Hi all, I'm new to this forum and I'm not quite sure how to navigate everything so be patient with me!

Last Wednesday (10/06/15) my 2013 baby blue Fiat 500 POP was stolen
It was parked on the street outside my home about two houses up (I was still able to see it clearly when I looked out my window). I woke up Wednesday morning and was on my way to get into my car for school when I saw my car was no longer where I parked it. The last time I drove the car was on Sunday afternoon (07/06/15). I checked that I locked the car by pulling the handle, which it was indeed locked. It was parked outside my home until the day it was stolen (3 days later).
So I went back into my house and asked my mum if she knew where I parked my car, just to check if I was losing my mind. She told me it was in the exact same spot that I looked and so I decided to walk down my street and on the next street to find it and was unsuccessful.

As a young driver I have black box insurance and so I was able to track the car and saw that it was DRIVEN 17 miles away from my home address and abandoned at an estate at 1:22am. I had both keys!!

The police have since recovered my car however they still have it so they can take finger prints. My question is how easy is it to steal a Fiat 500 POP without the keys? This has been a very disheartening ordeal as a new driver who has worked hard to save for a nice car especially seeing has I had a lot of stuff left in there (not in sight). Please help

This is all extremely unfortunate for you and I'm very sorry it happened to you. Without sounding flippant, you've answered your own question, for a professional car thief, very easy to steal without keys. Extremely fortunate that you had an insurance 'black box' fitted too as without it, you may never have ever seen the car again, so clearly they do have their benefits. I'm assuming here your black box was wired in out of sight and not plugged into the OBDII diagnostic port? I'm also guessing that your OBDII port might have been used to steal your vehicle. Devices are available that thieves can plug into the port disabling immobilisers etc and allowing the car to be half inched. I'm not telling you or anyone else what isn't already known and out there:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ring-clamps-best-way-beat-modern-thieves.html

So once the police have finished with the car and subject to your insurance company deciding what is going to happen next regarding you getting your own car back, you now need to decide how you are going to prevent this type of theft occuring again. This might involve fitting a 'kill switch' out of sight, or buying a 'disklok' type device, anything really to give someone a lot more hassle to go through to nick the motor.

Hope you get the car back soon.

I can understand how a tea leaf could use the OBD port to bypass the immobiliser etc, but what about the steering lock?

Without the key in the ignition, the steering wheel won't turn.

Therefore, in order to drive without the key they've had to break the lock and damage the car.

Good luck,
Mick.

Probably the OBD thing.

There's been a huge increase (tens of) high end Fords stolen via this method in the last few months.

Sorry to hear the news though. Glad it was recovered.

Agreed about the steering lock, but it takes just seconds to break that. I'm sure they'll be some insurance repair work to be done on the car prior to return to the OP. Thing is, he'll also have no idea how hard it's been ragged by the tea leaf. The car may have been found 17 miles away from Yasmien's home address, but how many miles did the car have on it prior to the theft and how many did the thief put on it? Not to mention the theft of fuel which you're unlikely to get any recompense for.

Unfortunately we can`t have anything these days without thieves also wanted it for free i bought a disklok at £99 well worth it but as it can mark the steering wheel i read a tip online to put an old pillow sheet over the wheel first ,it works for me ,and hopefully puts the tea leaf off and they look at the next car without any protection unfortunately
https://www.carnoisseur.com/product...g-wheel-lock?gclid=CO6V4cjGocYCFYGWtAodwfMNdg

During the second world war, car owners used to remove the rotor arm off the distributer so if the Germans landed, any vehicles would have been unusable.

My father had a Mini Van in the early 60's that had a "secret" switch to isolate the electric fuel pump. The car could be started and driven, but only until the carburretta float chamber emptied.

Is there anything under the bonnet of a 500 that can be easily removed to disable the engine ................ or is there a good and simple idea for a hidden "kill switch"?

Thanks,
Mick.

Mick F said:

I can understand how a tea leaf could use the OBD port to bypass the immobiliser etc, but what about the steering lock?

Without the key in the ignition, the steering wheel won't turn.

Therefore, in order to drive without the key they've had to break the lock and damage the car.

Good luck,
Mick.

Click to expand...

+1.

All of those "OMG OBD THEFTS!!!111!!" stories revolve around high end vehicles (mostly Range Rovers) that have keyless ignition systems (i.e. the car's "computer" communicates with a keyfob) being stolen by organised gangs.

Amusingly enough, this is happening because people and the EU have insisted that manufacturers make dealer level diagnostic and servicing tools available to basically anyone with a car servicing business. Ergo, corrupt garages have access to key recoding/key addition facilities and from this they can develop little hand held devices that can add keys to a car's list of accepted keys.

As Mick says, this isn't the case with a 500 for two reasons; one, it's not a high end vehicle (or particularly desirable anymore) so I'm surprised someone has gone to the trouble (if they indeed have) of devising some sort of security bypass for the 500. Secondly, it has physical security in the key barrel and steering lock.

I'm not saying it's impossible for someone to have broken the 500's electronic immobiliser (in fact I'd be gobsmacked if they hadn't) but if they have used some sort of gadget I'm surprised they went for a base spec Pop rather than an Abarth. I'm almost certain this won't have been a "professional" car thief. Why bother nicking a 7 grand 500 with physical security when you can nick a 70 grand range rover?

The OP's car will certainly have at least one window gone and steering column damage. I wouldn't be too worried about damage to the engine- the 1.2 is hardly a highly stressed unit that requires molly coddling.

Out of interest, did you buy this car new? That could change things somewhat.

Obviously this is a far worse situation these days with all this computer rubbish than the good old days when any ford could be opened and started with any ford key, bypassing electrical security consisted of finding a wiring diagram, pulling off the column cover, connecting two wires together and touching a second set together for a few seconds.

Car crime is enormously rarer than it used to be. No comfort when it happens to you though.

Mick F said:

Is there anything under the bonnet of a 500 that can be easily removed to disable the engine ................ or is there a good and simple idea for a hidden "kill switch"?

Click to expand...

The battery?

Removing a rotor arm and putting it in your pocket is one thing, but removing the battery and carrying it away is another.

I suppose you could disconnect the battery via the quick release earth lead. At least that would foil the idiot tea leaf.

Thinking about it, I remember an advert in a motoring mag some years ago that showed a unit you fit onto a battery terminal and it had a by-passable fuse in it. When you leave your car, you pull off a button thingy off the top leaving only the fuse to supply the car whilst you're away. That way, the car's electronics keep going, but if a thief tries to start the car, the fuse blows instantly and the starter motor fails to turn.

I wonder if those things are still available?

Regards,
Mick.

Seems like those sorts of things will only stop chancers. If the car was stolen that fast, with no traces, it was probably someone targeting deliberately. Likelihood of it being taken again is nil, and if they are a professional all you'll be doing is maybe costing them another minute or so.

The insurance tracker definitely seems a godsend!

Mick F said:

Removing a rotor arm and putting it in your pocket is one thing, but removing the battery and carrying it away is another.

I suppose you could disconnect the battery via the quick release earth lead. At least that would foil the idiot tea leaf.

Thinking about it, I remember an advert in a motoring mag some years ago that showed a unit you fit onto a battery terminal and it had a by-passable fuse in it. When you leave your car, you pull off a button thingy off the top leaving only the fuse to supply the car whilst you're away. That way, the car's electronics keep going, but if a thief tries to start the car, the fuse blows instantly and the starter motor fails to turn.

I wonder if those things are still available?

Regards,
Mick.

Click to expand...

Something like this, you mean? Amazon.com: Battery Anti-Theft Disconnect Switch with Fuse: Automotive

That particular one might be awkward to fit to a 500 of course.

I'm looking into buying a wheel clamp, mainly for when the car's parked at home, as it often is for long periods, or when left somewhere else, say all day at a railway station. I think those are the most likely times it'll get nicked. It'd be a bit awkward to use for a trip to the local chippy of course...

Mick F said:

Is there anything under the bonnet of a 500 that can be easily removed to disable the engine .................

Click to expand...

Fuel pump fuse.........

Piccolo Nero e Bella said:

Something like this, you mean? Amazon.com: Battery Anti-Theft Disconnect Switch with Fuse: Automotive

Click to expand...

That's the one!
Thanks.

frupi said:

Fuel pump fuse.........

Click to expand...

Which is that one?
Can't see it listed in our handbook.

Regards,
Mick.

Mick F said:

During the second world war, car owners used to remove the rotor arm off the distributer so if the Germans landed, any vehicles would have been unusable.

My father had a Mini Van in the early 60's that had a "secret" switch to isolate the electric fuel pump. The car could be started and driven, but only until the carburretta float chamber emptied.

Is there anything under the bonnet of a 500 that can be easily removed to disable the engine ................ or is there a good and simple idea for a hidden "kill switch"?

Thanks,
Mick.

Click to expand...

I used to do this in the 1980s on my Capri when I went on holiday

On the South London borough that I live on, for a while it seemed that Fiat 500s were being targetted as several were stolen in the area all without keys. It was suspected that some bit of kit that is normally used for Range Rovers etc was used in the ODB port to bypass the ignition and possibly releasing the steering lock too, although I was under the impression that the key had to be physically turned.

There are bits of kit out there that will program a new key using the black box, which may well be how it works.

Steering locks are physical locks for which you need the specific key to turn.
No doubt they can be picked or broken.

Mick.

Mick F said:

Which is that one? (fuel pump fuse)
Can't see it listed in our handbook.

Regards,
Mick.

Click to expand...

See link: http://www.fiat500usaforum.com/showthread.php?4042-Engine-compartment-fuse-layout

I haven't tried pulling the fuse, but if you do, let me know if it works.......

Thanks for that. I may have a go in the next day or so and I'll report my findings.

The handbook doesn't list many of the fuses, so that info is good. It shows the fuses and relays, but doesn't say which is which other than a few of them.

I've saved the linked list as a screenshot.

Regards,
Mick.

You're hardly going to remove a fuse every time you park up in order to secure your car surely?