Auto theft on the rise...

[Bailey Guns]

Are you sure? Every time I watch one of those cartel movies they always talk about using mules.

Is mule theft on the rise, too?

[SouthPaw]

My friends 2018 Sierra 1500 was recently stolen after the broncos game on 08/28/21. He reported it stolen and after two weeks, his insurance paid him out on it. On 09/18, he received a call from the police that his truck had been towed due to parking tickets. When he told them it was stolen, they released it to him. When he picked it up, the first parking ticket was issued on 08/31 and every day after until it was towed three days later. It was parked 1.2 miles away from where it was stolen. It led us to believe, they only had the truck for a day or two before they dumped it. The crazy part is, in those two days, they drove 2800 miles! When he got the truck home, we went over to find a few dents in the front bumper and slightly dented driveshaft which caused the whole truck to shake when going above 45mph. He had some personal items missing but everything else was there and the truck wasn't trashed. The ignition was all intact, nothing broken, no wires cut, just stunk like pot.

Somehow these guys drove the hell out of it for 1-2 days to rack of those miles up and not get caught with it. I still can't figure out how they stole it, especially since his ignition was all there and nothing was ripped apart. His original key still worked too. We thought maybe they drove it to the border but I can't imagine they were that stupid to take a truck cross country and then bring it all the back? I would also think that they would know that these new vehicles have OnStar or the like and that they could be tracked. Since he was already paid by the insurance, he took the money and let them haul it off. It was a total bummer for him because he had bought it from his friend who was the original owner and it had super low miles (26K).

[BushMasterBoy]

I just thought it strange all these small cars towing other small cars at night. Junk hauling junk. I was sure I was going to be told I was being delusional again. Next time I will save the video from the dash cam. Passing them on I-25 SB is annoying AF. They even have the balls to jockey with each other for the lead! I never thought they could be stolen. I never see them going North...

[Irving]

I just thought it strange all these small cars towing other small cars at night. Junk hauling junk. I was sure I was going to be told I was being delusional again. Next time I will save the video from the dash cam. Passing them on I-25 SB is annoying AF. They even have the balls to jockey with each other for the lead! I never thought they could be stolen. I never see them going North...

No need for videos, I see them heading South from the Springs all the time, and during the middle of the day. In fact, every time I had to the Springs I see a caravan of those vehicles. I always just assumed they were cars bought at auction, since they are clearly marked as such, heading South over the border.

[00tec]

I just thought it strange all these small cars towing other small cars at night. Junk hauling junk. I was sure I was going to be told I was being delusional again. Next time I will save the video from the dash cam. Passing them on I-25 SB is annoying AF. They even have the balls to jockey with each other for the lead! I never thought they could be stolen. I never see them going North...

The auction Toyotas? Those are a constant thing
See many of em on 287 south of Lamar.
Even seen school busses towing school busses

[BushMasterBoy]

I have no idea what they are. They drive dangerously. They seem to break down a lot. And they drive way below the legal limit on I-25. I never see them pulled over by CSP. Anybody else buy these cars at auctions?


https://leg.colorado.gov/content/state-speed-limits

[Martinjmpr]

I still can't figure out how they stole it, especially since his ignition was all there and nothing was ripped apart. His original key still worked too.

….Which leads me right to my next question. How is this happening? The days when you could just pop a steering wheel lock and drive off, or pull two wires under the dashboard and cross them over like McGyver, are long gone. All cars nowadays have those chip keys that supposedly won't even start if you have an exact duplicate of the metal key - you also have to have a matching chip code.

I have a 2018 F-150 XLT (which means it doesn't have the keyless ignition.) It does have a "chip key" and when I bought a new chip key and tried to "program" it myself (using the instructions in the manual) I couldn't do it. Come to find out, Ford disabled that feature in 2018 so now it has to be done by a dealer (who charged me $50 I think.) I assume most modern cars are like this now.

So how are these late-model cars being stolen?

I figure the cops are being cagey about this on purpose because they don't want others to figure out how it's happening, which kind of makes sense. Is there some way to "spoof" a key from a vehicle? Or just bypass the electronic locks?

[BushMasterBoy]

Surely not the key fob warm up feature? Does the ECM/PCM record how the car was started? Maybe bypass certain features using a laptop to the OBD? Car theft seems really prevalent in the Pueblo area.

[Eric P]

VINS, certain shady websites, NFC enabled phone. Used together you can easily steal these new cars.

[00tec]

….Which leads me right to my next question. How is this happening? The days when you could just pop a steering wheel lock and drive off, or pull two wires under the dashboard and cross them over like McGyver, are long gone. All cars nowadays have those chip keys that supposedly won't even start if you have an exact duplicate of the metal key - you also have to have a matching chip code.

I have a 2018 F-150 XLT (which means it doesn't have the keyless ignition.) It does have a "chip key" and when I bought a new chip key and tried to "program" it myself (using the instructions in the manual) I couldn't do it. Come to find out, Ford disabled that feature in 2018 so now it has to be done by a dealer (who charged me $50 I think.) I assume most modern cars are like this now.

So how are these late-model cars being stolen?

I figure the cops are being cagey about this on purpose because they don't want others to figure out how it's happening, which kind of makes sense. Is there some way to "spoof" a key from a vehicle? Or just bypass the electronic locks?

I could start your truck in about 15 minutes by programming a new key, not including cutting the key itself, but that doesn't really matter much.