Why Are Range Rovers So Easy To Steal? – Keyless Entry.

Keyless Range Rovers are most commonly stolen by car thieves through a method known as “relay theft”. Check out my article here for a more in depth explanation, but in summary it’s where thieves pick up the signal from the key in your house, and then duplicate it, allowing them to enter the car and drive away, all without having access to the key.

As shown in the video below, skilled car thieves are able to use relay theft to steal a car in mere seconds. This is definitely concerning if you have a desirable car with keyless entry as a feature.

The easiest way to prevent your Range Rover from being stolen is to use a faraday box. This blocks the signal emitted from your keys, making your keyless car much more resistant to the possibility of relay theft. The highest level of security for a car key signal blocker is one that is police approved.

Another tried and true method of protecting a Range Rover is to box the car into a driveway. If you can park another car or van in front of it, preventing car thieves from being able to drive off in the car, then thieves will have a much harder time taking your car off the driveway. There are a wide range of defensive parking methods which many Range Rover owners are all too familiar with, but completely blocking the car in remains the best option (apart from removing the wheels every time you get out the car).

There are dozens of other precautionary measures you can take in keeping your Range Rover from being stolen, but fitting a ghost immobiliser has to be one of the best options. These immobilisers can be fitted for around £500, and they act as a completely invisible immobiliser – car thieves will find it extremely difficult to tell if a car has this installed. A wide range of skilled automotive shops are able to fit these immobilisers for you. Make sure you go to a well reviewed, trusted business to make sure they don’t leak your pin or do anything suspicious.

A ghost immobiliser allows you to have a unique pin, which is needed to start the car. This pin can be entered through the buttons already in the car, such as on the dash or steering wheel. That’s the genius behind this invention – there’s no way of knowing the pin, let alone knowing if a Range Rover has this fitted in the first place!

Land Rovers and Range Rovers do have a tracking feature under the “InControl” product line. It’s important to make sure this feature is set up in your Range Rover, so that your car’s tracker is working successfully.

Part of InControl is the smartphone connectivity. This means that you can report your Range Rover as stolen and their operators will help to track the vehicle down. It comes with theft detection, but I’m not sure if relay theft would trigger this alert. Luckily, you can use the app to make a report and the car will be flagged as stolen.

There are also a range of aftermarket GPS trackers available, which can typically track a stolen Range Rover to within 2-3 metre accuracy. Whether you work through Land Rover or opt for a third party vehicle tracker, it’s absolutely essential that you have at least one of these options in place.

According to recent data released by the DVLA, over 5,000 Range Rovers have been stolen this year. This equates to about 13 per day. This figure has steadily been on the rise for years now, and with more and more car thieves learning how to perform relay theft, this figure is likely to continue increasing.

When car thieves steal a car potentially worth over £100,000, they will most likely check for trackers. The common places thieves will look first is in wheel wells, the underside of the car and the front bumper. They may also check the interior of the car too, so it’s important that your tracker is well hidden and not easily noticed. Speak to a professional car tracking company and they will help you with this.

Stolen Range Rovers have many different destinations. Many are sent to “chop shops”, which take the car apart and sell the parts. Some are rebadged and sold to unknowing customers. Stolen Range Rovers are often shipped out of the UK to other countries, such as towards eastern Europe. Finally, some are kept by thieves to commit more crimes, since the paperwork attached to the car does not identify them. There is a big market for stolen luxury vehicles, and it’s vital that you take measures to prevent your car from having this fate.

Conclusion – Car Thieves Find Range Rovers Easy To Steal

Unfortunately, car thieves are smart, and when it comes to luxury cars with keyless entry, such as the Range Rover Sport, these criminals find it very easy to steal them when the owner has not got any security measures in place to protect the car against theft.

Car theft is all too common all across the UK, and the trend is continuing to rise. 94% of stolen cars are keyless, so it’s important to be especially careful if your Range Rover has this technology fitted.

Fundamentally, Range Rovers aren’t hugely more vulnerable than other cars which also feature keyless entry technology, but the high price point and desirability is what makes them so much more of a target. Range Rovers are seen as just about the peak in car luxury across the world, and although owning one is a dream come true, it’s worth being aware that car thieves are unfortunately going to be keeping a close eye on your car.