So a neighbor of mine a few houses down. Had their Porsche Macan stolen right out of their driveway in the middle of the night.

All keys accounted for. First of all: HOW?! With modern technology, RFIDs, Key Fobs, etc. How do you even steal a modern car?

Second : Why?! Are there legit chop shops still around? Do you try to sell it? WTF do you even do with a stolen car? Especially after going to the trouble to steal a "high end" car. Not like it's a 1990 honda accord here.

Wrecker hauls it away, maybe?

Everybody sure it wasn't repossessed?

There are ways to clone transponder keys if you can get close enough. I have heard of teams of car thieves doing this while people shop. Nice car in the lot, so they seek out people in the store that look like they might be the owner. Bad guy in store gets close enough, and the device he has will pick up the keys and send that signal to the guy in the parking lot standing next to the car.

Repo man...?

Not everyone playing the rich man is as rich as they say....

Does it have proximity door handle auto-unlock and push button start? Many fancy modern cars do. These require a key fob transmitter to be within X distance in order for the doors to automatically unlock when the handle is grasped, and for the car to start when you push the button on the dash.

Typically, having the key fob in the house would provide enough distance to prevent the car from being unlocked or started. But there are electronic boosters/repeaters available that will boost/bounce the signal from the fob located inside the house, and make the car think the fob is within distance, allowing the car to unlock/start.

So one guy creep up to the house with the booster/repeater until the fob signal is within range of their box, then another guy (who will often have a second booster/repeater relay box) unlocks the car with the proximity unlock on the door handle, starts the car with the push button start, and then they both get in and drive off.

Once away from the boosted/bounced key fob signal, the car will repeatedly complain that the key fob is out of range, but will continue to function until shut off at their destination.



There are also ways to capture a key fob transmitter's code and clone it. This is seen on more specifically targeted thefts, which may be likely with something like a Porsche Macan. They followed the guy somewhere and captured his key fob signal, cloned it, then came back and stole the car from his house in the middle of the night with a fake/cloned key fob transmitter.


Keyless entry and start are convenient, but that convenience comes with a price...

quote:

Originally posted by myrottiety:

Second : Why?! Are there legit chop shops still around? Do you try to sell it? WTF do you even do with a stolen car? Especially after going to the trouble to steal a "high end" car. Not like it's a 1990 honda accord here.

Short answer: Yes. A lot of them go offshore (containerized and shipped) or go south to Mexico and beyond by land.

Never underestimate the intelligence of a determined car thief. They always figure a way around the anti theft devices.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Repo man...?

Not everyone playing the rich man is as rich as they say....

About half the neighborhood has Ring cameras. It was driven out vs towed. I just thought fancy gone in 60- Seconds type technology grabs was only in the movies.

maybe they "arranged" the theft

Forty cars were stolen off the lot at a Chicago dealership. The thieves used a crowbar to break into the lockbox containing all the keys. Someone even posted a cell phone video of the cars being driven off the lot.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Forty cars were stolen off the lot at a Chicago dealership. The thieves used a crowbar to break into the lockbox containing all the keys. Someone even posted a cell phone video of the cars being driven off the lot.

With car sales being depressed the dealership probably arranged it!

Repo'd. It would not surprise me if the repo man had a fob or cloned the fob shown above. Alot less noisey than a truck.

See if you can get a copy of the police report. No report, it's been repo'd

quote:

With car sales being depressed the dealership probably arranged it

^^^^^^^^^^
Who knows. I had my car in for some minor detailing at the dealership. The guy that wrote the ticket, drove me back to the office and also acted as a cashier. Only one guy in parts, service department very slow.

Rogue & a1 suggestions above would be my guess.

quote:

Originally posted by DSgrouse:
Repo'd. It would not surprise me if the repo man had a fob or cloned the fob shown above. Alot less noisey than a truck.

See if you can get a copy of the police report. No report, it's been repo'd

Records request link


https://p2c.alpharetta.ga.us/p2c/Content.aspx?i=6

quote:

Originally posted by downtownv:
maybe they "arranged" the theft

That's my first thought as someone who's worked a lot of theft claims.

when I was still living in NH, my Audi was broken into while sitting in my driveway - done by a similar method - they found the fob signal and managed to amplify it enough that the car thought I was standing next to it

I lost a pair of prescription Ray Ban's, a Breitling watch and a rosewood-handled Leatherman's tool

I’m shocked that someone that owns a car like that can’t afford a garage to put it in.

You'd be amazed by what people will do to have a perceived status.

quote:

Originally posted by SigM4:
I’m shocked that someone that owns a car like that can’t afford a garage to put it in.

My neighbor parks his MB G63 at his weekend home outdoors. It has 577 HP and hits 60 in 3.9. I think its around $175K. All while a car of mine that the value varies with how full the fuel tank is, sits snugly in a garage.

I was discussing the performance of his G Wagon, and he said come get the keys and take it for a spin. I said thanks, but no thanks.