Worried about my CX-9 getting stolen again

[Smythee]

Last night, the cops called to let my wife and I know that they found our stolen 2013 CX-9 sport. We bought it new almost exactly two years ago and it's by light years the best vehicle I've ever owned. That's not saying much though, given that the trade in on that purchase was a '94 Navajo (not making that up, it got us a loyalty bonus).

Honestly, we were a little bummed since we were wayyy above water on the CX-9 (only 15K miles) and there are such sweet incentives on the 2015s.

Anyway, it had only been out of our hands for approximately three days and the thief had it parked on a street maybe three miles from our driveway where he stole it. It seems fine besides some minor body damage where the guy apparently grazed a parked car. Taking it in for a full inspection on our insurer's dime, yada, yada.

My big question is how did the thief get our car? The steering column is perfectly intact. We have both keys/fobs. We never made a copy. I'm 95% sure I locked it/turned on the alarm last time I parked it. But even if it was unlocked, how did he get it to start?

My mother-in-law says thieves have devices that allow them to cruise past your house and sync with your fob to "get the code" and then get access to your vehicle. She keeps her keys in the microwave or the fridge. Really cool lady, but I'm not sure if I believe that.

Anywho, I'm just worried about how I prevent this from happening again. It was in our driveaway before. Now it's locked up in our garage. Storing it in a garage is difficult because the vehicle takes up about 85% of the space. Any ideas besides lojack? I'm literally scared to park our car in our driveway now. Any tips on how to engage with the shop that's inspecting the vehicle for damage would be super-appreciated, too. As you can tell, I'm not very astute about cars.

Thx for reading and apologies in advance if I'm starting a "how-to-steal-a-CX-9" thread. Totally not my intention. Please PM me if board replies might help a thief instead of helping me avoid a thief! Delete the whole thread if it's inappropriate.

 

[jal142]

Unfortunately, the keyless entry/smart key tech is now under attack by hackers, and it's probably going to get worse before it gets better.

There are a couple of styles of attack being made on smart keys.
1. The first attack is an amplifier device that fools the car into thinking the key is closer to the car than it actually is. To make this work, you need to place the device near the smart key fob. The device then receives the RF signal from the key fob then re-transmits it, but at a much higher power. Unfortunately, a lot of people store their car keys near the front door of their house or the garage door, so thieves place the device right outside your house where the booster device can "hear" it. Normally the key fob signal only travels a few feet, however the booster makes it travel much much further. The car will now unlock and start without the key being within the normal range. Believe it or not, putting your keys in the microwave will stop this - the microwave oven is a Faraday cage so the fob signals can't escape, defeating the amplifier device.

2. The second is a more complex attack on the encryption used in the keys. Unfortunately, the encryption used in at least one type of these fobs has been broken, allowing people to make "bootleg" fobs. This has happened to Volkswagen's keys, as well as a number of other manufacturers. I don't know about Mazda, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. This attack is very hard to prevent, as you would have to stop using the fobs entirely to prevent a hacker from getting access.

Likely, since the thieves didn't get very far, it was probably #1. Store your keys in a metal box (or the microwave) to prevent this.

 

[S197GT]

http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/car-technology/news/a26327/hacked-keyless-entry/

the vulnerability of keyless entry has been around for about 20 years.

here is the thing that confounds me about this story... why, if i am a thief, and i have the ability to exploit a keyless entry/start system...

WOULD I STEAL A CX-9 OF ALL VEHICLES?!!!

i don't care how many car mag comparos the cx-9 has won in the past!

are there no porsches, bmws, corvettes, etc... in your town?!

just goes to show... even the smarter criminals are still dumb.

wait wait wait...

do you have a son or daughter of driving age (or near enough)?

if so... you need to have a talk with them.

(sneak out. take the parents' car. crash into a parked car. get out. walk home. hang up the keys. go to bed.)

or...

do you or your wife take ambien?

 

[eskimo0101]

There's a lot about this that doesn't make sense. It's a 2013 Sport, so it doesn't have push button start, AKA just an RFID chip key. You're not wifi-jacking an RFID key since their range is literally inches and even if you did clone the RFID you've still got to either get the lock cylinder to turn or jump a bunch of wires. Both of these scenarios would have left evidence of the tampering. A thief who goes through the kind of trouble they'd need to in order to defeat the chip key already has a plan for the car, likely chopping it for high demand parts (which there isn't a high demand like the Civic/Accord/Camry) or shipping it over seas for sale. That plan certainly isn't to joyride it for a bit and leave it a couple miles away.

I'd take a hard look at your local dealership. This feels like a case of some local Mazda dealer hiring a lot boy with a record who's ordering keys for vehicles so he and his buddies can go joyride.

 

[tex2670]

I think that the bottom line here is to figure out the facts of your stolen car. Until you know exactly what happened, you can't really prevent it from happening again--unless you put the Club on your steering wheel in the garage?

Although there are stories out there about people with the technology to clone your key fob's signal over the airwaves, the common, joy ride, dirtbag car thief will not have access to this technology. That is "Gone in 60 Seconds" kind of stuff.

 

[batmancx]

Agreed, doesn't make sense, who would steal a CX-9 Sport, it's not that popular to warrant stealing it for parts.
I can go a whole month without even seeing another CX9 on the road.

Most stolen vehicles are usually the most popular for chop shops to dismantle and sell the parts. Tons of Camry and Accords are stolen in my area.

Nothing is foolproof, top notch vehicle thief syndicates use tow trucks and wheel jack dollys like what car dealers use to roll the car in the showrooms (see video below), dealers have been using these for years, ever wonder how they got cars so close to each other in tight spaces in the showrooms, here you go.

This is nothing new, so I'm not giving anything away to thieves, if thieves really want your car they will get it,
but they usually go after high end Porsche, Range Rover, BMW, Mercedes and sell them overseas.

All this nonsense with computer chips and immobilizers are smoke and mirrors by car manufacturers. The thieves dolly up each wheel, drag the car up the tow truck, drive to some remote location and then they have all the time in the world to figure out a way to start the car without the code, then ship it overseas.

If there's four wheels they're going to get it, car thieves can just jack up and roll. ONLY real thing that works is LOJACK to track where your car is, cause no matter what you use (ie steering wheel clubs are a joke), if they really want it, they will get it.

 

[mpvue]

There's a lot about this that doesn't make sense. It's a 2013 Sport

this.

 

[table5511]

I'm a licensed insurance adjuster in the state of Kentucky, have been doing this for 10 years. I'm also one of my company's fire & theft designates.
We have found that particularly in larger cities that organized theft rings are equipping their trucks to very easily take any car. They stick dollies under the back of your car's tires and lift the front, and away they go. From there who knows what happens to it. Joy riding, parting out, temporary use, evaluating if they should take it into their inventory or ditch it, etc. It's not real hard to gain access to any vehicle either once it's at a remote site. Jimmy the window and push it down by hand, not real hard, and then they're in. True that if they don't have any fobs, then some of the control modules & ignition will be garbage/throwaway parts, but they still can sell the other parts.

But I agree with other posters. Why steal this car? If I'm gonna commit a felony and steal a car, I'm gonna go find something real nice. Just sayin. But then again, these guys are the sharpest tools in the shed.