Stolen Tail Lights

[Gaffer]

My tail lights were stolen. Dealer replacement parts are $5000. Or there’s eBay for $1400, clearly stolen from somebody else. Anyone gone the eBay route? Sounds like I’ll still have to get the sensors calibrated at the dealer and another module replaced on the driver side for $1500.

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[watts/up]

Horrible. Was the tailgate unlocked or were they able to unlock or lower it by other means?

 

[Gaffer]

They somehow were able to unlock it. That’s the most confusing part. Got into the cab, took my sunglasses, left the $700 car seat. They didn’t bother opening the frunk and taking all my tools.

 

[The Weatherman]

Tools . Hell they aren’t taking those. Then they’d have to work for a living.

 

[Runaway Tractor]

Tools . Hell they aren’t taking those. Then they’d have to work for a living.

They'd be on ebay or marketplace along with the taillights.

 

[Heliian]

Ya, that's an insurance claim ffs.

If they got into the cab then it was unlocked, tailgate would open too.

Did you get the theft on camera?

 

[RocketGhost]

I would just file an insurance claim and let the dealer replace with new parts, that way you aren't risking problems with used ebay parts.

How did they get into the truck?

 

[PJnc284]

If they got into the cab then it was unlocked

Possible but not necessarily. Relay attacks can get them in a locked truck but usually they would just steal the truck then. It's why some keep their fobs in a faraday bag.

 

[solastobann]

My tail lights were stolen. Dealer replacement parts are $5000. Or there’s eBay for $1400, clearly stolen from somebody else. Anyone gone the eBay route? Sounds like I’ll still have to get the sensors calibrated at the dealer and another module replaced on the driver side for $1500.

A horrible price. I heard a Lightning tailgate is $10,000. The eBay taillights may be stolen, but more likely are Chinese. Even $1400 is rough. Beware of some “notices” posted on other Lightning sites, offering parts from a totaled Lightning. They show pictures of the wreck; clearly a Lightning. I sought to buy a seatbelt and grab handle and contacted the seller. His info said he was from Texas yet he was in Florida. The truck was in Illinois. Alarm bells. He said he’d have his mechanic in Illinois remove it and then photograph it. I said I wanted pictures IN the truck. Disregarded. Sent pictures that I recognized as not from a Lightning—or F150. He was NEVER available for a phone call. At work, out of range, etc.. Sirens went off. A scam for sure. Probably overseas. Trust but verify. Better yet, don’t trust at all. Your thief likely had one of those black boxes to unlock your truck. Miserable slugs. Ford should be more reasonably priced.

 

[Tired Lizard]

Saw on the local news couple days ago:
Stolen in seconds: Video shows thieves stealing truck from Spring driveway in 67 seconds
"Amade believed he took all the right precautions, like locking his truck, removing the keys and tinting the windows to obscure valuables inside. But none of it stopped the thieves.
“They used what looked like some kind of mechanical tool to jimmy the lock, and then it turned out to be some kind of electronic device,” Amade said. “My camera shows them coming up closer to the side of the house like they were scanning for something. And then by the time they got the door open, plugged it in and started it like they had a key.”

 

[solastobann]

Saw on the local news couple days ago:
Stolen in seconds: Video shows thieves stealing truck from Spring driveway in 67 seconds
"Amade believed he took all the right precautions, like locking his truck, removing the keys and tinting the windows to obscure valuables inside. But none of it stopped the thieves.
“They used what looked like some kind of mechanical tool to jimmy the lock, and then it turned out to be some kind of electronic device,” Amade said. “My camera shows them coming up closer to the side of the house like they were scanning for something. And then by the time they got the door open, plugged it in and started it like they had a key.”

They were probably cloning the fob, likely hung on a hook inside the door. A Faraday bag, sold on Amazon and elsewhere, will shield your fob’s radiation. It was like they had a key because they DID.

 

[Heliian]

Possible but not necessarily. Relay attacks can get them in a locked truck but usually they would just steal the truck then. It's why some keep their fobs in a faraday bag.

Oh for sure, the end result is still the truck unlocked and the alarm is disabled.

 

[RickLightning]

A horrible price. I heard a Lightning tailgate is $10,000. The eBay taillights may be stolen, but more likely are Chinese. Even $1400 is rough. Beware of some “notices” posted on other Lightning sites, offering parts from a totaled Lightning. They show pictures of the wreck; clearly a Lightning. I sought to buy a seatbelt and grab handle and contacted the seller. His info said he was from Texas yet he was in Florida. The truck was in Illinois. Alarm bells. He said he’d have his mechanic in Illinois remove it and then photograph it. I said I wanted pictures IN the truck. Disregarded. Sent pictures that I recognized as not from a Lightning—or F150. He was NEVER available for a phone call. At work, out of range, etc.. Sirens went off. A scam for sure. Probably overseas. Trust but verify. Better yet, don’t trust at all. Your thief likely had one of those black boxes to unlock your truck. Miserable slugs. Ford should be more reasonably priced.

Do a Google Lens search on any picture. When you find it's listed on another site, 2 years before, 12 states away, report the listing to the platform and flag it as a scam.

 

[El Duderino]

Definitely file an insurance claim. Most states don't allow comprehensive coverage claims to count against you for raising rates.

 

[chl]

My tail lights were stolen. Dealer replacement parts are $5000. Or there’s eBay for $1400, clearly stolen from somebody else. Anyone gone the eBay route? Sounds like I’ll still have to get the sensors calibrated at the dealer and another module replaced on the driver side for $1500.

This has been going on for some time with F-150s.
There are videos about ways to prevent it from happening again.

It does not matter if your tail gate is locked because if they can get into the bed, they can get into the inside of the tail gate and defeat the lock fairly easily and take the tail lights in a matter of a minute or two using standard tools.

So people replace the factory bolts at the tail light access point after they open the tail gate, with ones that have a weird (non-standard) head.



Now I suppose some thieves will get the proper tool and then this won't work.

Another thing people do is modify the tail gate latch so it cannot be so easily opened once they get inside the bed.







BTW, sometimes they steal the tail gate itself! This is how to prevent (or slow them down anyway):



This will prevent theft of both:



Of course, thieves will probably find a way around these things as time goes by...so some people etch their VIN number on their parts so if they are stolen, and the chop shop/ebay seller is raided, you can get your part back.

For what it's worth.

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