How to prevent theft of a 2013 Focus Titanium X

[GutsyLoveLength]

Hi everyone,

My name is Lewis and i'm new to the site and i'm seeking some advise from you all regarding the prevention of a keyless entry, push button stop/start Focus from being stolen?

Last month, our 2011 Focus 1.6 Titanium was stolen which we can only assume was due to the thieves accessing the ODB port etc.  Unfortunately the car has not been recovered, however the insurance companies have paid out (just waiting for the GAP insurance funds to clear this week).

We have been on the hunt for another Focus but we wanted to stay clear of the keyless entry, push button cars, but seeing as my partner liked all the features in the Titanium range... we decided not to let it put us off and we're going for a 2013 Focus 1.0 (125) Titanium X.  So with that in mind, we have been looking as some potential deterrents but can anyone shed some light if they'll be useful or not:

Clutch Lock

Steering Wheel Lock

Steering Wheel & Clutch Lock

I have also been reading other forums and I have seen some mentions of removing the fuse that powers the ODB port, but I have gone through the manual and I cannot see this being referred to in the fuse list.  Can anyone shed some light on this?

We appreciate your advise in advance.

Cheers,

Lewis   

[biff55]

as a long term solution , remembering to pull fuses when you park up is never going to work , will you & your wife do it every time ?

highly doubtful.

car security is so advanced these days your car will only get taken if they steal the keys.

dont understand how they got into your previous car to get access to the obd port if im being honest , but without a police / insurance recovery report youre unlikely to ever find out how to be honest.

however the way forward in my opinion is to make your vehical less of a target to begin with , eg removing valubles , parking near cctv & street lights etc rather than relying on security gadgets.........

and if you are going to rely on technology then get a tracker with 24/7  monitoring package

[eddie eastwood]

Had one of these for years.

http://www.disklokuk.co.uk/?gclid=CIbp29nYmc8CFaEK0woduhwPnw

[GutsyLoveLength]

Thanks for the response guys.

Biff55 - We also thought it would be difficult to steal but apparently not.  As our car was keyless entry & keyless push button stop start car - they would have got in via a number of methods without physically needing the car keys - we sent both sets of keys to the insurance company.

Eddie - Cheers for that, we'll have a look at them.

 

[GaryPL]

1 hour ago, biff55 said:

as a long term solution , remembering to pull fuses when you park up is never going to work , will you & your wife do it every time ?

You don't need to do it every time... just the once. The fuse only needs to go back in when the OBD port is needed.

[MarksST]

Use a disklok as a visible deterent, pop the OBD port out of its mount and either hide it behind the dash or fit it into a small box.

to get in they'll just smash the driver's door lock.

[GaryPL]

2 hours ago, GutsyLoveLength said:

We appreciate your advise in advance.

Cheers,

Lewis   

I'd whip the OBD fuse out and just leave it in the car somewhere out of sight (boot perhaps).  The Fiesta has a separate fuse for it and this is what I have done.  Also, detach the OBD port from its housing and tuck it up into the dash.  I have also seen a small lockable money tin be modified (cut a slot out for the wires) to put the port in.  This can then live in the dashboard.

This should be more than enough to physically stop the car being nicked as they can't steal it without setting off the alarm, getting a fuse in the block behind the glovebox and then doing their electronic trickery.  Although you may end up with some broken glass.  Though this is a trade off for not having to have an unsightly pain in the backside steering wheel lock to take off every single time.

But if you want to avoid the glass being damaged, just shove a disc lock on, as a thief is highly unlikely to touch the car at all then. More trouble than it's worth for Johnny Romanian :)

[artscot79]

with keyless entry you don't need keys just the right gear bought from china and knowledge and the cars gone simply by sitting a distance away and using the said equipment to copy the transmitter codes to unlock the door deactivating the alarm after that they use the equipment to start the car via obd port 30secs max..its hotly debated with manufacturers claiming its not possible the facts are they are being driven away without keys since its a potential.minefield for manufacturers they deny it its well documented on crimewatch internet etc range rover being the most common .

to answer the question you cant stop them if they want it no disklock etc will stop them they may choose an easier target though

[MarksST]

14 minutes ago, artscot79 said:

with keyless entry you don't need keys just the right gear bought from china and knowledge and the cars gone simply by sitting a distance away and using the said equipment to copy the transmitter codes to unlock the door deactivating the alarm after that they use the equipment to start the car via obd port 30secs max..its hotly debated with manufacturers claiming its not possible the facts are they are being driven away without keys since its a potential.minefield for manufacturers they deny it its well documented on crimewatch internet etc range rover being the most common .

to answer the question you cant stop them if they want it no disklock etc will stop them they may choose an easier target though

Does the keyless fob transmit anything though, I thought the car detected the presence of the fob when in close proximity to the car, it it was transmitting over any distance someone could press the button on the handle when your nowhere near the car.

 

[GutsyLoveLength]

23 hours ago, GaryPL said:

I'd whip the OBD fuse out and just leave it in the car somewhere out of sight (boot perhaps).  The Fiesta has a separate fuse for it and this is what I have done.  Also, detach the OBD port from its housing and tuck it up into the dash.  I have also seen a small lockable money tin be modified (cut a slot out for the wires) to put the port in.  This can then live in the dashboard.

This should be more than enough to physically stop the car being nicked as they can't steal it without setting off the alarm, getting a fuse in the block behind the glovebox and then doing their electronic trickery.  Although you may end up with some broken glass.  Though this is a trade off for not having to have an unsightly pain in the backside steering wheel lock to take off every single time.

But if you want to avoid the glass being damaged, just shove a disc lock on, as a thief is highly unlikely to touch the car at all then. More trouble than it's worth for Johnny Romanian :)

Thanks GaryPL - that's the problem though, I can't seem to find anything to indicate that the Focus has a separate fuse for the port.

I'll take a look at relocating the port - does anyone know if this is a big job or easily moveable?

Cheers 

[GaryPL]

7 minutes ago, GutsyLoveLength said:

Thanks GaryPL - that's the problem though, I can't seem to find anything to indicate that the Focus has a separate fuse for the port.

I'll take a look at relocating the port - does anyone know if this is a big job or easily moveable?

Cheers 

Check your manual for the "data link connector" fuse behind the glove box.  Think it's 31, if it's a mk.3.