Toyota has a problem on its hands in Australia, and it’s not one it can solve with a software update.
It has been well documented that the influx of thefts on popular models has led to many owners suddenly thinking about old-school security again, and methods such as CAN bus injection and OBD injection have meant so many people. Alarms Not . A. not trackers, but no trackser). Physical deterrents . The type of thing you can see from the street,’ .
That’s the context for Toyota’s genuine steering wheel lock, a roughly $200 accessory pitched as a simple way to add a layer of protection to vehicles already on the road. In theory, it’s the sort of product you buy for peace of mind – something that looks substantial, feels solid in the hand, and hopefully forces a thief to move on to an easier target.
So we put that theory to the test with an angle grinder.
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It was a deliberately simple setup by . A steering wheel mounted to a plank, lock fitted as it would be on ‘a car and – like you could realistically imagine being used in. driveway at 300amam with – battery powered grinder (like the type you can think of using this kind) for smashed into drunk?
The key question was whether the locks could be defeated – almost anything can be cut with the right tool – but that is the expensive, genuine accessory actually buys meaningful time as it does to the cheap stuff.
We gathered a small group of steering wheel locks across the price range, from ‘$30 mark’ to $40-$5 more expensive options, an mid-tier ‘yellow’ design for $175 with swollen plastic outer section and genuine Toyota lock at the top of the pile.
The benchmark was 60 seconds seconds. A lock that could resist a grinder for one minute would at least force thief to make sustained noise, sparks and attention. If it doesn’t, the deterrent value is more about appearances than real resistance.
The first result was the most difficult the cheapest lock was through in 15 seconds, and it barely looked like the grinder had made a sweat. That’s the kind of time frame where a thief doesn’t have to rush, doesn’t need to panic and doesn ‘needing it’ that tool is chewing discs.
This was not the case of a second lock, just about $10 more – but that’s what meant it didn’t mean something. It adds about 10 seconds, which sounds like something on paper, but in practice it’s still over almost as soon as it begins. When we’re talking about a window where most people in. house would sleep through it, or just think someone is cutting pavers or doing early-morning work around the house.
This was the big, more substantial mid-level lock that we moved to – the one which looks like it should be a real step up for ourn we went back to the bigger, larger mid level lock. That was not the case of . It took a bit longer, but the takeaway kept it in more money was just buying small numbers of time.
Also we viewed the building more closely, going into the bulky section to see what was actually doing the work. Once that outer plastic had been broken, the underlying reality was hard to ignore once it became clear. The steel is still a piece of steel, it’s also in shaped like that which leaves points of attack and remains vulnerable to – for example, if you have hoped the tool will chew through metal quickly.
But that’s what made the genuine Toyota lock a key part of this test, and that’s why it was so important to . It doesn’t cost as much as a novelty to buy at $200. I think it’s a ‘engineered solution’ for the money, and should be something that makes the cheap locks look like toys.
Instead, it took around 20 seconds.
That’s not a typo. Roughly five seconds more than the bargain-basement option.
Worse was that the design itself seemed to give the grinder an easy start, and once it had a bite its all over. It’s difficult at that point to argue the real accessory is worth its asking price, even if Toyota is doing so well to subsidise it as in other markets.
Here’s another fucky thing about this the grinder wasn’t perfect. Intermittent cutting out was intermittently removing it from its paraphrasingr. Then again, these days weren’t the perfect case of a criminal. Using a better tool, or just one that stops and starts with s – the gap between “hard” and “easy” shrinks even further.
We also looked at a much more effective way instead of cutting the lock, cut the steering wheel itself. It took about six seconds to test the section tested for . That’s the kind of workaround that makes any single-point physical security device feel flimsy, because it reminds you thieves don’t have to play by the rules of the product’.
So where does that leave Toyota owners?
An eye deterrent can still be a value-less steering wheel lock, which may also remain useful as ‘an effective visual detorrent’ to the concept of paraphrasing. During this it says to the young, unattractive thief not to stop walking. This can lead to a person being pulled towards softer target by it. If you’re buying a and it’s going to be physically able to hold an angle grinder for long enough to matter, this test says you have to reset expectations – especially if you look at the real accessory thinking that is in another league.
The results, if anything, are more likely to be the case for layered security visible deterrents, immobiliser solutions where possible and a mindset that assumes ‘the determined thief with the right tools can defeat almost anything given even – albeit i.e., within shortest period of time’.
And that’s the tail sting. This genuine lock isn’t a waste of time – but at $200, when it’s just marginally better than something – three times the price.
Thanks for reading Gone in 20 seconds: The $200 Toyota steering wheel lock fails the grinder test
