What actions have people taken to protect their car from OBD port thieves?

I've stuck a bit of Aluminium angle bar over it.

 

Car Insurance 😜

 

In all seriousness, there’s a guy on YouTube who’s done a fairly comprehensive video on a MK8 ST OBD port security. Can’t remember the channel but you should be able to find it fairly easily.

As the old adage goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Or in my case £1.99 for the aluminium.

I know it would never stop a determined thief but the opportunist with an obd reader that can convince the car the keys there smashing the front quarter light to reach in to the obd is going to find an obstacle. 

On 7/5/2019 at 5:31 PM, DG97 said:

Car Insurance 😜

 

In all seriousness, there’s a guy on YouTube who’s done a fairly comprehensive video on a MK8 ST OBD port security. Can’t remember the channel but you should be able to find it fairly easily.

I've seen that video. Thats what got me thinking i need to do something. Was curious if anybody had tried the fuse removal option? Couldn't see how that would not have the same effect as removing the OBD port completely?

On 7/5/2019 at 5:07 PM, ElliotReid said:

I've stuck a bit of Aluminium angle bar over it.

 

This is going to be my plan. Thick piece of steel. Holes either side and use studs/bolts to hold it in front of the port.

👍

15 minutes ago, Darren-mk8 said:

I've seen that video. Thats what got me thinking i need to do something. Was curious if anybody had tried the fuse removal option? Couldn't see how that would not have the same effect as removing the OBD port completely?

This is going to be my plan. Thick piece of steel. Holes either side and use studs/bolts to hold it in front of the port.

👍

This was my orignial test piece of iron I bought before I got the car. I didn't realise, at first, where the OBD bolt hoses would be. I change to aluminium for the final part.

 

On 7/5/2019 at 5:07 PM, ElliotReid said:

I've stuck a bit of Aluminium angle bar over it.

 

I’ve recently done this on my ST. Works a treat

18 hours ago, ElliotReid said:

This was my orignial test piece of iron I bought before I got the car. I didn't realise, at first, where the OBD bolt hoses would be. I change to aluminium for the final part.

 

This was my plan too. See how i get on today.

Fitted mine this afternoon. Here is the result.

31 minutes ago, Darren-mk8 said:

Fitted mine this afternoon. Here is the result.

I'm thinking of getting a different sized bar so I can have the cover on the obd as well. Though it's not an issue.

16 hours ago, ElliotReid said:

I'm thinking of getting a different sized bar so I can have the cover on the obd as well. Though it's not an issue.

This size would have done that. I drilled the holes central. If i'd have drilled the holes further back i could have put the cover on. Lesson learned.

I know it's an old thread but if somebody picks this up then great. Have any of you made any further modifications to the metal plate so as to deny access to the screws holding it in place but being able to access them yourself when necessary by key or other means. Thanks.

We had ours moved , they would have to dismantle half the car to get to it 

 

we had our car stolen , and when we got it back , we moved obd , added additional mobilisation, and use a disk lok and tracker 

 

can’t really do anymore than that , if they really want a car , they will get it 

 Jo100001  Can I ask what mode and MK l you have ? Looking at getting a 2023  FiestaTitanium but only thing putting me off is the OBD due to the keyless start. 

Even insurers know about the Fiesta OBD ports. Both the Mrs and I moved over from Fiestas to Pumas earlier this year. Mine is an ST, hers an StLx. Insurance on mine stayed the same and a couple of months or so later hers arrived, her insurance decreased.

She asked the guy at Churchill why this was and his reply was that Fiestas were far more easily nickable than the Puma, something to do with the software port being inaccessible without a code or password was his answer...

I guess when accessing the OBD port on a Puma, you need a code or password from ford to gain access through it?

Never knew that. Thanks.

The OBD port on a Ford Puma is the same as the OBD port on any other Ford, and indeed the same as other makes/models. They all have to conform to the same standard, and operate in the same way. There is no password, or code.

The Ford Puma is no more difficult to steal than the Fiesta, but since there are fewer of them on the road compared to the Fiesta, it stands to reason that fewer of them will be stolen. A great many of the Fiesta's stolen and not recovered are stripped down for parts and sold on to a huge secondhand used spares market. Over the coming years as the numbers of Fiesta's decrease and the number of Puma's increase then we can expect to see an increase in the thefts of the Puma's.

This very subject of Passwords/Codes was raised in February this year on the FORScan forum. https://forscan.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23489

On 8/21/2023 at 12:48 PM, unofix said:

The OBD port on a Ford Puma is the same as the OBD port on any other Ford, and indeed the same as other makes/models. They all have to conform to the same standard, and operate in the same way. There is no password, or code.

The Ford Puma is no more difficult to steal than the Fiesta, but since there are fewer of them on the road compared to the Fiesta, it stands to reason that fewer of them will be stolen. A great many of the Fiesta's stolen and not recovered are stripped down for parts and sold on to a huge secondhand used spares market. Over the coming years as the numbers of Fiesta's decrease and the number of Puma's increase then we can expect to see an increase in the thefts of the Puma's.

This very subject of Passwords/Codes was raised in February this year on the FORScan forum. https://forscan.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23489

As long as the insurer believes this (they told us, we didn't know) and tells us they are harder to steal then that is good enough for me.... cheaper insurance. 😄👍🏻

The link mentions someone with a truck with a couple of garbled replies.

Will enquire next time I speak to my local friendly salesman.