Toyota rolls out new, free safety tech to curb hijackings – see if your car qualifies

Toyota has announced the rollout of several new safety systems to certain older vehicles in lieu of them being targeted by hijackers.

In a statement, the automaker said it has become aware of rising vehicle hijackings after the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions using sophisticated methods despite most of the vehicles in question featuring keyless entry.

Methods of entry

“Toyota South Africa Motors’ research and development team acted proactively, forming allies with various parties, including the South African Police Services, in order to gather intelligence about the new methods used by criminals when stealing cars in South Africa,” the statement read.

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“The intelligence gathered revealed that highly sophisticated cyber-attacks are used by thieves to exploit the vehicle’s computer-controlled systems. These attacks include three modes: CAN Attack, fob relaying and a combination of forced entry and key cloning”.

The mentioned forms of gaining entry and ultimately stealing have been identified as the following:

• CAN Attack – Using electronic equipment to manipulate the vehicle’s Control Area Network to gain entry and start engine.
• Fob relaying: Using transmitters and receivers to read and unlock the vehicle’s security key with the owner present.
•  Forced entry and key cloning: So-called “advanced techniques and equipment” are used to gain entry in addition to cloning the security key and disabling the alarm.

While it didn’t go into detail explaining the measures taken to prevent the mentioned happening, it did confirm that all new Toyota and Lexus vehicles sold from December will have the enhancements as standard, with those earmarked for the targeted older vehicles being available at no cost to the owner.

If you have one…

Vehicle in-line for the upgrades include:

• Hilux Legend from 2019 and up
• All grades of Fortuner from 2016
• Land Cruiser Prado from 2017
• Land Cruiser 200 from 2015
• Land Cruiser 300 from 2021
• All grades of Lexus RX and LX and from 2015

“We, as Toyota, are committed to developing safe and reliable vehicles and we will continue with our research and development to further enhance our vehicle security systems,” Toyota South Africa Motors’ Senior Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, Leon Theron, said.

“I would also like to add that vehicle owners will not negate the warranty on their vehicles should they elect to fit an aftermarket security device provided that these are installed correctly by a reputable fitment centre.”

For more information, visit toyota.co.za.