My 04 Screw was stolen from my driveway on New Year's Day at 0630. I had started it, gone back into the house to get something, and during the 3 minutes or so I was away from the truck, some &)$%^@ jumped in a drove it off. The truck was recovered this morning, just over 24 hours later, by a stroke of good luck, in a town about 30 miles away. Several other stolen vehicles were also recovered from what apparently was a ring of thieves. No damage was done to my truck, but I have not yet gotten the key back, and I assume that some of the still-at-large thieves still have the key.

My question is this: What is the best, most sure, way of preventing the use of that key in my truck? I am not able to park inside a garage, so my truck is accessible in the driveway at all times. Can I have the truck's system reprogrammed to use new keys such that the old keys would be useless? If so, would it be best to have the dealer do this? Is it expensive?

Thanks for any info provided.

 

man that really sucks!!!
sorry to hear about that

Until you get the key back or something like getting the ignition redone....i would suggest you take the battery out and disconnect a few essential wires to start the truck....that way they cant come back and take it.

u could possibly have a dealer keep it till you get it worked out

 

If you have a good insurance company, they should pay to get your ignition re-done/reprogrammed. I had this happen to me with my Camry 5 years ago and USAA re-imbursed me to get a new ignition. The dealership did the work.

 

I would just get new keys made, even if they change the PATs they would still be able to get in. Maybe a cheaper option would be to get a good quality aftermarket alarm.

 

Thats messed up... But it would sure teach them

 

Sounds like you need a code alarm 680 from Travis at KCautosound.com

let you remote start without the keys and still keeps the alarm armed.

 

Thanks for the condolences. Yes, that is what I did last night before going to bed. I took out the battery and put it in the house. My guess is, even if these thieves made a counterattack, they wouldn't likely be carrying a battery with them, and certainly wouldn't be likely to spend the time it'd take to install one, even if they had one.

 

Thanks. I will call the adjuster this morning to report that I've got the truck back at home and that there is no damage. It is obvious that the ring was preparing to market the truck. They removed a baby seat and an XM antenna and mount, plus all the legal paperwork, like registration, license plate, and insurance cards, plus my extended warranty cert. But the remainder of the truck was totally undamaged. It had occurred to me that the ins. company might pay for a new ignition. I will ask about it. But, if they don't, I will have to bite that bullet myself. I kick myself in the butt for being so stupid as to just open my truck, start it up, turn on the seat heaters, and then walk away to this scum could take it from me. I'm very thankful to have it back and consider myself lucky it wasn't a lot worse than it was. The lesson, of course, is never, never start your vehicle and walk away from it, even for a minute or two.

 

By PAT are you talking about having the ignition reprogrammed for new keys? It appears that this is possible, from what I read in the owner's manual. I realize they could still get in through the door locks, but they wouldn't be able to start and drive the truck, would they?

 

Thanks for the sorrow. Well, I brought it on myself through laziness and being unaware of my surroundings. Obviously I had been set up by being a person of daily habit. The police officer told me that typically these thieves will observe the cars that are running in driveways, and then come back prepared the next day. He said that it is an everyday ocurrence here in New Mexico. The F-150s and other SUVs are very popular in Mexico.

 

Just be glad you got your truck back with no damage -- most folks aren't nearly as lucky when their car is stolen. You'll definitely need new cylinders in your door and ignition. Even if you program enough new keys that the old key can't start your vehicle, I wouldn't want thugs like that to have access to the interior of my truck!

 

Thanks, I will keep that in mind. I will visit that site today. However, as much as I like a little pre-warming in these frigid temps, I doubt I'll be doing that again. Anytime soon.

 

I wouldnt pay for anything...THEIR lucky that the truck isnt damaged or is it and could have paid out thousands if it wasnt recovered. Tell them that if they dont pay for a new ignition and you told them about it then they will be paying thousands for a new truck. It is not up to you to perform some sort of outlandish ritual (pull out the battery) to prevent it from occuring again. What if you had an emergency and needed the truck (e.g. cut some fingers off on the table saw) are you going to take the time to reinstall the battery. Shame on them when the scumbag comes back to finish the job. As far as warming it up, its a crap shoot. I let mine run at work (I get out a midnight) and just use the keyless entry to lock the doors while its running...makes me nervous but WTF i'm not going to freeze on the way home. Get a new ignition/locks first.

 

Aha! So that would be one method of making the old keys unusable? To program the max number of keys? I will consider that. Probably less expensive that way than having the ignition reprogrammed, even if that is possible. New lock cylinders, that is probably also a necessity. You're right, the thought of the scum driving my truck makes my flesh crawl. They actually SMOKED in my truck. I drove around town last night with the windows down to air it out. At least the scum didn't use the ashtray. That's one of the clues that tells me they did care for the truck in terms of keeping its value up. If this had been a joyride, or a theft for a crime vehicle, then they probably would've just torn it apart.

The time they had the truck is the big factor. The police had apprehended a couple of thieves in this little town, which led them to a parking lot in an apt complex. As the tow truck was hooking up the subject vehicle, one of the officers noticed that the pax window on my truck was halfway down. Thinking that to be odd in these frigid temps, he did a VIN check on it and found it reported stolen. They then did VIN checks on other vehicles in the lot and found a few more. So, it was a good observation by the officer. I aim to call the dept this morning to thank them, and to find out if they got any property from the people they arrested. Maybe my key is in there. BTW, while they were hooking my truck up to the tow, the tow drivers heard a police call on the radio about a shooting. Another car in town was being taken in the very same way, but one of the owner's family came out in time and challenged the thief with a gun. Shot him three times. Scum is now bleeding in the hospital. Sweet. Unfortunately three bullets went thru the car, which I saw in the garage yesterday when I picked up my truck. I only hope that this is the bust up of a big car theft ring in this region.

 

Glad it worked out for you....in the 14 yrs i've been doing it I dont find many stolen cars that arent a mess when I find them. SMOKING IN YOUR TRUCK!!! those sob's (that would bother me the most) one word my friend "Febreeze"