Another poster's recent thread got me doing international research. There is a NEW car theft method which was just "invented" this summer in Japan and its use has exploded in the UK. It is widely used to steal 5th generation RAV4s and late model Lexus throughout England and Japan in the last few months. It is called a "Can Invader Attack". The thief goes through the passengers front wheel well (like changing a fog light bulb) and cuts the wires to the headlight and splices in a device by which he accesses the Toyota or Lexus CAN bus system. It takes less than three minutes to steal the car as the video shows. Police and English forums say the only way now to stop RAV4 thefts is to armor plate the wheel well or to use steering wheel locks. This Can invader attack is completely new and different from the older "Relay Attack" method of theft involving capturing the signal from the key fob which is used in the US and Canada. The Can Invader Attack can't be prevented currently by any known means. The screen shot is from a UK Toyota forum.
CAN Invader Attack -- Unstoppable New RAV4 Car Theft Method
Tazio Nuvolari
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I think you're right. I tried disconnecting one battery terminal, then reconnecting it back. The result is a reboot of the system erasing all the previous settings done. It seems the electronic system in the Rav4 is designed to have a power supply connected all the time in order to retain all your settings. I think this a bad design.
I read about an electronic, fob controlled battery disconnector on an English forum. You splice it into the negative battery terminal. Every time you leave your car you click that remote fob as a kill switch, and click it again to reconnect the battery. As you point out the 5th gen RAV loses many settings (radio presets, windows, fuel trim etc) when the battery is disconnected so this kind of kill switch is no good.
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I made a post with a diagram on wiring a reed switch and magnet to create a "disable" circuit, it could be connected to the starter relay coil or whatever else you like. Also in the post: How to disable keyfob Proximity mode.
www.rav4world.com
Problem With Key Fob Sleep Mode and Thieves
People in this forum regularly recommend putting the push-to-start key fob aka remote into "Sleep Mode" to prevent thieves from capturing the radio frequency and making a cloned key or stealing the car with the frequency on a scanner. (Sleep Mode= hold down lock button and press unlock button...
www.rav4world.com
It is always advisable to use a visible deterrent steering wheel lock or brake lock. These can usually be overcome by professional, experienced crooks with bolt cutters, or hack saws to either cut the lock or steering wheel--but first they have to have bolt cutters or a saw and second it takes them some time to do the lock cutting and thieves like to be very quick. This generation of thieves are primarily computer whizz kids who use electrical gizmos and gimmicks--they are not very hands on, old school types who would bother with mechanical locks. There is a type of expensive wheel lock commonly used in England and the EU but not in the US called the Disklok. It is cumbersome, heavy and takes time to install. Many people like it. The other drawback is that if you have long fingers and know what you're doing you can drive the car with the Disklok installed albeit very slowly and laboriously. The Disklock can't be removed by a thief unless he has noisy power tools like are used to cut off catalytic converters.
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Nowadays the best anti-theft device is stick-shift. 
Here is a new YouTube video that popped up TODAY. It discusses and shows details of the CAN Invader Attack. The video shows this thread and my post on this forum!
Another one gone in 60 seconds"
And another:
And another:
So far every one I've seen has been a Hybrid. Does this affect gas models too?Another one gone in 60 seconds"
And another:
Yes.
The Club CL606 was able to prevent my 2003 Camry LE which only had a basic metal key from being stolen. Could be useful if in a high crime area.
It doesn't attach to the steering wheel so they'd have to break the lock mechanism to remove it. Not sure if it'll fit the RAV4 but I'm going to try it out when I find it again
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It doesn't attach to the steering wheel so they'd have to break the lock mechanism to remove it. Not sure if it'll fit the RAV4 but I'm going to try it out when I find it again
I think that in the UK Toyota only sells 5th generation RAV hybrids--no gas models in merry olde England.
I like wheel locks and pedal locks. At the very least they serve as visual deterrents to thieves who see them and move onto a car without them that takes less time and effort to steal. However, let's all be realistic. Any serious professional thief (as opposed to a tweaker, joy rider, teen age numb nuts type) can get around any mechanical lock quickly. There are many YouTube videos showing how to "pick" or drill the lock on the common types of automobile locks. Also a hacksaw or bolt cutters can cut through portions of the wheel and pedal locks or even the steering wheel itself to remove them (even easier with a powered cutting saw for stealing catalytic converters.) Some locks are so wimpy they can be pried off with a crowbar or just by kicking or hammering them.
Yea it will add a lot of time required to steal it compared to the 30 seconds - 1 minute it currently takes w/o any deterrents. I doubt the ones targeting these Rav4s would bring tools to cut or destroy a lock since these are usually only installed on older cars from the 90s - early 2000s without key fobs or modern anti-theft systems. With the amount of Gen 5 Rav4s in most neighborhoods they'd most likely just move onto an easier target.
A good article on the CAN Invader attack
There’s a new form of keyless car theft that works in under 2 minutes | Ars Technica
There’s a new form of keyless car theft that works in under 2 minutes | Ars Technica
What's not clear to me is whether this attack will work on cars that need a physical key to start. That's one of the main reasons I purchased a Hybrid LE. It's the only trim without keyless start.
The CAN attack WILL most likely work on the physical key model 5th gen RAVs. This is because all of the models-key and remote fob- use the CAN BUS system to interlink their various ECUs and modules. All the key or fob does is disable the engine immobilizer system and tell the main ECU to work the starting motor and fire the coils and energize the fuel injection on the gas models, and to start up the storage battery and electric motors on hybrid. BUT they ALL have a CAN BUS system.
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Bollards in your driveway or inside your garage entrance that can be raised and lowered. It's like home security unfortunately. Make them move on to the next guy down the road where it's less of a hassle.
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