How easy is it so steal your motorhome?

I have just been having a conversation via email with one of our members who has had his van stolen recently.
It was a Ford transit based vehicle (As seen in THIS LINK)
He explained how they thought it had been stolen so I looked into it, for about £15 you can buy something to not only pick the lock, it gives you the key code so you can get a key cut for the ignition
when you use this tool on a vehicle with just the standard alarm on, when you open the door with it, it turns the alarm off
What they do once they open the door is connect a laptop to your OBD port and disable the alarm key code so they can start it and drive off without doing any damage at all, if they just want to rob the vehicle then they don't need the laptop etc.

Best advice - Ditch the standard alarm and get another one fit, or at least look into buying a device to stop them doing this, I did a quick search and found one for £80, possibly available cheaper



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Another way is have a switch hidden that has to be turned on before the vehicle starts.  

Don't know if this will work on the newer vehicles.

WOW!!!
Not being a thief I have had no need to look into tools for stealing vehicles or breaking into them and surprised just what is available out there and for very little cost, your standard door locks, lockers etc you might as well not have them on, for £2 or £3 they can be opened very easy, no damage, no mess and if anyone sees you they'd just think you owned the van

There has been a spate of ford focus st's stolen from around the west midlands over the past two months im sure there where 27 done in 1 month. I have witnessed cctv footage of thieves stealing a ford focus in under 50 seconds not worrying about the alarm going off due to them not being there long enough for somebody to awaken, get dressed and exit the property before they had taken off. Being a Diagnostic Engineer I have most hardware & software for most vehicles and its scary how fast you can start a vehicle without a key. You don't need to have a key cut with the push button to start fords ( being the easier to start ) but even with the blade type you only need a basic blade head, programme it, break the steering lock, put the head by the ignition so the transponder ring will read and then start via the black box. The main issue hear is the OBD port so there's a few simple/cheap options here. Cut the main 12v feed wire to the obd port, extend the wire and then either place a 20amp inline fuse or a rocker switch in the line and hide it away from the general are of the obd port. Keep the fuse out or the switch in the off position until needed ( maintenance / Diag work ) then if the vehicle is attempted to be stolen they will plug in and wont be able to access the ecu the computer will just come back as unable to read please check battery voltage. The other option is a OBD lock off eBay ( I have fitted a few of these in the past and I am not a fan ) or totally move the OBD port. This is not a huge job but is effective but the only one problem with this is if the vehicle needs to be plugged in the garage/breakdown/mechanic will know where the plug is after work as in the fuse/rocker switch no one will ever now the location and of course you flick the switch or put the fuse in before the vehicle visits the garage and then take out or turn off when back.

I hope this helps

ps im not a car thief

alarms wont deter them due to how fast they can enter, start and get away

Having an old van I don't need to worry about the OBD port yet but I will be cutting the feed and inserting a switch or something when I do change my van, thanks for the info

No Problem