Gomez

I did a forum search on the word "stolen" and came up with only a few instances of RX-8 theft. One was reported by Michael regarding a RX-8 taken on Hope Island and later found dumped....apparently the key was stolen from the owners house. Another was the theft of an RX-8 from a dealership in the U.S. The car belonged to one of the saleman. Given that keys are often left in cars at the yard, or on a keyboard, I'd treat this theft as opportunistic. And Choppy reported the theft of a couple? of RX-8's from a dealers backlot.....

As this forum has nearly 14,000 members, and lets say 10,000 of them own an RX-8, I'd say the chance of having you're 8 stolen is pretty slim. Sure a lot of these members no longer post....but I think they'd hit the forum again if their car went missing.

The standard immobiliser is, at this point in time at least, up to the job. As the factory alarm is an accessory in Australia, we have a good number of 8's on the streets without them. That fact notwithstanding, we haven't had a member post about how he lost his car to thieves. Touchwood...

Is there anyone with a contact in the insurance industry who could pull up the figures on RX-8 theft? Are alarms necessary at this point? There is always the possibility the baddies will break the immobiliser in the future...

Gomez.

RXE16T

Mate where I live, if it can be moved, it can be stolen.
Just a matter of when unfortunately.

sco

But do we have any proof of this. I don't recall seeing many "my windows were smashed but they couldn't start my car" posts. This could, however, mean the immobiliser is a deterrent.

I agree, some hard facts would be interesting.

takahashi

I got debadged! Only the Mazda logo at the back.

Lucky there is no other scratches. My other cars and neighbour's cars are all scratched.

Count myself very lucky, in a way.

I can get a badge from Mazda right?

Stop smart comments guys I am very angry

RXE16T

WTF???

Why would they pinch the "Mazda" badge?
If you were going to take anything, it would be the "RX8" badge.

Sorry to hear this has happened to you Taka.
Someone once stole my red "Honda" badge off my TypeR, so I know how you feel.

Gomez

Sorry mate, no more theft threads from me! Yes, I imagine Mazda would have badges in stock, they are a high risk item. Some fool debadged the Peugeot last year, and Peugeot had a set in stock, which was surprising. One badge cost $70....hopefully the Mazda ones are cheaper.

Good luck mate,

Gomez.

DMRH

Would that be in little Lebanon.........???

Sometimes reffered to as Bankstown

RXE16T

Ha ha! :D :D :D

EZZY

nah, try mazdaspeed taka....
sorry, had to do it :D

takahashi

Do you think. I think it is quite gay. Anyway, I will buy the set and take a few pic and let you decide.

BVD

Interesting post Gomez.

I wondered about the theft stats after reading the thread here recently with somebody wanting to bypass the immobiliser so that he could fit a remote start.

Sooner or later, somebody finds out how to either bypass, over-ride or strip out whatever is fitted and replaced what they need to. But with some vehicles it would seem that this is not a quick and easy task.

I've read that 'professional' thieves will target a vehicle (presumably usually an expensive one) and simply winch it onto or into a truck. Then it doesn't matter how long it takes to strip out and replace the electronics, ignition switch and keys, or whatever.

The only theft I have heard about was related (with a broad smile) by the salesman I bought my car from. Apparently one of the other Perth dealers had one nicked after they left the keys in it during a session of rotating cars in and out of display areas. According to the story it was used in a robbery the next day.

When I said that it seemed a rather amazing piece of opportunism - he said that it was not unusual for thieves to target car yards because of the number of cars and frequency of moving meant that every now and then an opportunity cropped up. I noticed that their own red RX8 had the key just dropped into the driver's door side pocket, where it was handy for turning the ignition on and demonstrating various features! However, it was in the showroom at the time, so would not have been easy to get away. :D

Sorry, drifting off topic there...

BVD

Of course car thieves are always helped by peope who STILL leave keys in the ignition while they go into a shop or whatever, sometimes with the engine still running. There was a case a while back of a woman who did that and someone drove off with her BMW complete with baby in the back.

A friend of mine was on a suburban train a few months ago and was astonished to hear a well dressed woman talking on her mobile phone in a loud voice - that everyone in the carriage could hear - apparently to a mechanic who was going to pick up her car for service, or do an on the spot fix.

The call went something like this:

"Yes - the red Mercedes, it's in the driveway in front of the house. Yes - 45 Harvest road. No - the keys are in the letter box"...... and so on. In the space of a couple of minutes she gave out information about her car, her address, where the keys for both the car and the house were, and even gave an idea of how long the place would be unattended for!!

My friend said that he expected half the occupants of the carriage to get out at the next station and head for the named street! He even tried to think of anybody that he knew in the area who he could ring and get them to move the car into another street to teach her a lesson. Amazing :D

sco

ROFL

I'm paranoid about letting too much information out on this forum - e.g. someone works out where I live and raids my garage while on holidays. Hence why my car wasn't parked in my garage and was suitably disabled and no keys were left where it was stored.

NickG

The Sydney Morning Herald from last Friday had an assessment of vehicle security put out by the insurance industry. The RX-8 rates in the early 60's out of 100 - a bit ahead of the local Falcodore set, but well below the best from Europe, which were in the 90's.

Choppy

Yep i mentioned that two where stolen from the dealership.. :D

In bankstown you got more people popping doors and boots to get stero gear not actually take the car.. The big timers in bankstown drive cars worth 3 times the value of the 8 anyway

I was in lakemba Maccers on sat night having a feed before going out and local homies said they love the car.. Did i get car jacked..NO I look to much like them, without all the bling bling of course

Regards
Phillip

playa78

here is the list from the drive.com.au
looks like rx-8 came on top for the japanese cars in the sports car category with the exception of the ever theft prone (no more) wrx sti and evo8..

BVD

Interesting list. Looks like the RX8 doesn't rate too well, but it would be instructive to know how they arrived at the figures.

For instance, did they use statistic on how many have actually been stolen per 1000 sold, without necessarily knowing how the thefts were done?

Or (perhaps more likely) rate on how many different anti-theft features were fitted - i.e. so many points for an alarm as standard fitting etc., so many for an immobiliser, so many for double lock doors, etc? It does look as if the jump from the RX8 to the higher rated cars might be accounted for by a factory fitted alarm as standard. Anybody know if that's the case??

With that many cars to rate I suspect that they may not have had the time to go as far as practical experiments to see how hard each immobiliser (for instance) actually was to crack - and I imagine that some are more simple to bypass than others. Unless they have a tame thief who can demonstrate how many minutes it takes to nick each car. :o

Interesting topic - I'm looking for a part time job in the retirement years, maybe there's a future in cracking anti-theft systems... :D

Gomez

Well, it seems it didn't take long. It appears as if the RX-8 immobiliser has been cracked. Frank Patrick had his RX-8 stolen from the airport carpark in Los Angeles and footage of the theft was caught on the exit security cameras. The car was not flatbedded out, it was driven away. Link to Frank's thread..... Click here.

Gomez.

takahashi

Seen that. How did they do it without the key?

I don't think you can bypass the immobilizer, can't you?

Gomez

It is very difficult to drive away an RX-8 without a key. I've done a little research.....it appears the theft happened quickly, so we could probably rule out a wholesale rewire that included bypass of the PCM, hookup of a secondary fuel supply etc. The quickest way is to have WDS access at the car, or a "WDS equivalent" at the car.

The way a lot of late model cars are boosted is by replacement of the steering column ignition switch module. There is then a set factory proceedure to follow to get the cars on-board computer to recognise the new keys/ignition switch. Once this has been completed, you can start the car and drive away. Mazda's proceedure requires a WDS (or equivalent).....

A Mazda 6 was stolen at the same time....I suppose we can't rule out some rogue service guy, however it seems unlikely.

Lock & Load

Guys invest in a petrol cut=out switch a well worth mod , my was done by an Auto electrician .

cheers
michael

AvatarQAZ

Remember ladies and gents, locks and theft detterants only keep out SEMI-HONEST to HONEST people. If someone WANTS to take something, they will... no way around it.

RXE16T

I couldn't agree more. :D

Frank Patrick

My 8 was stolen a short time age- (LAX) To this day, other then getting one lic. plate back, I have not herd much about from the police. I have settled with insurance and purchased another 8. I have no idea what method they used, but was esentially informed by LA's finest-if the folks in the this business get an order to fill, that your car does, and the opportunity presents itself- it's good-by. You can worry about this everytime you park your car, but I wouldn't, takes to much of the fun out of ownership, and isn't that why we all bought them in the first place- bottom line-keep up with your insurance payments, and don't give a second thought. (Especially if you have Winning Blue 8, cause I know THAT order has been filled ! )

menace1227

my driver's side window was smashed 3 weeks ago. good thing they only took the coins I had in the cup holders. The thieves were not able to find the other stuff in the hidden console box. Good thing that's the only items they took. I guess the alarm and the immobilizer did work. But the damage was $300 which I could have used for other mods.

But then again, as Frank Patrick said we got the car to enjoy it and not worry about these things. That's why we have insurance.