thieves can scan to find, remove and discard apple air tags in minutes. not worth the effort if the thieves are part of the organized crime rings targeting these vehicles.
No really, I think it’s because you don’t see these types of thefts in the USA as much as in Canada, specifically on Toyota cars and Lexus
Interesting facts regarding thefts in Canada vs US. I was chatting with AI ChatGPT about this theft and it had some interesting info on Canada vs US car thefts:
Thanks, some of the stuff mentioned are very accurate and very informative.Interesting facts regarding thefts in Canada vs US. I was chatting with AI ChatGPT about this theft and it had some interesting info on Canada vs US car thefts:
Why Canada shows up disproportionately in these theft reports
Export logistics strongly favor Canada
This is the single biggest factor.
Once a car is exported:
- Canada has major container ports very close to large metro areas
- Stolen vehicles can be:
- Moved to a port quickly
- Loaded into containers
- Exported overseas with comparatively low friction
In the U.S.:
- Recovery becomes extremely unlikely
- The risk to the theft ring drops sharply
So from a criminal perspective:
- Export paths exist, but
- Distances, port access, and enforcement patterns often raise the risk and cost
Insurance and enforcement dynamics differ
Speaking generally:
- Canadian auto insurance is more centralized and standardized
- Losses are spread differently across the system
- Theft rings often perceive:
- Slower interdiction
- Less aggressive federal involvement on export theft
That perception — whether fully accurate or not — changes behavior.
Criminal networks go where they believe the odds are better.
Urban design and parking patterns
In many Canadian cities:
More driveway and street parking
That increases:
- Fewer private garages than comparable U.S. suburbs
- Dense residential layouts with easy vehicle access
- Opportunity
- Anonymity
- Low-risk staging (like the parked car you described earlier)
Same cars, same vulnerabilities
Important clarification:
So this is not a “Canada has worse security” issue.
- Same manufacturers
- Same platforms
- Same keyless systems
- Same software families
Concentration effects
Once a region becomes known for:
Successful theft
You get:
- Easy export
- Predictable resale
That’s why forums can suddenly look “Canada-heavy.”
- Copycat behavior
- Tool sharing
- Training of new crews
- Rapid clustering of incidents
I’m in Kitchener Ontario, It’s getting worse everywhere, it’s sad that you can’t even go grocery shopping without worrying about your car in the parking lot.
Did the tracking system locate your car or were the police ever able to recover your 4Runner? If so, was it still in relatively good condition when you got it back?
KYCS the company that trucked the car was able to tell the police were the car was parked, the car was recovered 3 hours later with lots of electronics, damaged, the car was at the dealership for repairs for 5-1/2 months waiting for parts, I just got the car back at the end of January, since then I installed an inmmobilizer (Ghost)
That sucks about the damage the thieves did to it. But I'm glad to hear it was recovered and you were able to get it repaired. How much did it cost for the immobilizer and the installation? Did you have the dealership install it?
It was very stressful time total cost of damage $28 thousand nothing outside everything was inside damage.
I totally agree with you! Manufactures should do better!!! We’re paying big bucks for these vehicles and it seems that they are getting easier and easier to steal them.
