How to: Steal a Prius

Ever wanted to know how to steal a car with a Smart Key? It's certainly not easy - well actually it's almost impossible. So if you find by the end of this article that you'd like to own one of the most difficult-to-steal cars out there, view our Prius inventory here.

I was parked at my friend’s house on South Williams St. in Burlington, I stopped there for about an hour to pick up tickets she had bought be for my birthday. Unfortunately, receiving the tickets ended up being the least eventful part of my evening.

As I walked outside to leave at around 11 p.m., I looked around to where I thought I had parked – no sign of my car. This can’t be possible. My car was nowhere to be seen. I walked around the parking lot for a few minutes clicking incessantly on the unlock button of my key, but to no avail. The Prius was actually gone.

Of course the first thought that came into my head was that it had been towed. It is after all a private lot, but I had parked there so many times that I figured I would be fine for the short time I was there. I had to get home and everything I needed for work was in my car, so I immediately called Spanelli’s to see if I could retrieve my Prius that night.

After I gave all of my information to the woman on the phone, she told me that she’d check the lot, have an employee check the Handy’s lot and send a dispatch out to the tow drivers to see where exactly my car was so that I could come get it when it reached its destination. I waited. After about 30 minutes a man called me back with some interesting news; “Your vehicle isn’t on our lot or the Handy’s lot, which are the only two places we would bring it. I’m going to try to get a hold of everyone who’s driving a truck tonight to see if we can track down your car.”

Great! They don’t know where my car is. I continued to wait until 12:30 a.m. when I received a phone call from the same man (he was very nice through this entire process).

“You car still isn’t on our lot or the Handy’s lot, and none of our current drivers have picked up a Prius tonight. Do you have your keys on you?”

“Yes. They’re in my hand.”

“Did anyone else have access to your keys during the time that it went missing?” Oh no.

“I don’t think so. They were in my pocket all night.”

“Well fortunately it’s extremely difficult – almost impossible - to steal a Prius. But we also don’t have your car. You should call the Burlington Police Department.”

I called the Burlington Police Department – twice, and left a message. No one picked up, and no one called me back. I decided to sleep on it and figured that my car had to have shown up by the morning.
It didn’t. I called Handy’s and Spanelli’s back and they both had no record of my car being on their lot or having ever being towed by either company. They suggested I try calling the BPD back. And then the interesting turn of events…

The BPD told me that my Prius had in fact been towed from the address I provided the night before, and that Handy’s had towed it! Thank God. I ended up on the phone with the same extremely nice man from Handy’s who had eventually discovered that one of his guys hadn’t done the necessary paperwork after towing my car. He was profusely apologetic, waived my towing and lot fees, and got my car back to me quickly and easily.

After this, I had to do some research. The Prius is actually number eight on the list of vehicles that are least likely to be stolen, according to the Highway Loss Data Institute, meaning there are only seven other types of vehicles in the country that have less of a chance of getting snatched than the Prius.

Sometimes vehicles are less likely to get stolen because they’re, well, boring. Other times it’s because they have hefty security systems, high technology or their parts aren’t worth much overseas. In the case of the Prius, there is a smart key involved (high technology). When the Prius is still it its factory stages, its smart key has a unique Key ID Code burned into its memory as well as a Vehicle ID Code, which is unique to the vehicle it is paired with. Without the key in the car, the vehicle cannot be operated - both the engine and steering wheel are locked. In fact, the only recorded thefts of the Prius are by people who either left their keys in the car or out in the open.

In my case, the tow truck got the best of me, but I did learn two important lessons:

1.    If you want to steal a Prius, you either have to acquire the keys or have access to a tow truck.
2.    If you want a car that will never get stolen; drive a Prius.

Car been stolen before? Want a Prius instead? Well, in Vermont car thefts are extremely rare - but if you'd like to check out a Prius anyways, please feel free to do so by heading to our website to view our new and used Prius inventory.



Image 1 via carinsurancecomparison.com
Image 2 via skypoweraz.com
Image 3 via whatcarreviews.com