… Continue Reading →

blog.obdii365.com

Thanks for the detail. Time to get a tracking device and tell a couple friends.

I just tried the post-it trick but there is a flap adhered to the back of the panel that blocks it, and going behind the flap puts the paper under the VIN tag. I’ll have to sort that out.

 

[efred]

final note- if you air tag anything for theft recovery- open it up and epoxy/super-glue the speaker so it can't do the "find me" beep

Thanks, will do if I can find it. (And if not, perhaps so much the better).

Another bit of data, consistent with the above conclusions I think. The rear view mirror was askew when I reclaimed it so probably they unplugged those wires at the time they ditched it.

 

[bloc]

Side note: if we don’t want to go the remote ignition cut route, could we do the same for one of the important OBD port wires?

 

[AcmeSys]

Side note: if we don’t want to go the remote ignition cut route, could we do the same for one of the important OBD port wires?

Thinking about it- that may not work- I'll try to dig into how it works and see if a lost key encryption bypass hack actually needs OBD port access?

 

[bloc]

I'll try to dig into how it works and see if a lost key encryption bypass hack actually needs OBD port access?

I'd appreciate that.

Also thinking about it, if that was a workable solution I'd bet the hellcat guys would have jumped all over it.

 

[manofthewoods]

This morning I noticed a dry patch on the ground under where my 2011 Land Cruiser, Apocalypse One, was supposed to be, plus some pieces of the driver side door lock. I was a little upset but to skip to the end, less than an hour and a half later I've got it back. I recommend hiding a AirTag in your car!

The thieves had pulled out phone charger cords and topped off their phones, otherwise leaving almost everything else alone, except that they removed the plastic covers from behind the rear view mirror and disconnected the two connectors there (nondestructively, happily).

Anybody have any idea why they did that?

That's my question, but if you're interested, more backstory: The Seattle PD got back to me pretty quick about this and since I was able to tell them where it was, they got to it while I was on the way there with my buddy, and they waited for me to get there. They said a lot of stolen cars get ditched there by the local miscreants (Pasadena Pl NE). They left the right passenger window down and the heater on 80 degrees. I have no idea how they started the car. Some sort of tech hack I suppose.

View attachment 3811040

Sorry to hear about your experience.

Have to admit, the responses have been most educational. Learned things I wish I didn't need to know.