Warning over the new sophisticated technique carjackers are using to steal Toyotas in South Africa

Toyota owners, particularly Land Cruiser owners, have been warned to remain vigilant of a new, sophisticated carjacking method used by criminals to steal these sought-after vehicles.

According to LandCruiserSA, South Africa averages up to 60 hijackings per day, and the most-targeted list reads like a Toyota price list, with the Hilux at the top, followed by the Fortuner, Land Cruiser, and Prado.

That is because the qualities that make the Japanese brand ideal for South Africa are the same qualities that put it near the top of every thief’s shopping list.

The Land Cruiser market data provider explained that the methods used to steal these vehicles have also changed.

“The hot-wire era is long gone. Modern vehicle theft falls into a few broad categories, and understanding them is the whole game,” it said.

Today, the three most common ways Toyotas are being targeted are hijackings, key cloning or relay attacks, and the newest and most sophisticated method car thieves are employing – CAN-bus injection.

This technique involves thieves accessing the vehicle’s data network – or Controller Area Network (CAN) – often via a headlight, wheel arch, or wing-mirror connector, to inject commands that tell the car the key is present.

According to some estimates, the time it takes for carjackers to peel back the wheel-arch plastic or remove a headlight using basic tools, locate the headlight connector, and plug in the device that injects the false commands takes less than 90 seconds.

From there, the vehicle’s doors unlock, the alarm and immobiliser are bypassed, granting the thief access and leaving them free to start the car using push start.

LandCruiserSA explained that a traditional alarm sounding off in a parking lot does nothing to stop any of these methods, and a steering lock merely slows carjackers down.

“The threat has moved to the electronics, so the most effective modern defence lives there too,” it added.

Stopping your Toyota from becoming a CAN-bus injection target

According to Drive Australia, Toyotas, Land Cruisers in particular, have become so widely targeted that the carmaker was forced to update the vehicle security of Hilux, Land Cruiser, and Prado models.

Countermeasures include a factory-approved additional immobiliser which can be installed at dealerships.

However, in South Africa, LandCruiserSA suggested that Toyota owners employ multiple layers of security to keep their vehicles from being stolen.

“There is no single silver bullet. What actually protects a Cruiser is layers, making your vehicle enough of a problem that a syndicate moves on to an easier target, and giving you a way to recover it if they don’t,” it said.

The first layer is visible deterrents, including gear locks and wheel clamps. While these won’t stop a determined syndicate, they will raise the time and effort cost, genuinely helping against opportunists.

The second layer is a tracker, which helps locate and recover the vehicle once it’s been stolen, and may even be a condition of insurance, acting as a safety net rather than preventative.

LandCruiserSA then also suggested combining immobilisation with an active response, which is what actually defeats modern theft.

“An immobiliser stops the vehicle from being driven away, and the most capable modern systems go further, rolling prevention, tracking and armed response into a single device,” it said.

Finally, it explained that the cheapest layer to add to vehicle protection is often the one people skip – forming habits and increasing situational awareness.

“Most hijackings happen in predictable places, including your own gate, intersections, and quiet stops,” said LandCruiserSA.

“Vary your routine, leave space to escape at robots, approach your gate only once it’s open, and be especially alert in the last hundred metres home. No device replaces paying attention.”