How do people steal cars?

[Durden]

So my neighbor today came up to me and said someone stole his truck right out of his driveway. He also said that he saw a person check my door handles (usually park my car on the street).

I don't know him well at all, but it's a little weird. I know he had at least one truck, which he still had this morning when talking to me. Also, I typically leave my car doors unlocked. I don't have anything in there really, so if someone was so deeply inclined to see what's inside, I'd rather them open the door than break a window.

So with that, I'm wondering how the fuck his truck was stolen, and how I can make sure I don't get my/my fiancé's car stolen. He said it was stolen right out his driveway...which means I can't imagine he's got the keys in it yeah?

Is hotwiring, like, an actual thing? Is leaving my doors unlocked in my neighborhood, which is not the greatest but not awful, making it susceptible to hotwiring or some sort of other their tactic I'm not aware of? Would my risk of my car itself being stolen actually decrease with my doors being locked? I guess I just never really thought there would be that many people out there proficient in techniques like that.

Like yeah of course there's carjacking, nabbing them while the car is running ect., but how does this happen when the car's just sitting there with no keys? And is it a prevalent enough issue to be concerned about? This is probably such a dumb thread but I don't want my car to be stole mayne

 

[Z-Beat]

You download them

 

[Unicorn]

Youtube shows you anything dawg.

 

[Fat4all]

fulton

 

[Fanto]

Is hotwiring, like, an actual thing?

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Yes.

Hot-wiring - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Is leaving my doors unlocked in my neighborhood, which is not the greatest but not awful, making it susceptible to hotwiring or some sort of other their tactic I'm not aware of?

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No, other than removing the step of getting in otherwise.

Would my risk of my car itself being stolen actually decrease with my doors being locked?

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Probably, because unless they really want to steal your specific car, they might just move on to one that is unlocked instead.

And is it a prevalent enough issue to be concerned about?

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Probably not tbh.

 

[Khanimus]

Is hotwiring, like, an actual thing?

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Yes. Far less likely with modern cars, but yes.

 

[Durden]

fulton

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Actually yeah, Fulton county

 

[Sunster]

literally a few hours ago at work (domino's pizza delivery) my coworker's car was stolen while she was on the doorstep of a customer. They got a brand new SUV, her iphone XR, and a backseat full of pizza, sandwiches, and pasta for her next delivery.

 

[bangai-o]

Is people stealing cars really still a thing?

 

[vanty]

If your car has keyless start they can have a thing that boosts the signal from the key in your house to unlock and start your car.

 

[Fat4all]

Actually yeah, Fulton county

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[Durden]

If your car has keyless start they can have a thing that boosts the signal from the key in your house to unlock and start your car.

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That shit is crazy, and makes sense. Luckily my car a new model but economic as fuck. It's even got manual locks and windows, so that's not a problem.

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Wow. Yeah wow....this works on a whole bunch of levels for me over here. Even coincidentally, you really are fat for all of us.

 

[Deleted member 39374]

Is people stealing cars really still a thing?

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Kinda. Most new cars have digital/nfc fobs or are keyless these days, so it's much harder to get inside one (without breaking in) let alone start it. You would have to spoof the key's radio frequency to trick the car into thinking you have the real key with you, and then it should let you enter and start it. But of course the owner could disable it remotely as soon as they find out

Older cars that have traditional keys and locks get stolen all the time though.

 

[Mendrox]

I will never understand Americans leaving their houses/apartments/cars unlocked. Nobody does that shit even in the safest countries. There is your first security wall and you invite them in lol

 

[Sectorseven]

I think modern cars with keyless push to start can be stolen using black market wireless devices.

 

[AlmostMilk]

I remember hearing from a cop a while back that the majority of car thefts happen because the owner either leaves their keys in the car or the engine is still running, which just makes it super easy to steal. When that's not the case, it's older cars that are more prone to thefts. Newer cars have a code read from the key that is required for starting the car. Older cars they literally just need to hammer a screwdriver into the lock/ignition and turn and it's theirs. "Hot wiring" is just a thing created by Hollywood and doesn't really happen.

 

[roguesquirrel]

okay cop.

 

[SolidChamp]

You download them

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First post needs more love. lol

 

[finalflame]

literally a few hours ago at work (domino's pizza delivery) my coworker's car was stolen while she was on the doorstep of a customer. They got a brand new SUV, her iphone XR, and a backseat full of pizza, sandwiches, and pasta for her next delivery.

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Did they not lock their car and left it running, something you're never supposed to do while delivering?

 

[Durden]

I will never understand Americans leaving their houses/apartments/cars unlocked. Nobody does that shit even in the safest countries. There is your first security wall and you invite them in lol

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I'm very secure about my home, but I've known people that have had their car windows broken into. Sometimes for valuable shit, sometimes for nothing. So I just kinda figured the best combination would be to leave nothing valuable in your car and leave your doors unlocked

I remember hearing from a cop a while back that the majority of car thefts happen because the owner either leaves their keys in the car or the engine is still running, which just makes it super easy to steal. When that's not the case, it's older cars that are more prone to thefts. Newer cars have a code read from the key that is required for starting the car. Older cars they literally just need to hammer a screwdriver into the lock/ignition and turn and it's theirs. "Hot wiring" is just a thing created by Hollywood and doesn't really happen.

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Hmmm see the hammer/screwdriver shit is what I'm trying to see about. My car is a 2018, but it's extremely standard with it's ignition and key. I don't even have a remote for locking and shit. I guess I just didn't think it would be that easy to replicate a key.

This thread is basically about me trying to figure out if I would be better or worse off locking my doors considering my kinda whatever car (that I still definitely don't want to be stolen though) and nothing being in it. I would have a better chance of a window not being broken keeping it unlocked most likely, but if the chances of my car being completely stolen raise significantly with my doors being unlocked I will lock them.

 

[Sunster]

Did they not lock their car and left it running, something you're never supposed to do while delivering?

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lmao yep. when i got back to the shop after my delivery and asked her what happened, while she was telling me (through tears) i heard one of the other girls by the oven whisper "coz she left that shit running" I almost laughed out loud... feel bad for her though. she's not getting that back. police don't find cars until they get trashed and dumped weeks or months later.

 

[finalflame]

lmao yep. when i got back to the shop after my delivery and asked her what happened, while she was telling me (through tears) i heard one of the other girls by the oven whisper "coz she left that shit running" I almost laughed out loud... feel bad for her though. she's not getting that back. police don't find cars until they get trashed and dumped weeks or months later.

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Ah man, funny stuff. I worked many years delivering for Domino's and had dimwit coworkers who did this too. Wonder if she considered tracking the iPhone via Find my iPhone or something. Alas.

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

Wait did you think people who had their cars stolen left the keys in the car?

 

[Sunster]

Ah man, funny stuff. I worked many years delivering for Domino's and had dimwit coworkers who did this too. Wonder if she considered tracking the iPhone via Find my iPhone or something. Alas.

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i heard her tell the cop that they must have turned it off.

 

[TaySan]

Grand majority of car thefts nowadays are from older cars. Newer are much harder to break into.

 

[L Thammy]

Also, I typically leave my car doors unlocked.

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People always told me that this was an American thing. I figured that this was a myth.

 

[Septy]

Actually yeah, Fulton county

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Downtown or near Alpharetta

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

Had a team member's car get stolen right out of the Target parking lot just a couple weeks ago. Luckily they recovered it, for the most part.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

People always told me that this was an American thing. I figured that this was a myth.

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Lots of folks in small towns do it. Small town or not it's still dumb as fuck though.

A high school teach of mine grew up in Fargo and had his car stolen - he left it unlocked with the keys in the car. He got it back after driving around town, finding it... and seeing that the thief left it unlocked with the keys in it.

 

[TheChuggernaut]

Is people stealing cars really still a thing?

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Yeah. I got carjacked a few weeks ago

 

[Hyun Sai]

A high school teach of mine grew up in Fargo and had his car stolen - he left it unlocked with the keys in the car. He got it back after driving around town, finding it... and seeing that the thief left it unlocked with the keys in it.

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It really is a true story ah ah ah.

 

[Cheerilee]

Your standard ignition switch connects two wires to start your car. If you can get at the wires, and know which ones they are, you can connect the two wires without needing the switch.

Alternatively, you can just break the lock. If you hammer a strong screwdriver into the place where your key goes, you can put a wrench on the screwdriver and force the lock to turn, without a key. It breaks the lock to do that, but they can fix that damage in the chop shop. Or they can just chop your car into pieces and sell the pieces.

Usually a thief has figured out how to break into your car, because they've figured out how to break into other cars like it. Like, they poke around on say, a Honda Civic, until they figure out how to defeat it's security. Now they can steal any Honda Civic they want, if the opportunity arises. And then they figure out how to steal a Ford Truck, or a BMW. The more cars they've figured out how to break into, the easier it is to learn the next car, because much of the knowledge carries over.

 

[John Caboose]

I think modern cars with keyless push to start can be stolen using black market wireless devices.

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If your car has keyless start they can have a thing that boosts the signal from the key in your house to unlock and start your car.

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These are true. Also, blocking people locking their cars with the remote is also a thing. Using some sort of interference device.

 

[Fatoy]

I think modern cars with keyless push to start can be stolen using black market wireless devices.

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This is becoming less prevalent, because newer keyless entry cars use a different method of generating code pairs between the car and the fob. It was a bigger issue when the VW Group used the same identifier on the car / chassis side across loads of different models.

Nowadays I think someone would need to park on your street with a packet sniffer and intercept the handshake between the car and fob, then clone that. Oh, and modern keyless systems usually have some kind of gyroscope in the fob, so it won't unlock / start the car if it's sat on a table inside the house, for example.

They're not perfect by any means, but modern cars need a really targeted approach to steal. Someone has to be after your specific car, and spend the time casing your house to eavesdrop on the key pair. You're fairly unlikely to have a modern, keyless entry car stolen by an opportunist.

 

[julia crawford]

Like so

 

[Tricky Diver]

Relay attacks. Or just break into the property in question and steal the fob.

 

[score01]

OP, please start by locking the doors to your car. The locks are there for a reason and while they won't really stop a determined theif - they will stop an opportunistic one.

some vehicles have engine immobilisation systems and alarms that only get activated when the car is locked...

 

[Agent 47]

Locking your car doors would be a good start to prevent them.

 

[M-M]

Lol I first found out about hammering a screwdriver into the ignition after seeing it on The Americans. Until then I thought that you had to do some technical shit like hot-wiring so I was surprised to see that it was that easy, even taking into account that it was decades ago.

 

[Edge]

Also, I typically leave my car doors unlocked

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What the fucking fuck???? Who does something like this???
Is this some American thing? Cause nobody here in Europe would do this, this is f'n crazy to me.

And people wonder why their cars get stolen, lmao.

 

[Sqrt]

Grand majority of car thefts nowadays are from older cars. Newer are much harder to break into.

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This seems easy, TBH...

 

[Paperboywriter]

In the developed world people actually lock their doors.

 

[Dalorin]

OP, do you have car insurance? Would they pay out if you left your doors unlocked?

 

[Mr Jones]

I'm trippin about y'all leaving you cars unlocked. Because it will keep them from breaking the glass? That's what your insurance is for.

Lock your cars, y'all. You are leaving an asset that costs you thousands of dollars unattended and unlocked. I can't even...

 

[Menchin]

Americans are some of the only people dumb enough to keep their car doors unlocked. If you lock them, it will drastically drop your chances of getting it stolen

Otherwise if somebody REALLY wants your car specifically, relays/stealing/pickpocketing the fob for smart cars, slim jims/shimmy/rake/rag and blunt object to the window for non-smart cars

 

[Vilix]

Besides locking your car doors, and setting your car alarm, you should also lock your steering wheel. Just another layer of protection.

 

[The Mango Sentinel]

I usually press triangle when I'm standing next to one

 

[Donos]

if truck had keyless system: a repeater...

 

[Deleted member 17990]

You download them

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[gdt]

Lock your car my guy