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Giles Coren i-Pace Stolen, Tracker easily disabled

8K views 27 replies 17 participants last post by  fa147 
#1 ·
#2 ·
We need to be careful about insurance, companies ask if the vehicle is fitted with a tracker, the IPace is BUT does it comply with that insurance companies requirements AND is the subscription paid up.

If it, or you not compliant they will not pay out if the car is stolen, ouch!.
 
#4 ·
Serves him right for living in London and being a smug git ;) I assume disabling the tracker is harder on the MY21 unless your rip out the whole infotainment?
 
#6 ·
He has now retrieved the car. The Police told him where it was parked (by the thieves) and he went and collected it. They had parked it up (probably waiting to see if there was an additional tracker they hadn't disabled).
 
#13 ·
Guardian Mode informs you if the car is unlocked, has been started or doors have been opened. It does this even if your keys are being used. Therefore, in theory, should someone take your keys and unlocked your car, you will be alerted. Of course a phone signal will be a prerequisite.
 
#15 ·
You can presumably always block a tracker with a fairly cheap signal jammer that prevents GPS connectivity? That goes for any car not exclusively JLR.

What I don't understand is unless you are going to sell a stolen iPace for parts, how do you ever sell it on, when at best any buyer would not be able to use any online services, apps etc? Its a mad thing to steal really.
 
#16 ·
electric beagle said:
You can presumably always block a tracker with a fairly cheap signal jammer that prevents GPS connectivity? That goes for any car not exclusively JLR.

What I don't understand is unless you are going to sell a stolen iPace for parts, how do you ever sell it on, when at best any buyer would not be able to use any online services, apps etc? Its a mad thing to steal really.
Well for a start the traction battery is worth £10,000 + on the open market! Add together all the bits and pieces, wheels, tyres and numerous body parts and I'm sure you could net £15,000 from the stolen car! Not bad for an evenings work!
Mind you the government pays that sort of money to 'consultants'!
Pack it into a container and ship to another country, sadly this an industry that is thriving.
Transit vans used to be the choice vehicle to steal, nearly always just for the engine and gearbox especially in Russia!

Going back to the I-Pace, the TCU is hidden, but not that well, and it is possible to get to it if you know where it is. Without the TCU, all communication with the outside world is lost!

That shark fin on the roof, that's the antenna, now with a bit of thought and aluminium foil...goodbye I-Pace!

Not all is lost because you can add another GPS tracking device, the sort that is fitted to mini diggers etc. If you park your car outside the house or on the road, then it may be an option worth considering?

Giles Coren could have had any car and the same thing happened, he let rip because he likes the I-Pace, I'm sure if he had an Audi e-Tron we would have had a similar tirade!!

Stay safe

Ian
 
#17 ·
TheBook said:
Guardian Mode informs you if the car is unlocked, has been started or doors have been opened. It does this even if your keys are being used. Therefore, in theory, should someone take your keys and unlocked your car, you will be alerted. Of course a phone signal will be a prerequisite.
Hi,

Just tried this, and went to our car to unlock and open the drivers door.

The only alert that came on my iPhone was hidden in the Jaguar Remote App itself. If I hadn't opened the app, I wouldn't have seen the notification.

Is there a way to get an audible notification or better still a notification that comes up on the home screen on the iPhone?

Any help with this would be much appreciated.

Kind regards,
Nigel
 
#18 ·
NigelC said:
TheBook said:
Guardian Mode informs you if the car is unlocked, has been started or doors have been opened. It does this even if your keys are being used. Therefore, in theory, should someone take your keys and unlocked your car, you will be alerted. Of course a phone signal will be a prerequisite.
Hi,

Just tried this, and went to our car to unlock and open the drivers door.

The only alert that came on my iPhone was hidden in the Jaguar Remote App itself. If I hadn't opened the app, I wouldn't have seen the notification.

Is there a way to get an audible notification or better still a notification that comes up on the home screen on the iPhone?

Any help with this would be much appreciated.

Kind regards,
Nigel
Go to settings and scroll down to the Remote Jaguar app. Go to notifications and make sure they are turned. Choose your alert style and turn on sound.
 
#19 ·
electric beagle said:
You can presumably always block a tracker with a fairly cheap signal jammer that prevents GPS connectivity? That goes for any car not exclusively JLR.

What I don't understand is unless you are going to sell a stolen iPace for parts, how do you ever sell it on, when at best any buyer would not be able to use any online services, apps etc? Its a mad thing to steal really.
There are plenty of high end cars get stolen and shipped to countries where no questions are asked, once they are registered legally there and sold on to a unsuspecting (maybe) punter the car has passed through many hands. If any parts are needed they are ordered and supplied in the normal way.

A few years back a Combine Harvester was stolen in Essex, 2 yrs later it turned up in Western Australia the only way it was identified was when a technician plugged the computer in to fix a fault
 
#20 ·
Was this a publicity stunt? The car was found nicely parked within walking distance of his home.

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/journos-story-of-how-his-jaguar-got-stolen-and-recovered-is-hollywood-worthy-159297.html

I believe the shark-fin antenna could be shielded to prevent tracking, but the actual theft seems problematic.

The key fob uses an RF transmitter to unlock the car from a distance. InControl apps can do this over a greater distance too via the API and phone networks.

But is it possible to use a radio relay to transmit the fob RF signal from inside your home and unlock the I-Pace without pressing the fob unlock button?

Also I thought the car used a different proximity device in the key fob to allow the door handle push switch to unlock the car as when the fob battery is flat, the key hidden inside the fob can unlock the car using the mechanical lock, but Starting is only possible using the proximity sensor under the steering wheel.

The car also warns if the key fob is misplaced either inside or outside of the cabin. I have just attempted to start the car with the fob outside of the vehicle, there is a Warning chime and message "Smart Key not recognised "etc. the car does not start.

How was this theft achieved?

Cheers, Steve
 
#21 ·
There is a thread on this subject worth reading -

https://www.ipaceforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4400

The IPace keyfob is one of the few on the market that are in theory immune to relay attacks.

How the thieves are able to make a clone key is still a mystery - it seems unlikely that just scanning for the key fob/car interactions would give them enough information.

I have some suspicion of a security leak at JLR or the dealer.
 
#22 ·
Lobster said:
Was this a publicity stunt? The car was found nicely parked within walking distance of his home.
If it was a publicity stunt I don't think he did his image any good at all with the language he used. It certainly didn't endear me to him, not that I liked him much before anyway.

Andy
 
#23 ·
It appears to me that there is a relatively simple way for JRL to fix this problem without recalling all the vehicles; Instead of having the "welcome screen" which forces you to touch the screen to acknowledge it (I suspect this is just to disguise the fact that the software takes a little while to boot up but it is an irritation because it does nothing useful for the driver) that welcome screen could be replaced with a screen that requires the input of a pin number before the car will start. I understand that Tesla already does this.

I imagine that the change could be made by an over-the-air software update but even if the car had to go to a dealer I would be prepared to pay for it so the feature could be self-financing.

Perhaps at the same time, the requirement to log into the "in-control" system with your email address and password could be dispensed with (usually this prompt occurs while driving and is a dangerous distraction) entering the pin number could result in an automatic log-in as well.

Not only would this improve the security of JLR cars but it would remove two of the most irritating things about the software.
 
#24 ·
Thincat said:
It appears to me that there is a relatively simple way for JRL to fix this problem without recalling all the vehicles; Instead of having the "welcome screen" which forces you to touch the screen to acknowledge it (I suspect this is just to disguise the fact that the software takes a little while to boot up but it is an irritation because it does nothing useful for the driver) that welcome screen could be replaced with a screen that requires the input of a pin number before the car will start. I understand that Tesla already does this.

I imagine that the change could be made by an over-the-air software update but even if the car had to go to a dealer I would be prepared to pay for it so the feature could be self-financing.

Perhaps at the same time, the requirement to log into the "in-control" system with your email address and password could be dispensed with (usually this prompt occurs while driving and is a dangerous distraction) entering the pin number could result in an automatic log-in as well.

Not only would this improve the security of JLR cars but it would remove two of the most irritating things about the software.
I like it.
 
#25 ·
Given that JLR can't make their software remember a user profile or password for the navigation, then I doubt if asking it to remember a PIN has any traction, pun intended!
The Jaguar Assistance loan I-Pace I had recently, had a dongle plugged and tie-wrapped into the OBD2 port, so even JLR doesn't rely on the inbuilt tracking system, now that tells you a lot, doesn't it!

Stay safe

Ian
 
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