Help Please S4 Avant B8 stolen last night

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***DK***

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Got woken up my my driveway alarm at 2:45, looked out the window. Car gone.

Gutted. Also now don't have a car to drive the wife to the hospital for our second baby due any day.

Cameras on the drive show 3 guys creeping around the side of the car, spent all of a minute hacking the keyless signal, then in, started and gone.

Under 2 minutes

I was literally queuing up security items after reading the other recent thefts. Keys were in Faraday bags inside, driveway alarm on, cameras, CCTV signs. Just hadn't got the steering lock or OBD2 lock yet. Wish I had acted sooner.
No tracker either.

Imagine it's long gone.

If you haven't got steering locks I'd say buy them today, don't hang around and kill your OBD2 ports.
 
This is starting to feel like 1 a month just on this forum! Sorry to hear this bud...
 
Bad news and sorry to hear this.

Cars can be replaced, at least they didn’t come into the house.

Interesting that you had the keys in a Faraday bag, but they still did a keyless hack.

Can you share the cctv video?

Good luck on the baby front.
 
Really sorry to hear this Darren. Hope everything goes well on the imminent arrival of the new baby.
 
Thanks guys will try get the CCTV up. It's pretty poor quality because it's so dark down the side of the car where they were working. Also they are a bit old now so 480p which isn't great quality out of daylight. Another thing I'll be upgrading after this event.

Process appears to have been

Use device to get door open, I imagine a keyless entry hack but could have been something else.

Then inside and plugged in the OBD2. I think by the way he was crouching down in that area.

Turned off the interior lights

Then one guy opened the boot so I think must have pulled the comfort module or something in that area.

Then started and off.
 
Sorry to hear this, fitted tracker in mine yesterday, but may think about some other sort of locks. It's not been good luck on here recently, there was another stolen and then a new owner had an accident!

They say 1 in one out, so I guess one baby's gone but the other will hopefully arrive in good health! Good luck, expecting ours in December and I can imagine even now ages away it's the last thing you would need extra to think about
 
audi upgrades
Aah mate nightmare. I hope its found.

I know hindsight is a b4st4rd and all that but removing 2 fuses for the OBD port was all it wouldve took to potentially save your car.
 
Mine was stolen a couple of weeks back so I feel your pain. You can buy the equipment online at garage suppliers and such. These devices are part of an EU mandate that 3rd parties must be able to supply replacement keys for cars sold in the EU. This means devices exist that can be plugged into the ODB port that automatically disable the alarm, delete all the keys, and add a new key with the code from the blank key. Takes under 30 secs. In theory for the use of your local garage or locksmith to help people who lose their only key. As a result car theft has increased in the last few years despite dropping for every year before that.

Darrenkellum said:
Got woken up my my driveway alarm at 2:45, looked out the window. Car gone.

Gutted. Also now don't have a car to drive the wife to the hospital for our second baby due any day.

Cameras on the drive show 3 guys creeping around the side of the car, spent all of a minute hacking the keyless signal, then in, started and gone.

Under 2 minutes

I was literally queuing up security items after reading the other recent thefts. Keys were in Faraday bags inside, driveway alarm on, cameras, CCTV signs. Just hadn't got the steering lock or OBD2 lock yet. Wish I had acted sooner.
No tracker either.

Imagine it's long gone.

If you haven't got steering locks I'd say buy them today, don't hang around and kill your OBD2 ports.
Click to expand...
 
Yup easy peasy it seems, part of a fresh delivery of powerful VWs were taken away from a VW dealer near Edinburgh last night it seems.
 
AndrewW said:
Scary how easy it is! I’m definitely considering a steering lock for my next car
Click to expand...

My next car will have glass protection film for sure. something like this. https://www.tintyourglass.co.uk/supaglass.html my dad's car used to have this stuff in South Africa to try and stop smash and grabs. can be smashed but is going no where. you can smash it and push it pretty easy from the inside though in an emergency. Also been looking at a ghostwatch immobiliser as they can't drive off then even if they have the key without the secret code you set. Mine had an RS-NAV and I managed to track it using android "find my phone" but they put it in a container or something and then GPS is useless. Despite being sure the car drove past a bunch of traffic cameras in Dudley the car was gone when the cops showed up. I almost regret buying a nice car now.
 
Uploaded the video here


No news and no call from the police yet. :-(
 
Quite a busy road you live on as well m8 for that time of the morning. Total oxygen thieves, they deserve to be buried alive.

Sent from my JSN-L21 using Tapatalk
 
They took a lot longer to steal yours than mine. Did you find any glass? Didnt look like they even broke a window like they did for mine.

I even found a site where you buy the kit they use after some googling :-( £350 will get you a programmer that you put a blank key in. Plug in to odb and it disables the alarm and programs the key in less than a minute :(
 
I’m really sorry to hear this, I had one stolen a few years ago and it takes some time to get over it. As others have said its replaceable and at least no one was hurt.

I’m intrigued how they were able to get the door open, I know that there is a delay configurable via VCDS where alarm trigger time can be set, but how are they able to open the door?

If they smash a window, there would be glass on the floor plus it makes a loud noise, the door wouldn’t be openable due to deadlocks.

...is keyless entry without keys being within range or extendable range really that easy to hack?

It looks like even pulling fuses from the ODB port wouldn’t help.

...and what were they doing in the boot? BCM’s are located in the front and I believe fused in the front.

If we can understand how these fu*kers are able to manage this we can try to come up with some prevention.


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Thanks mate, still can't believe it's gone. So far no news and TBH I'm not expecting any.

I think they use a key signal booster to locate mine and pass it on to the car. Then once in, it's ODB to hack the rest. I think that involves killing off my keys and programming the car against new ones but I might be wrong about that

I'm not convinced they used a key boost device for mine as my keys were in a Faraday bag albeit maybe not the best one on the market but they were also a good 10+ meters from the car. I know from testing the Faraday bag that I couldn't open the car from a couple of meters away. So perhaps they have other techniques that don't even need my keys.

It also took then a minute to get in and if they were just boosting and sending across that would have been quicker surely.

The Avant has the comfort module, relays and some fuses in the boot right hand panel. There's a convenient pull down hatch to access it all so I guess he was pulling plugs back there.
 
I tested the faraday bags, with the key inside the car inside the bag, the car starts complaining about a missing key. I’m sure the boosting device wouldn’t be able to boost the signal of a key that’s stored in a faraday bag.

From the videos I’ve seen of someone using a booster, they have a large antenna and they scan around the front of the house (from the outside), there was nothing like that visible in your video.

So it seems they are able to gain entry somehow without paired keys being present, I wonder if there is a master Audi key that was compromised.

Relocating or pulling fuses from ODB would definitely slow them down but would probably end up with them destroying half the dash.

I saw a nice ODB relocating kit that gave you a dummy port for installing in the original location, it would be good if you could send a **** load of voltage on incorrect pins to blow up any device that was connected to the dummy port (obviously you would need to prewarn garages servicing your car), that would definitely slow them down!


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One of those was on my list to purchase as well. If I got one I was going to have someone else buy it and ship to work in case they're made by guys passing the info about who's buying them the the criminals. Suspicious of my Faraday purchase too. Bought off eBay just a few days before it went. Clearly obvious to seller that I want to keep my keys safe. Not saying they did this but you never know
 
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Absolutely gutting feeling mate, your car had all the extras too it seems.. I think a crook lock is the only decent deterrent, maybe drive way bollards too..
I had my 3.0 tdi taken from a quick food stop in birmingham, It was spec’d to the max with only 40k on the clock.
It was keyless but they still smashed my drivers windows to access the car so not sure how or what method they used because my keys were definitely in range as I was no less than a yew yards away then came out to no car..
Like you, unless you have a tracker there’s next to no chance you’re seeing it again.
Insurance paid out quick so now I have an S4 without keyless and a crook lock fitted whenever i’m parked :)
 
Could it be possible they’ve a way of programming a key prior to stealing it via your chassis number?

My mate who has an S4 has a ghost fitted to his. It’s a bit of a faf every time you want to start it but it’s a small price to pay really but I wouldn’t have a nice car if I didn’t have a garage. I'm going to get 1 fitted to mine as soon as it comes out of storage.
 
ld2130 said:
Does anyone have a ball park figure on how much this costs, sounds like a good idea.
Click to expand...

I mailed them, just under a grand. Ouch.

Gutted for you mate. I'm surprised to see mine everytime I come home now.

The other issue we have, is we've no way to opening discuss clever defeat mechanisms, the walls have ears!
 
For a little under £50 you can get a kit that replaces your ODB with one that is live but transfers no data, your “real” ODB is extended to another location of your choosing. By the time they realise it’s not working they will likely scarper.
 
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Hi guys,

Just watched my 2010 S4 driven off of my drive way in South Croydon. 1:30 in the morning the dog starts barking, look out my daughters bedroom window at the front of the house to see someone in the drivers seat someone else’s next to drivers side door. The engine running I shouted out the window then they drove off. No broken glass and I still have both keys.

Gutted, I was out in it earlier and forgot to put the crook back on...

The police took an age to turn up, their advise was get a crook lock or wheel lock.
 
Russellfagan said:
Hi guys,

Just watched my 2010 S4 driven off of my drive way in South Croydon. 1:30 in the morning the dog starts barking, look out my daughters bedroom window at the front of the house to see someone in the drivers seat someone else’s next to drivers side door. The engine running I shouted out the window then they drove off. No broken glass and I still have both keys.

Gutted, I was out in it earlier and forgot to put the crook back on...

The police took an age to turn up, their advise was get a crook lock or wheel lock.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear this! It’s getting ridiculous now. Unfortunately it’s a recurring theme that the police can’t do much about it.

Was yours keyless?

A colleague at work had his 2011 A5 broken into (luckily not stolen but everything taken from the boot) with no sign of forced entry, non-keyless and no idea how they’ve managed it. It’s getting to the point where I’m half expecting the cars to be gone every time I go out of the door.
 
AndrewW said:
Sorry to hear this! It’s getting ridiculous now. Unfortunately it’s a recurring theme that the police can’t do much about it.

Was yours keyless?

A colleague at work had his 2011 A5 broken into (luckily not stolen but everything taken from the boot) with no sign of forced entry, non-keyless and no idea how they’ve managed it. It’s getting to the point where I’m half expecting the cars to be gone every time I go out of the door.
Click to expand...
 
Hi,

The police took ages to get here called 999 was on hold for 3 mins to get through to police then they went to the wrong address, not much use if it was a proper emergency..

The wasn’t keyless, got both the keys in the bedroom drawer. Certain the car was locked f**k knows how they got in.

Ive always been really careful getting it up the kerbs outside my house but the low life who took it slammed the front on the road when he drove off the drive big leaving a groove in the road, it’s gonna be f**ked if I ever get it back.

Can’t believe the one time I didn’t put the crook lock on
 
Sorry to hear your news, @Russellfagan ; hell of a way to join the forum.

I stopped using my Disklok after having the OBD Portector fitted a couple of years ago. Just this week, I've dug it out of the shed and put it back on; it's a pain but better than no car.
 
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jdp1962 said:
Sorry to hear your news, @Russellfagan ; hell of a way to join the forum.

I stopped using my Disklok after having the OBD Portector fitted a couple of years ago. Just this week, I've dug it out of the shed and put it back on; it's a pain but better than no car.
Click to expand...
jdp1962 said:
Sorry to hear your news, @Russellfagan ; hell of a way to join the forum.

I stopped using my Disklok after having the OBD Portector fitted a couple of years ago. Just this week, I've dug it out of the shed and put it back on; it's a pain but better than no car.
Click to expand...


I’ve followed/read things on this group for years but thought I’d better join to make others aware.

The disklok is agro for you but you’ve got the key, it’s an issue for a scum bag, mine was way too easy. Keep your toys safe
 
Ah mate, really sorry to hear another of our lovely cars has gone to the scumbags. Certainly seems like the numbers are on the increase. I'm waiting on insurance to come back not heard anything from them.or the police since it went a few weeks ago. Keep us posted on any news.

Just got a quote for electric gates on my drive. 15k! ... People will be stealing those next at that price. Who would pay 15k for gates! Hopefully getting some more competitive quotes soon.
 
Darrenkellum said:
Ah mate, really sorry to hear another of our lovely cars has gone to the scumbags. Certainly seems like the numbers are on the increase. I'm waiting on insurance to come back not heard anything from them.or the police since it went a few weeks ago. Keep us posted on any news.

Just got a quote for electric gates on my drive. 15k! ... People will be stealing those next at that price. Who would pay 15k for gates! Hopefully getting some more competitive quotes soon.
Click to expand...

It’s ridiculous that we have to go to those lengths to protect our stuff that we work hard for. 15k are they made of gold? sounds like a lot you’ve got to be able to get it cheaper than that.

I spoke to the insurance company and they said it will take at least 3 weeks to settle anything. What have you lads been doing for a motor in the mean time has this put you off getting another Audi? I need to get another car but don’t really know what to do...
 
I personally am not put off but I will be securing the hell out of it. Fortunately I don't need to drive much so just not bothering in the meantime.
 
Just saw this on FB, theives left their key tool in the car. Has a Bulgarian website for car locksmiths. Yeah sure everyone is a locksmith.

Found on the website the obd 2 tool they probably used on mine.

It describes in the instructions about going to the trunk to pull the BCM module.

https://turbodecoder.com/audi-vw-group-electronic-devices/
bf1eb6c608e3a330f6cd62fdc655a7b9.jpg
 
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Well thats that question answered then. Seems pretty easy to get in using it.

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