Who Asked: Celebrity Guest-Stumper, Pete Hautman, author of a number of young adult novels, including Godless, Rash, Sweet-blood, Invisible and All In.
NaNo-novel: An untitled novel in process about a girl who steals cars.
About the Book: Excerpt: "I stole my first car just after midnight on a Thursday, one hour after I said goodnight to my parents and closed my bedroom door. It was fun."
The Answer: Note: I’m not going to be very detailed about this, because I don’t want to give anybody ideas for trying this at home. Do not try this at home!
It’s actually harder to steal a Lexus than a lot of other cars. First off, she couldn’t just hotwire the car, because if she tampers with the ignition switch, it disables the engine.
According to JCS Automotive Locksmiths, “In 1998, Toyota began equipping some of their more popular vehicles with a transponder based immobilizer system. This anti-theft system is quite secure. The keys have an embedded transponder chip that must be recognized by the vehicle before it will start. The circuitry that controls this function an integral part of the onboard computer system of the vehicle. Until the system recognizes a pre-registered key, the fuel and ignition systems of the vehicle are not functional. Unlike some add-on security systems, bypassing this immobilizer is not a matter of removing a component or splicing some wires to hotwire the vehicle.”
What a technician is going to have to do, should you loose all the keys to one of these cars, is replace the on-board computer. Assuming your protagonist is part of a well-connected thieving ring, she could do the same thing, substituting a computer that recognizes a key she already has.
Alternately, if the protagonist is working alone, she could be a computer genius who comes up with a device to override the on-board computer that she would plug into the ignition, and bingo, everything would start up.
The Wired magazine presents a much simpler possibility in issue 14.08: supposedly, Honda-manufactured cars each have code (based on a VIN number) that allows a stranded motorist to start the car, using a series of pushes and pulls on the emergency brake. The author says he actually tried this and it worked, but I can’t seem to find any verification from an official source. I’m not sure if Lexus/Toyota would have the same technology. Of course, your biggest problem is where your character manages to get the code for the specific car.
Whichever way you go, she’ll still have to get into the car, which itself would be a challenge. The New York Times reports, “Last spring, an illegally parked Lexus LS 400 made news in Manhattan, where cars are often stolen in a trice. A towing crew of five struggled for an hour to pick the door lock. ‘Fifty spectators cheered the car,’ Newsweek reported. Toyota later explained that Lexus LS 400 keys, which are made of an unusual nickel-silver alloy, are difficult to duplicate and the locks are so precisely made that only the correct keys can open them.”
The locks are also placed where a Slim Jim or a coat hanger can’t be used. Which means, the easiest thing for your protagonist to do would be to cut or break the window. Or to be really, really good at picking locks.
If you’re willing to allow your protagonist a master key, of the sort that a locksmith might be able to cut correctly, this could be programmed to start the car. In Wired 14.08: Pinch My Ride says, “Meanwhile, transponder-equipped cars were being resold to new owners, and keys were disappearing behind couch cushions. Auto-repair supply and locksmithing companies started selling devices like the Code-Seeker and the T-Code, which allow anyone to create a new set of keys for a fixed-code transponder-equipped car. The Jet Smart Clone (catchphrase: “Clone the uncloneable!”) duplicates any fixed-code RFID chip by reading its code and imprinting it onto the blank chip of a new key with the same mechanical cut.”
Sounds like you’ve got an action-packed story in front of you. I can’t wait to see it in print!
Thanks for playing Stump the Librarian!
Amber
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