My Mach-E Was Stolen

[SoriceConsulting]

Agree completely. Possession of the key FOB should NOT mean you OWN THE CAR. Ford should be able to easily track the car and work with law enforcement to recover it.

This needs to be a no-brainer, as it would likely discourage all but the most sophisticated thieves.

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[Whatstreet]

I own a Chevy Volt. Many armature car thieves have been caught by the cellular linked GPS being used to locate the car. In one instance I know of, a Volt involved in a car chase was switched to limp mode remotely.

 

[DevSecOps]

This is piss poor security from Ford. It should not be that easy for them to just delete your car from Ford Pass with Key Fob or not… wow

Ok so I'm going to respectfully disagree with the last few posts. If someone has the key to your home and you have an alarm system, they have 60 seconds to find the panel and cut the power and battery and the alarm won't sound (I know it will phone in for cell systems). In this case, they had the key to the car and had until the owner woke up to factory reset the car. If you give someone your key, intentionally or not, they have the ability to access what you gave them the key to.

You have to look at all scenarios here. If you didn't pay your car loan and the car is repossessed would it be a good thing to let the "owner" who didn't pay know exactly where the car is and then let them come and take it? If you private party sell, should you be able to hold the 2FA from the new owner and track them/steal the car? There has to be a way for someone to reset the system without going through too much trouble especially if they have the key. The last 4 connected cars that I've had have had the same ability to reset the vehicle.

Now on to Ford being able to track the car. I know that Ford has this ability (see link below), however it's not that easy. There's been a number of cases where location was provided to people who wished to do harm in domestic abuse situations. I understand that Law Enforcement is involved, but the low level Ford reps would not have this ability. With other brands there's a dedicated hotline to call and they require a police report number and they then verify that with law enforcement. Ford has a similar service and it's documented here: https://media.ford.com/content/ford...-recover-stolen-vehicles-using-connected.html The article speaks to this dedicated line, but I can't find it.

Lastly, if you really wanted to get technical they make OBDII (and cig lighter) GPS and Cellular Jammers. Plug it in, drive away without being tracked. They are meant for the privacy conscientious but at $15 I think a thief would be able to afford one.

I think the OP just needs to get the right person to help out. Doesn't look like he's found anyone yet.

I have a follow up to Ford's ability to track vehicles in this post.

 

[deadduck]

But it's just concerning that when I called one of the sheriff's deputies that they also didn't seem to be aware of how to get the right information from Ford and were expecting me to provide this information.

I won't tell you how I know this, but I have first-hand experience with law enforcement, and I wouldn't expect them to work miracles, or actually do much at all, especially a deputy sheriff. I'm sure they'd love to make a big bust of car thieves, or even a little one, but a) they don't have a magic wand to solve these problems and b) I'm not sure they'd be able to use it if they did. They're actually nice enough people, at least the one's I've dealt with, it's just not what people think it is.

Have to admit that I wouldn't have considered needing a lojack or something on one of these.

 

[RickMachE]

Law enforcement can contact Ford and they can find the car. Yes, a person cannot have Ford do that.

Leaving the fob in the vehicle enabled the theft, and the subsequent deletion of access.

 

[Carsinmyblood]

... Catalytic converter thieves are getting greedy. They take the whole damned car now.

 

[MachE1977]

Ok so I'm going to respectfully disagree with the last few posts. If someone has the key to your home and you have an alarm system, they have 60 seconds to find the panel and cut the power and battery and the alarm won't sound (I know it will phone in for cell systems). In this case, they had the key to the car and had until the owner woke up to factory reset the car. If you give someone your key, intentionally or not, they have the ability to access what you gave them the key to.

You have to look at all scenarios here. If you didn't pay your car loan and the car is repossessed would it be a good thing to let the "owner" who didn't pay know exactly where the car is and then let them come and take it? If you private party sell, should you be able to hold the 2FA from the new owner and track them/steal the car? There has to be a way for someone to reset the system without going through too much trouble especially if they have the key. The last 4 connected cars that I've had have had the same ability to reset the vehicle.

Now on to Ford being able to track the car. I know that Ford has this ability (see link below), however it's not that easy. There's been a number of cases where location was provided to people who wished to do harm in domestic abuse situations. I understand that Law Enforcement is involved, but the low level Ford reps would not have this ability. With other brands there's a dedicated hotline to call and they require a police report number and they then verify that with law enforcement. Ford has a similar service and it's documented here: https://media.ford.com/content/ford...-recover-stolen-vehicles-using-connected.html The article speaks to this dedicated line, but I can't find it.

I think the OP just needs to get the right person to help out. Doesn't look like he's found anyone yet.

While I understand what are you are saying, there should be safeguards with Ford Pass. In this case the owner of the car should have gotten some the of notification asking if he really wanted his car off his Ford Pass. Selling a car? The buyer would complete the process right there and then. Repo? I am not understanding what you are arguing here. The Repo company would tell you where the car is at.

I guess the only thing anyone can really do is buy an Apple AirTag and hide it somewhere in the Mach-E

 

[SnBGC]

While I understand what are you are saying, there should be safeguards with Ford Pass. In this case the owner of the car should have gotten some the of notification asking if he really wanted his car off his Ford Pass. Selling a car? The buyer would complete the process right there and then. Repo? I am not understanding what you are arguing here. The Repo company would tell you where the car is at.

I guess the only thing anyone can really do is buy an Apple AirTag and hide it somewhere in the Mach-E

I think FordPass has SecureAlert. I wonder if that would have been helpful in this case?

 

[SnBGC]

Law enforcement can contact Ford and they can find the car. Yes, a person cannot have Ford do that.

Leaving the fob in the vehicle enabled the theft, and the subsequent deletion of access.

Agree. Car can definately be tracked with the VIN but that access is restricted to certain users so I presume there are protocols that need to occur first. I think a police report and request would be necessary.

 

[MachE1977]

I think FordPass has SecureAlert. I wonder if that would have been helpful in this case?

Forgot about that. I ended up disabling that feature on my F150.

 

[s7davis]

Sorryto hear this. But all vehicles with a navigation system can be tracked. Also ford is the only one capable of seeing if it qas a hack or a fob lefr in car. Howevee this means that people should insist on the extra sexurity that it has by needing a pin to start the motor even if the fob is left in car.

If you have the documents in your house one of them should state the navigation serial number which police will need to track it

 

[DevSecOps]

SecureAlert isn't even available in the newer MMEs. Also if the key fob is in the car SecureAlert won't do anything because it's not being "broken" in to.

And no thank you... I do not want to enter a PIN every time I start my car. What Ford needs to do is be better at detecting key fobs in the car. This was one of my first complaints about the car and I even did a PSA post on this forum about it. You can leave a FOB in the car and it lets you lock the doors and never warns you. THIS is what needs to be fixed. Unless of course the OP left the FOB on the roof or something.

Since ~10 years ago Audi and other mfgs have prevented the doors from locking with a FOB in the cabin, not sure why Ford hasn't picked up on that.

Retracting the above statement because @GoGoGadgetMachE reached across the US (with his gogogadget arm of course) slapped me because I was wrong and taught me the wise ways of Ford.

But all vehicles with a navigation system can be tracked.

This is factually incorrect. GPS is a receiver and not a transmitter. Many thousands, if not millions, of cars have navigation and have no connected services.

Realistically, the only way police could track the car without intervention of other agencies is with LPR and considering the thief didn't remove the plates. You guys watch too many movies =)

 

[DrJay32]

SecureAlert isn't even available in the newer MMEs. Also if the key fob is in the car SecureAlert won't do anything because it's not being "broken" in to.

And no thank you... I do not want to enter a PIN every time I start my car. What Ford needs to do is be better at detecting key fobs in the car. This was one of my first complaints about the car and I even did a PSA post on this forum about it. You can leave a FOB in the car and it lets you lock the doors and never warns you. THIS is what needs to be fixed. Unless of course the OP left the FOB on the roof or something.

Since ~10 years ago Audi and other mfgs have prevented the doors from locking with a FOB in the cabin, not sure why Ford hasn't picked up on that.



This is factually incorrect. GPS is a receiver and not a transmitter. Many thousands, if not millions, of cars have navigation and have no connected services.

My 2014 Ford Escape will not lock if the FOB is in the vehicle.

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

Since ~10 years ago Audi and other mfgs have prevented the doors from locking with a FOB in the cabin, not sure why Ford hasn't picked up on that.

The door keypad means locking the car with the fob inside is a reasonable use case for a Ford vehicle that does not exist for any other manufacturer.

On non-keypad vehicles like my girlfriend's C-Max, you can't lock the fob in, except with another fob. If you try, the car honks and unlocks.

 

[DevSecOps]

The door keypad means locking the car with the fob inside is a reasonable use case for a Ford vehicle that does not exist for any other manufacturer.

Well that's dumb ... what's the point of locking your FOB in the car? What use case is there for that? Wouldn't it just unlock immediately because the key is present?

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