FOUND: My truck was stolen last night- Fxck!

I’m gonna quote myself in case people missed it;

The even more ‘brute force’ method quoted below.

We aren’t safe - just not as sought after. Think of an MT more as a ‘poverty spec’ in this situation. Whatever country these may be getting shipped off to is probably ‘standard’ - an automatic transmission, especially in a truck, may be considered an additional luxury/bragging item = worth much more there.

There are forums where the stolen trucks will appear with people asking for how to make a set of brand new keys. When asked where they’re located, it’s usually from overseas/a country the Taco was not available in.

 

I had a friend whose sports car was always broken into in the 90s and the criminals always rummaged through it. His car was never stolen, he got tired of broken door handles so just emptied the car of valuables and left the doors unlocked. He set a mousetrap in the glove compartment pre-loaded with razor blades, he caught a few thieves with this trap, including one that left the tip of his finger behind ( not enough to fingerprint ).

The blood was a hazard though. But he said it was worth the hassle.

 

Joy rides are a real thing, especially if you’re high or drunk or both. Same thing happened to a friend of mine in college, his Bronco was stolen and then recovered a couple days later, muddy footprints on the hood and ROOF. Interior was a mess.

The weird thing is the FOB signal capture deal takes a little know-how and some resources, but then again there are plenty of drunks and druggies with both.

 

So your truck was found? Put edit in your first post if truck ws found.

Sucks this happened to you.

 

I guess the all caps "FOUND" in the thread title doesn't do it for you?

 

I can second this. I put an AirTag in a ZipLoc bag and stuffed it in my bed cubby. It works really well; more than enough people walking around with iPhones to get a fix on it in a very short time after moving the truck.

 

There was a time before chipped keys that a manual vehicle could be started by putting a wire between the positive battery cable and the positive coil wire and then bump started. Quick, hard crank of the wheel to break the steering lock and you were doing donuts in the cul-de-sac in seconds... the chipped key adds a touch more time but it is still easy enough for the ones that know how too. MT guys are no safer than AT guys. There just aren't as many MT trucks...

 

All the police I talked to told me this exactly what they do. The steal it and park it for a couple of weeks until the cops stop actively looking then move it into a container and ship it to Saudi Arabia or Africa. They call it letting it “sleep”.

 

Cops only actively look for donut shops!


Just joking of course, but seriously no cop is actively looking for a reported stolen vehicle. They happen upon it because of illegal parking or reports of suspicious activity. I knew one of the local Auto Theft Division detectives years ago. (I worked on his car) He said that 99% of recoverys were luck and the 1% was stupid thieves.

 

I had an RX-7 back in the 90s that was also a target for getting rummaged through in lovely Sacramento. I didn't bother replacing the stereo and as well left it unlocked. One day I noticed the driver's side lock had been picked off!

 

Just found this post and read through the whole thing...start to finish. Stucks for OP but glad he got it back in okay shape. We just moved from Denver to Phoenix recently and I read about a loaded Uhaul stolen in Denver just a few days prior to our move. The cops said the same thing, "put a club on the steering wheel" as deterrence to send them to the next one. Yep, deterrence. So, I parked ours in a tight space, cranked the steering wheel all the way, and put the club in upside down and with the long end against the door (as instructions dictate). I felt a little better. Now we're living in an apartment waiting on our home to be built and I feel like a sitting duck as our cars have ALWAYS been garage-kept. I think I'm going to look through our storage and find that damn club!

BTW: I saw a firearm reference earlier. I used to have firearm related decal on my back window of the truck. I was friends with a DPD officer who suggested I remove them. Thieves will see it and either target your vehicle or worse, follow you and target your home to steal weapons. So, don't advertise guns. You're inviting trouble.

 

Solid advice!

 

shitty part is, they know where to pick it back up if they need it again in the future.

 

UPDATE: Just talked to the dealership that’s working on my truck. The thieves for some reason cut the wiring harness to steal the computer out of the truck. The guy in charge of the repair said they need to replace the entire loom under the dash along with the computer and keys. He said it’s going to take a while to get. He said I won’t have it back until around Xmas. What a clusterfuck. They have a recovered highlander in there now with the harness cut exactly the same way.

On the positive side he said he’s confident they can pull the dent on the roof back without damaging the paint.

 

I thought this kinda crap only happened in the States -

 

I'm so sorry this happened. I hope even with having to wait for Christmas, that life with our Tacoma can get back to normal. Thanks for the update.

 

My insurance company arranged an f150 rental. It’s a 2020. Man it makes me miss my Tacoma. MUCH less enjoyable to drive.

 

I've been following this to see what can be done to make thefts like this harder. Of course, there's only so much one can do, but here are my thoughts on passive antitheft:

1. Decoy OBD port. Make stock port useless and route the real one somewhere else. Makes it harder to program new keys, but doesn't prevent ECU swaps.
2. Hidden ignition killswitch. Truck won't start/run even with reprogrammed ECU.

That's what I'm thinking of doing to mine, at least. OP, did the dealer have any advice on preventing these kinds of thefts? I imagine they frequently put Toyotas back together after they've been swiped so they might have some ideas. Please pass them along if they do!

 

I had that conversation with the head of the Body Shop there and he said with all the discussions he’s had with police and insurance, the club is still the best defence