My father (80+ years old,) had his 2000 Maxima stolen a few days ago. He has both keys (with the chips imbedded in them,) and has not been out of site of either set of keys at any time. He had the car serviced at the dealership three weeks ago, could someone there have gotten a replacement key made without his knowledge?
My main question is this; with the steering column lock, the starter motor disabled, and without the passkey and the fuel pump also disabled, HOW could the car have been driven off?!?
Any insight would be appreciated.
Thanks, Al Ferrara

 

Sorry about the loss, I am not sure how someone could have stolen it without the key. I might be missing something, but when I got my 2001 Maxima they gave me a numerical code that the dealer said would be required to reprogram any keys, and they claimed that the dealer has no record of this and if you lose the code you would have to get the number from Nissan. Hope this helps.

 

the transponder chip embedded inside the key is just a precaustionary measurement. but like any other man-made device, it's not 100% theft-proof. i think some high-class auto thieves these days actually have encoders to break such anti-theft systems. i don't know how it works but sometimes they can capture the frequencies and tap into your system as well...

 

Well, a coded key doesn't guarantee that a car won't be stolen. If a thief really wants your car, and they can't start it, they will just tow it away.

 

possible a flat bed job??

 

lol, i dont know about all that but i get your point. wont insurance pay for the car entirely?????? i dont understand how this works. theives man...............kill em all!!!!!

 

I dunno where you live, but in San Francisco, lots of cars gets stolen by being towed. Usually high end luxury cars, and then they shipped overseas to foreign markets. That's why the cops always tell people to set their parking brakes.

 

OT: but at my school a few years back the local towing company that was hired to remove illegally parked cars was showing up and night and taking their pick of cars for keeps... they got busted in the end.

 

They make devices to bypass the key module, so once thats done, its just like stealing any other car.

 

I have no idea how close to real the movie "Gone in 60 seconds" is, but they were using some sort of computer to bypass codes or crack the code. Theives are good at what they do, the ones that don't get caught that is.

 

Yeah, I was thinking the exact same thing. They just plug it into the key hole and the thing cracks the codes.

 

parking brakes don't help all that much after what i have observed in taiwan, thehy don't use flat beds to tow cars here. they jack your car up, then put em' on rollers, then use a fork like thingy and tow it out within' a min.. it looked really really simple, so if a towing company can do it in a min, hten a professional thief must be able to do it in the same time, if not less. the imobilizer that nissan uses isn't all kthat hard to bypass, same as honda, hte harder ones are jags and benz

 

Kids don't steal Maximas to joyride. It's too complicated. Pros steal them to chop them or to sell them elsewhere.

Certainly sounds like a towing job to me.

 

True. But taking all those little precautions may deter the amateur thief. The pros will get your car no matter what you do to protect it.