You can do a few things to secure your commodore. 1. Leave your steering turned when parking so you can’t get towed. 2. Steering lock 3. AirTag 4. Horn re-location kit 5. Obd port creative re-location 5. Aftermarket immobiliser
Links to help people out if there interested in my community page Horn Relocation kit Fake Obd2 port Igla installers Ghost immobiliser installers Repco 4g Tracker
3. and 5. and *6. are the most important here and I will emphasise this applies to pretty much any car with push start. Many new toyotas etc are getting stolen too so if you are reading this make sure u take precautions instead of learning the hard way like I did! Just cos the horn goes off or the steering wheel is locked wont stop some of these thieves (circumstancial of course), they know they can get away with it since police don't care so they won't care if other people see.
im seriously liking these road-car videos, seems like a breath of fresh air compared to the constant F1 vids (not hating, but still nice to see roadcars as well)
I'm an auto mechanic in the US; obviously the Holden marque wasn't a thing here, but these Commodores made their way to the US as the Chevrolet SS, it was even Chevy's NASCAR Cup Series body for a few years. However, I've only ever seen three in the wild (and one was rebadged as a Holden) because they produced less than 13,000 units. A quick Google search and apparently this is a problem here in the States as well with these cars being stolen. It sucks, because this car here is kind of a collector's item and they are very rare to see. I personally really like this car.
Well the Commodore was really popular as a basic V6 sedan. Holden sold millions of those, not very exciting. It's mostly the rarer v8 SS cars getting stolen since they go faster.
@@MrTakaMOSHi Yeah I knew the last gen GTO was an imported Holden but I don't know about the G8. Even if it wasn't a Pontiac original, it was still a great car to go out on.
3:30 Government!? GM received $2 billion in government subsidies and still couldn't get it right, then GM left Aus with our tax payer money and many ppl jobless.
People love to blame the government and Hockey's speech goading GM to leave but the writing was on the wall years prior. GFC bankrupted GM, causing them to restructure and focus efforts on their home market. Manufacturing in Australia is stupidly expensive compared to overseas where cars can be made and imported way cheaper due to almost zero tariffs. The market shifted and wanted SUVS / smaller cars instead of large sedans. Holden had no hope of retooling to make a new one locally so they took GM-Korea's junk then slapped a Holden badge on it instead.
A few weeks ago, 3 young men came up my driveway to steal my HSV club sport 6.2. With 2 other cars blocking the driveway, the men tried to enter the house. That was their big mistake. My 2 adult sons and I are black belt kick boxers. We found them trying to enter via the locked rear door. When they saw us, one pulled a knife on my son and the other a gun on me. The idiot with the gun ended up with 2 broken wrists, the idiot with the knife ended up with 2 broken arms. The last idiot a broken nose. Court was last week and my sons and I were severely scolded by the judge for causing so much damage to the thieves and the 3 got away without conviction. The Victorian state is an absolute fn mess.
Huh? If you were a kickboxer you would know never to engage in a fight with someone wielding a knife or holding a gun…..clearly your life wasn’t as important as 1ton of metal.
Ah good old Holden, couldn’t tell you how many I see daily even to this day. Founded by a bloke in Adelaide, went on to become the nation’s most successful vehicle
Used to be the manager for a petrol station next to the Holden factory in SA, massive drop in sales when it closed. Was also extra cautious when a white commodore would fill up because they were a common car for drive offs, used to call them "common-whores".
@@5oul-Wars The Eclipse was a world away from how most of us remembered the name.Everywhere else knew it as a sports car of some sort or a successor to the Starion way back in the day but for it to return as some behemoth medium SUV was a joke.otherwise known as a private import FTO was the car way back in the day.
I sometimes used to accidently leave my keys in my fg falcon, and one time it got broken into they just took money.. Months after the incident i now feel insulted
Excellent video. It is my understanding that these thefts apply mainly to VF Commodores with the push button engine start/stop feature. It's not so easy to plug a device into the OBD2 port and re-key the car if it needs an actual key to turn on the ignition. Still can be stolen of course but not quite so easily. Another precaution one can take is to relocate the horn and associated wiring to a more in accessible position and maybe loop in a siren at the same time.
Yep, the insurance for my VE has been going up alongside the VFs, but mine uses a real key that needs to be either cut or have the column disassembled to swap out the whole barrel before reprogramming, which makes it far harder to steal. Very annoying.
Im my opion the whole problem stems from the fact that they have removed a physical key, Keyless entry & keyless start is just asking for problems. Why have manufactures removed the 3 way ignistion system, which had a FOB, a transponderchip (coded to the ECU) & a physical key? Just having a push start system in which extra 'proximity fobs' can be manually added is the problem here, as they have eliminated one of the 3 deterance.
With the original commodore if you placed a pair of scissors ✂️ in the door lock 🔒 & then push up it would unlock the door, it wasn’t noisy or anything, sometimes you would need to lift door handle at same time. They fixed the issue by changing the door lock to be built into the handle with later models. They fixed commodore has always been a target by thief’s.
Next door neighbour had his v8 VZ stolen from his driveway last week from a very quiet neighbourhood, obviously a very targeted event. No sign of of it since, the only thing he has now is the keys.
Probably find it being parted out on marketplace. I know there’s a couple people in Canberra that sell a lot of ford and Holden parts that are all from stolen rigs
It's why i sold my beautiful VF2 motorsport a few years back. I also owned a XR8 Sprint, needless to say I had someone more than once try to break into the garage. I always locked it from the inside. I still to this day don't understand why they didn't try to break into the house to gain entry. Police need to start raids on wreckers as this is where pretty much all parts end up as well as market place.
5 ways i can think of is 1-get an OBD2 lock for your car they come with security screws but, the thief can buy the same lock and hes got instant access to the screws with the tool that comes with the lock, so buy the security bolts that only screw the one way, you cant unscrew them you screw them on with a flat blade but cant unscrew them because the screw doesnt have the material for the flat blade to go in reverse, 2- another is to have an air horn attached to your car alarm, a seperate wire running not behind the wheel arch but a different path going from your alarm to a air horn,so you can still use your normal horn for normal use and have the air horn for the alarm so when they cut the wire to your horn they think they have disabled your alarm and it will scare the crap out of them when your air horn alarm goes off and i bet they dont hang around to steal it and 3rd is have a gps tracker with an immobilizer so you can be alarmed through your phone about the theft and you can immobilize your car and track it to wherever is hidden 4 -keep your keys in a small tin at night so they cant pick up your fob frequency, and finally 5- buy a good steering wheel lock not a cheap one but a good solid one and turn your tires toward the curb or on the angle so they cant tow it away or put it on the back of a flat bed truck because it wont roll in a straight line i mean where theres a will theres a way but if you did these 5 things then i reckon you have eliminated %90 of the chances of your car being stolen, of corse if they have enough time they can by-pass these precausions but if you limit their time then your in with a chance
I have an early 2000s Holden Commodore and it still drives beautifully! I call mine "the old girl" haha. I hope nobody has been eyeing off my car now though...
ZB will never be a true commodore in my opinion, but considering it was technically the last “commodore” it deserves its place in a museum for historical purposes
I had VN ex cop car, my god I loved it, extra long range fuel tank would get just over 700Km on one tank, and they rechipped them to have some fantastic off the lights punch.... it was like 2 modes depending on how you drove... ie gentle take off it would sip petrol, put foot down and it was a beast.
@nickn8812 Not true. The port wire originate at the ECU. You could easily pickup the wires at the ecu end and solder another obd2 port from a wreck. You could even put a hidden toggle switch under the bonnet to remove 12v from the obd2 connector. A bit of time, a wiring diagram and solder/heatshrink and it can be done.
If you have a VF Commodore and want to protect yourself from these scumbags do the following: Horn relocation kit BCM Lockdown so they can't reprogram keys IGLA alarm so it can't be started (Also locks out OBD port) Hi quality tracker
I went over my 3rd Gen VX with this trend in mind, while repairing the horn for the umpteenth time in the last year. Wires kept breaking and the older sounders filled with water somehow. They are in a stupid place but on 3rd generation, the wiring was run through the frame channels and inaccessible from outside, and secondly the sounders for the alarm are in the engine bay and not through the horns themselves. (on account that the alarm worked when the older horns were drowning in water). To start you have to have a working keyhead in contact with the collar around the ignition barrel. GM appears to have cheaped out on security with the fourth generation if it's that simple to disable the alarm audibles and steal the car.
Yep access to these tools needs tighter! But also the market Needs to be flooded with more parts avaible off the shelf! Put an end to the black market...
Access to the tools can never be stopped, there are too many out there already and the are too easy to privately import. This is squarely on the manufacturer that allows these tools to be used in the manner they are. All they had to do was require the tool to be plugged in for an extended amount of time, say 3 hours or so, before rekeying would be allowed. A simple software fix, problem solved.
Little penalties for youth caught stealing cars ,accountability would help but courts are weak.off topic a bit,the problem was that the car buyers shifted to buying SUV & 4WDs by the thousands, and Holden kept producing sedans+ the production was labour & cost higher than the car makers off shore. The Australian government threw 2 billion + at Holden, Holden needed to move with market & they failed to do so..go to the U.S. Detroit, their car plants suffered much the same. Government cannot prop companies up for ever, I think Holden sat back thinking the government would keep propping them up. Sad for all Australians.
I've been keeping up to date with all the VF commodore getting stolen, and I feel so bad for the people in Victoria. I'm also glad it hasn't made it way up here yet, but I've said it once before, and I'll say it agian all those anti theft devices are good don't get me wrong but why spend hundreds of dollars on something when you're cheapest insurance is and well save you Heartache is just disconnect your battery anti no one getting in let alone driving away with the car unless you've got it parked for an easy access for a tow truck.
And these thieves don't know how to reconnect the battery... A lot of frigging around every time you park and get out of the car. Wouldn't it be a lot easier to lift the bonnet and pull the fuel relay. I have got two SS manual sedans... a 2008 VE series 1 and a modded VF SSV Redline series 1. Recently, and in response to these videos, I have started to looked a fitting the SSV with gadgets to help slow down the thieves.. but they won't stop a tilt tray.
It's wild in Victoria, in qld they get joyridden and flogged out, in melbourne the arabs, indians and chinese buy the stolen cars and part them out like it's not even shady or risky to do so.
@@MichaelMossmanNZwell the aftermarket alarm should have an extra siren, incase the thieves disable the horn. So at least the alarm will still go off. But you might need a tracker too.
Only way to solve this is minimum mandatory jail sentences for car theft and abolishing the ability for judges to make sentences ‘concurrent’. That way if the judge wants to give you a month of jail, you will do 20 months for 20 car thefts.
We've got 4 commodores in the family, dad's got a VL and a VF both are in a shed away from prying eyes and rarely driven. I've a VE and a VT, which are both dailies
Technology has caught up where accessing the car can be done by anyone. The best you can do it secure it the best you can and don't park it anywhere unattended. It's become a garage car.
Yes, I recently watched a video here on YT about the Range Rovers in the UK being a hot item ATM, and how the thieves would get hold of the keys from inside the house. A real eye-opener =)
You joke but i have hidden battery disconnect switches Mostly because i leave the car or bike weeks or months between using But a good theft deterrent to someone who brings a battery jumper pack lol
I drive a VL manual. The one's that are smart enough to defeat security systems, probably don't possess the skill to drive a manual anyhow. Mine is fitted with LPG. When I park it, I simply flick the three way fuel switch to the central position (off) and no one has been clever enough to figure that out in the last 20 years or so. Haven't got a cure for the tow truck scenario, but I reckon that would be pretty rare in my neighbourhood of country south Australia
Guns are restricted here and the crims still have them. Making the tools restricted will just piss off the honest people working on their cars and fix nothing.
pretty much, as the crims would just break in somewhere and knock off the tools, for then using for their crim ways. crims don't care what the rules are and don't care when things are attempted to be made hard for them. They'd rob any garage, to get what they want, to them use later. They just don't care, and they never get sentences that would question ever doing it again.
I looked at a VY series 2 or a VZ new Calais to replace our 1996 Mercedes for my mom in 2004 after test driving a before update w203 c180 MB but decided she would be better off even if we did cost a bunch of workers at GMH Elizabeth their livelihoods with a real prestige car that instead of most having been stolen and destroyed most would have gone to the wreckers by now it would have meant safe motoring for new drivers with a post update model which we ended up getting.
Maybe, Mercedes C180 platform was a far cry from the quality motor cars that Mercedes were renounced for with a variety of annoying niggles. Certainly a better finish than the Holden though, but underpowered.
@@liamgross7217 105KW from a 1.8 supercharged was more than adequate in our household.We kids and mom had switched to flying for interstate trips and the need for three kids or adults in the rear was not essential by 2004/2005 as we were driving on our own.
Holden made mistakes that cost it market share, the biggest was putting their badge on cars from the low end of the Korean market. People buying these thought they were buying a rugged, reliable Holden, but time proved them wrong. Having said that, Commodore owners, have your security horn and wiring moved and fit a switch operated relay in the ground circuit of your fuel pump or even better use a cheap Chinese remote controlled relay. Ground circuit because it is generally harder to diagnose for the average crook. You can even power it from the brake lights so that you have to put the brake on while operating the remote to unlock the fuel pump. Or you can spend more and fit trackers and aftermarket alarm/immobilisers.
I owned one of those Korean made Holden's between 2018-2021 but bought when it was about 15 months old.Biggest lump of junk(The Spark).To Holden's credit they had the sense to fit a genuine alarm like what the Cruze and it's successor Astra had around the same time but you could for similar money from memory(I got a loan for mine)scour around for a bigger Pulsar or Corolla or even a Mazda 3.Oddly enough a truck wrote off the Spark never to be seen again and a series 2 update Mazda 3 replaced the Holden and no regrets.I did consider the last off the European Barina's briefly but couldn't find one.
Prohibition of tools or devices and stricter penalties is not going to do anything, the crime needs to be prevented and perpetrators caught before they do damage. Immobiliser is your cheapest way to prevent a car from being driven away, a simple toggle switch hidden and wired inline with the fuel pump, injector power or something else critical for starting will be the easiest and cheapest way. If you make sure the car can still crank with a key a potential thief may assume the car is broken and not consider there is a hidden switch or immobiliser, bonus points if they flatten the battery from cranking.
My VT V6 is up to 310K, and with a 200K VY2 engine and tranny just put in (1500bucks) inc installation, it's back to 1000km weekends with closed bike trailer then work etc for the rest. I couldn't find a better car for the money to do what mine does. Love VF's and wish the bastard thieves would stick to Camries and Kias, not the last of OUR cars.
Can you provide where you got this information about the commodore being the most “stolen” vehicle in Australia?… I’m genuinely curious. As someone who works within an industry that deals with stolen vehicles… from my experience they don’t even rank in the top 5 most stolen vehicles!?
Criminalizing the devices isn't going to solve anything. Criminals either already have them or will procure them somehow anyway, and a resourceful person can cobble their own device together to do the same thing. The problem is with the basic security of the car, and that thieves know they can get away with it. Since Holden is no more, perhaps it should be GM's responsibility to provide a fix. Barring that, owners will have to take their own steps to better secure their vehicles. The government would be wise to crack down on these thefts to deter thieves. Unfortunately there's little else that can be done beyond that.
Yeah my guess is they would steal one from the mechanics and then go about the car... also even it were banned on ebay they go to temu or the like for it.
I'd happily buy a VF Series 3, with a 4 cylinder turbo and 8 speed ZF box, updated stereo with CarPlay/Android Auto. They could have done it do cheaply by just raiding the GM/Cadillac parts bin.
A 4cyl turbo and V8 option would have been enough. That LFX engine used in the 6 cylinder models was a piece of crap, with the damn water fittings being at the back of the block and the oil problems.
Random question, you watch any gt3 racing I am a huge fan of Bathurst 12hr since I first discovered it in 2015 you ever visited Bathurst? Any chance you could perhaps make a video about its history or top racing moments, anyway keep up the good work I love watching your vids!
The 'slap on the wrist' punishment might appear problematic to most people - however this system greatly benefits those working for the legal system. They have easy, repeat business, and it also means they can say they are 'too busy' to go after any criminals that are higher up in the system itself.
It also doesn’t help with repeating offenders aus sending there worst back to NZ so they can repeat everything they did over there here. Most of the deported are raised in Australia (but have a nz/samoa/fiji birth certificate) which should make it Aussie’s problem
My dad got his pride and joy VT club sport broken into stolen. He found it a month later completely different on marketplace but the stupid idiots left the vin on the car. And they said come back tomorrow even though my dad said he wants to buy it now cause he just wanted his baby back but they suggested him to come tomorrow then they were gone nowhere to be seen another month. Later he saw a Facebook post of his car burnt out.
The key lock for my commodore failed and I bought 1 of those devices and a new key instead of taking my car to Holden and paying 3 times the price for the problem to be fixed. Now I'm probably on a police watch list for buying it 😒 I hate car thieves and am looking to getting an immobiliser now
@paulthomasunderwood thank you. People in my family never spoke to me in such a way and it left me not understanding them and the things they said or what they were trying to get across which annoyed me and I was always told I don't understand or that I'm stupid. I'm very uneducated but I never want people to feel the way my family made me feel so I try to do my best.
Another issue is that nothing is done about the offenders. Should be 10 year minimum. Also stop the defect craze in the police force, focus on the bigger picture.
Its interesting how the commodore has kinda gone full circle. The VL commodore was regarded as the most stolen car in Australia, and all these years later, it seems they never learnt.
@ may be a good idea mate, I was thinking of getting like a backup horn, I wanna buy them while they’re still good my card check engine light just came on so I needs figure something out quick
@@Vadonis076what state are you in? Owning one in Victoria South Australia and Queensland is a gamble given that’s where 90% are stolen from. I have a vf gts and a vf ss redline. Both have trackers and the obd is reprogrammed and locked so their devices will not work. That and being parked in a secure parking area with bollards helps. Though still cautious about where I park it when I take it out
Really banning a device? Are the computers that you comment from the easiest way for scammers ? More illegal crap happens on your phone and computer yet are these devices banned?
I dont know about the most stolen car there isn't even that many left including falcons out numbered 7 to 1 on the road rangers and bigger cars dominate the market and roads
The v6 is not reliable or the gearboxes wake up gm v6 stuff up the inline 6 holden made was more reliable and easy to work on v6 whare and bad oil feed is a disaster
Reliable? Anyone who calls Holden Commodores reliable is bullshiting, I have known nothing but breakdowns with such cars, Hondas & Toyotas are reliable.
If I My self owned owned a high performance Holden I would change the obd port wireing to to short out and fry the obd reader and have a CIA tracker that cannot be beaten
The vf was fuckin amazing quality compared to most gm cars especially of that similar time. Look at the vf interior compared to modern interiors like a 2024 camry, still holds up and looks way better id say, they gave there all on the design for the last shot they had
@Stambo59 does a VE curve back like that at the boot? Looks like an AU to me? I'm pretty sure the rear door doesn't curve that much on a Commodore? I dunno I'm probably wrong
@@Jarmezrocks If you look at a VE on the same angle, where the A pillar meets the front guard it looks more like a commie than a falcon. I almost agreed with you until I compared that area.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
You can do a few things to secure your commodore.
1. Leave your steering turned when parking so you can’t get towed.
2. Steering lock
3. AirTag
4. Horn re-location kit
5. Obd port creative re-location
5. Aftermarket immobiliser
Links to help people out if there interested in my community page
Horn Relocation kit
Fake Obd2 port
Igla installers
Ghost immobiliser installers
Repco 4g Tracker
3. and 5. and *6. are the most important here and I will emphasise this applies to pretty much any car with push start. Many new toyotas etc are getting stolen too so if you are reading this make sure u take precautions instead of learning the hard way like I did!
Just cos the horn goes off or the steering wheel is locked wont stop some of these thieves (circumstancial of course), they know they can get away with it since police don't care so they won't care if other people see.
Remember if you catch someone stealing a car, you found that dead body and don't know anything
im seriously liking these road-car videos, seems like a breath of fresh air compared to the constant F1 vids (not hating, but still nice to see roadcars as well)
It’s the algorithm, I never see F1 videos pop up, since I never click on them.
@@xkimopye Meanwhile Pers' Most Popular videos are still F1 Videos lol, Funny how that works.
I'm an auto mechanic in the US; obviously the Holden marque wasn't a thing here, but these Commodores made their way to the US as the Chevrolet SS, it was even Chevy's NASCAR Cup Series body for a few years. However, I've only ever seen three in the wild (and one was rebadged as a Holden) because they produced less than 13,000 units. A quick Google search and apparently this is a problem here in the States as well with these cars being stolen. It sucks, because this car here is kind of a collector's item and they are very rare to see. I personally really like this car.
Well the Commodore was really popular as a basic V6 sedan. Holden sold millions of those, not very exciting. It's mostly the rarer v8 SS cars getting stolen since they go faster.
@tomtom1541 Yeah, here in the US it was ONLY sold with the 6.2L LS3.
@@RedCometXIII yeah I know, cause GM America instead had the 3.6 Cadillac v6 sedans and 3.8 Buick but those were the same as what Holden did.
Also sold in the states as the Pontiac G8, could get that one w/ a V6 too
@@MrTakaMOSHi Yeah I knew the last gen GTO was an imported Holden but I don't know about the G8. Even if it wasn't a Pontiac original, it was still a great car to go out on.
3:30 Government!? GM received $2 billion in government subsidies and still couldn't get it right, then GM left Aus with our tax payer money and many ppl jobless.
@@cthorno2991 yep!
Holden went from icon to con
The taxpayer paid for this POS
@@clayton4115 not completely but yes. Holden is like Mercedes. The HSV and AMG ones are fantastic, the rest is pretty average indeed.
People love to blame the government and Hockey's speech goading GM to leave but the writing was on the wall years prior.
GFC bankrupted GM, causing them to restructure and focus efforts on their home market.
Manufacturing in Australia is stupidly expensive compared to overseas where cars can be made and imported way cheaper due to almost zero tariffs.
The market shifted and wanted SUVS / smaller cars instead of large sedans. Holden had no hope of retooling to make a new one locally so they took GM-Korea's junk then slapped a Holden badge on it instead.
Unions killed manufacturing. Greed killed the lion 😢
A few weeks ago, 3 young men came up my driveway to steal my HSV club sport 6.2. With 2 other cars blocking the driveway, the men tried to enter the house. That was their big mistake. My 2 adult sons and I are black belt kick boxers. We found them trying to enter via the locked rear door. When they saw us, one pulled a knife on my son and the other a gun on me. The idiot with the gun ended up with 2 broken wrists, the idiot with the knife ended up with 2 broken arms. The last idiot a broken nose. Court was last week and my sons and I were severely scolded by the judge for causing so much damage to the thieves and the 3 got away without conviction. The Victorian state is an absolute fn mess.
ive heard too many stories that go roughly the same way, victims get punished for self defense and the thieves get away scott free, its a joke.
Black belt kick boxers😂😂😂😂😂😂
There's no belt system in kickboxing, cool story bro. Maybe pick a different art for your bullshido next time.
Cool story needs more dragons
Huh? If you were a kickboxer you would know never to engage in a fight with someone wielding a knife or holding a gun…..clearly your life wasn’t as important as 1ton of metal.
VE was never offered in Australia with a factory supercharged V8. This only came in with VF and only in HSV variants
in correct, you could order a harrop supercharger package from factory
This includes the 'non-existant' 6L factory supercharged SS wagon that a mate owned, a fantastic - if not slightly scary - thing to drive
@ fr
This reminds of how things went for the Sierra RS Cosworth 😢
Or WRX...
Ah good old Holden, couldn’t tell you how many I see daily even to this day. Founded by a bloke in Adelaide, went on to become the nation’s most successful vehicle
We have similar issues with car theft and light penalties in Canada.
Many cars are being stolen the same way and shipped over seas.
Used to be the manager for a petrol station next to the Holden factory in SA, massive drop in sales when it closed. Was also extra cautious when a white commodore would fill up because they were a common car for drive offs, used to call them "common-whores".
From commodore to SUVs, the world's a joke
@dannnsss8034 They did have the VT wagon ;)
@dannnsss8034what like Mitsubishi and the eclipse (that name should have stayed retired)
@@5oul-Wars The Eclipse was a world away from how most of us remembered the name.Everywhere else knew it as a sports car of some sort or a successor to the Starion way back in the day but for it to return as some behemoth medium SUV was a joke.otherwise known as a private import FTO was the car way back in the day.
@ that’s what I was saying they ruined the eclipse name by bringing it back as a suv
@dannnsss8034Holden also sold the Craptiva.
I sometimes used to accidently leave my keys in my fg falcon, and one time it got broken into they just took money..
Months after the incident i now feel insulted
Got a tracker and immobiliser fitted on my GTS with a very large angry dog watching it - what more can I do 😢
Park it in a secure spot at home with a bollard. Oh and the best security is to not live in a shit hole like Victoria, South Australia or Queensland
Excellent video. It is my understanding that these thefts apply mainly to VF Commodores with the push button engine start/stop feature. It's not so easy to plug a device into the OBD2 port and re-key the car if it needs an actual key to turn on the ignition. Still can be stolen of course but not quite so easily. Another precaution one can take is to relocate the horn and associated wiring to a more in accessible position and maybe loop in a siren at the same time.
Thanks for watching mate! I think what we’ve seen lately is Commodore owners relocating the horn which is a good step
Yep, the insurance for my VE has been going up alongside the VFs, but mine uses a real key that needs to be either cut or have the column disassembled to swap out the whole barrel before reprogramming, which makes it far harder to steal. Very annoying.
Great vid, very entertaining, back in business! Thank you for this.
Im my opion the whole problem stems from the fact that they have removed a physical key, Keyless entry & keyless start is just asking for problems. Why have manufactures removed the 3 way ignistion system, which had a FOB, a transponderchip (coded to the ECU) & a physical key? Just having a push start system in which extra 'proximity fobs' can be manually added is the problem here, as they have eliminated one of the 3 deterance.
buddy its so easy to break into any key hole
With the original commodore if you placed a pair of scissors ✂️ in the door lock 🔒 & then push up it would unlock the door, it wasn’t noisy or anything, sometimes you would need to lift door handle at same time.
They fixed the issue by changing the door lock to be built into the handle with later models.
They fixed commodore has always been a target by thief’s.
@@WarmGlassOfBatteryAcidthat's why you have a combination of both numbnutts. A key and an immobiliser.
Next door neighbour had his v8 VZ stolen from his driveway last week from a very quiet neighbourhood, obviously a very targeted event.
No sign of of it since, the only thing he has now is the keys.
Probably find it being parted out on marketplace. I know there’s a couple people in Canberra that sell a lot of ford and Holden parts that are all from stolen rigs
It's why i sold my beautiful VF2 motorsport a few years back. I also owned a XR8 Sprint, needless to say I had someone more than once try to break into the garage. I always locked it from the inside. I still to this day don't understand why they didn't try to break into the house to gain entry.
Police need to start raids on wreckers as this is where pretty much all parts end up as well as market place.
5 ways i can think of is 1-get an OBD2 lock for your car they come with security screws but, the thief can buy the same lock and hes got instant access to the screws with the tool that comes with the lock, so buy the security bolts that only screw the one way, you cant unscrew them you screw them on with a flat blade but cant unscrew them because the screw doesnt have the material for the flat blade to go in reverse, 2- another is to have an air horn attached to your car alarm, a seperate wire running not behind the wheel arch but a different path going from your alarm to a air horn,so you can still use your normal horn for normal use and have the air horn for the alarm so when they cut the wire to your horn they think they have disabled your alarm and it will scare the crap out of them when your air horn alarm goes off and i bet they dont hang around to steal it and 3rd is have a gps tracker with an immobilizer so you can be alarmed through your phone about the theft and you can immobilize your car and track it to wherever is hidden 4 -keep your keys in a small tin at night so they cant pick up your fob frequency, and finally 5- buy a good steering wheel lock not a cheap one but a good solid one and turn your tires toward the curb or on the angle so they cant tow it away or put it on the back of a flat bed truck because it wont roll in a straight line i mean where theres a will theres a way but if you did these 5 things then i reckon you have eliminated %90 of the chances of your car being stolen, of corse if they have enough time they can by-pass these precausions but if you limit their time then your in with a chance
I have an early 2000s Holden Commodore and it still drives beautifully! I call mine "the old girl" haha. I hope nobody has been eyeing off my car now though...
7:06 to me its a shame to see a ZB commodore thats not even a commodore just sitting next to a real holden sandman.
ZB will never be a true commodore in my opinion, but considering it was technically the last “commodore” it deserves its place in a museum for historical purposes
@ thats a good point.
My first car was a VN wagon, it was an absolute shitbox but I loved it (always been a Holden man lol). Truly sad how Holden slowly faded away.
Very Nasty!
I had VN ex cop car, my god I loved it, extra long range fuel tank would get just over 700Km on one tank, and they rechipped them to have some fantastic off the lights punch.... it was like 2 modes depending on how you drove... ie gentle take off it would sip petrol, put foot down and it was a beast.
A few wiring mods would stop theives in there tracks. Can't cut horn wires or interact with the obd2 port if they've been relocated.
Yeh but can only relocate the OBD port so far. You have only got a few inches of slack to work with where do you think your going to hide it.
@nickn8812 Not true. The port wire originate at the ECU. You could easily pickup the wires at the ecu end and solder another obd2 port from a wreck. You could even put a hidden toggle switch under the bonnet to remove 12v from the obd2 connector. A bit of time, a wiring diagram and solder/heatshrink and it can be done.
I remember a number of Kia and Hyundai models had a cost-cutting theft issues a while ago.
Seems more like a Victoria problem to me, I reckon my clapped out yet much loved VZ Executive is safe.
If you have a VF Commodore and want to protect yourself from these scumbags do the following:
Horn relocation kit
BCM Lockdown so they can't reprogram keys
IGLA alarm so it can't be started (Also locks out OBD port)
Hi quality tracker
I went over my 3rd Gen VX with this trend in mind, while repairing the horn for the umpteenth time in the last year. Wires kept breaking and the older sounders filled with water somehow.
They are in a stupid place but on 3rd generation, the wiring was run through the frame channels and inaccessible from outside, and secondly the sounders for the alarm are in the engine bay and not through the horns themselves. (on account that the alarm worked when the older horns were drowning in water). To start you have to have a working keyhead in contact with the collar around the ignition barrel.
GM appears to have cheaped out on security with the fourth generation if it's that simple to disable the alarm audibles and steal the car.
Yep access to these tools needs tighter! But also the market Needs to be flooded with more parts avaible off the shelf! Put an end to the black market...
Access to the tools can never be stopped, there are too many out there already and the are too easy to privately import.
This is squarely on the manufacturer that allows these tools to be used in the manner they are.
All they had to do was require the tool to be plugged in for an extended amount of time, say 3 hours or so, before rekeying would be allowed. A simple software fix, problem solved.
Little penalties for youth caught stealing cars ,accountability would help but courts are weak.off topic a bit,the problem was that the car buyers shifted to buying SUV & 4WDs by the thousands, and Holden kept producing sedans+ the production was labour & cost higher than the car makers off shore. The Australian government threw 2 billion + at Holden, Holden needed to move with market & they failed to do so..go to the U.S. Detroit, their car plants suffered much the same. Government cannot prop companies up for ever, I think Holden sat back thinking the government would keep propping them up. Sad for all Australians.
Do more aussie car videos bro like this b F1 season starts
I've been keeping up to date with all the VF commodore getting stolen, and I feel so bad for the people in Victoria. I'm also glad it hasn't made it way up here yet, but I've said it once before, and I'll say it agian all those anti theft devices are good don't get me wrong but why spend hundreds of dollars on something when you're cheapest insurance is and well save you Heartache is just disconnect your battery anti no one getting in let alone driving away with the car unless you've got it parked for an easy access for a tow truck.
And these thieves don't know how to reconnect the battery... A lot of frigging around every time you park and get out of the car. Wouldn't it be a lot easier to lift the bonnet and pull the fuel relay.
I have got two SS manual sedans... a 2008 VE series 1 and a modded VF SSV Redline series 1. Recently, and in response to these videos, I have started to looked a fitting the SSV with gadgets to help slow down the thieves.. but they won't stop a tilt tray.
It's wild in Victoria, in qld they get joyridden and flogged out, in melbourne the arabs, indians and chinese buy the stolen cars and part them out like it's not even shady or risky to do so.
Get a Ghost immobiliser on them and it will be safe. Dynamco in Perth will be able to point you to where a local fitment centre is.
I found the guy at dynamco was fkn useless and just wanted my money when i spoke to him
What about the scenario (like in the video) where a truck just lifts the car up & drags it away?
@@MichaelMossmanNZwell the aftermarket alarm should have an extra siren, incase the thieves disable the horn. So at least the alarm will still go off. But you might need a tracker too.
@@MichaelMossmanNZcan’t do much about that, park it in spots where car can’t be towed like that, put a tracker on it
Only way to solve this is minimum mandatory jail sentences for car theft and abolishing the ability for judges to make sentences ‘concurrent’. That way if the judge wants to give you a month of jail, you will do 20 months for 20 car thefts.
We've got 4 commodores in the family, dad's got a VL and a VF both are in a shed away from prying eyes and rarely driven. I've a VE and a VT, which are both dailies
The Dodge Challenger Hellcat and Scatpack of Australia
Technology has caught up where accessing the car can be done by anyone. The best you can do it secure it the best you can and don't park it anywhere unattended. It's become a garage car.
Same in the uk but with range rovers
Yes, I recently watched a video here on YT about the Range Rovers in the UK being a hot item ATM, and how the thieves would get hold of the keys from inside the house. A real eye-opener =)
Just walk around with your car battery every time you get out
You joke but i have hidden battery disconnect switches
Mostly because i leave the car or bike weeks or months between using
But a good theft deterrent to someone who brings a battery jumper pack lol
2024 - the highest selling vehicle in Australia, is a ford ranger.
I drive a VL manual. The one's that are smart enough to defeat security systems, probably don't possess the skill to drive a manual anyhow. Mine is fitted with LPG. When I park it, I simply flick the three way fuel switch to the central position (off) and no one has been clever enough to figure that out in the last 20 years or so. Haven't got a cure for the tow truck scenario, but I reckon that would be pretty rare in my neighbourhood of country south Australia
Park with your steering wheel turned
@@JimShorts10if a towie can't tow a car with the wheels turned they should get another job.
Guns are restricted here and the crims still have them.
Making the tools restricted will just piss off the honest people working on their cars and fix nothing.
pretty much, as the crims would just break in somewhere and knock off the tools, for then using for their crim ways.
crims don't care what the rules are and don't care when things are attempted to be made hard for them. They'd rob any garage, to get what they want, to them use later.
They just don't care, and they never get sentences that would question ever doing it again.
I looked at a VY series 2 or a VZ new Calais to replace our 1996 Mercedes for my mom in 2004 after test driving a before update w203 c180 MB but decided she would be better off even if we did cost a bunch of workers at GMH Elizabeth their livelihoods with a real prestige car that instead of most having been stolen and destroyed most would have gone to the wreckers by now it would have meant safe motoring for new drivers with a post update model which we ended up getting.
Maybe, Mercedes C180 platform was a far cry from the quality motor cars that Mercedes were renounced for with a variety of annoying niggles. Certainly a better finish than the Holden though, but underpowered.
@@liamgross7217 105KW from a 1.8 supercharged was more than adequate in our household.We kids and mom had switched to flying for interstate trips and the need for three kids or adults in the rear was not essential by 2004/2005 as we were driving on our own.
@ yes, I wasn’t saying it was the wrong choice for you mother or one’s wife. But not a car for someone looking for a reasonable power output.
Holden made mistakes that cost it market share, the biggest was putting their badge on cars from the low end of the Korean market.
People buying these thought they were buying a rugged, reliable Holden, but time proved them wrong.
Having said that, Commodore owners, have your security horn and wiring moved and fit a switch operated relay in the ground circuit of your fuel pump or even better use a cheap Chinese remote controlled relay.
Ground circuit because it is generally harder to diagnose for the average crook.
You can even power it from the brake lights so that you have to put the brake on while operating the remote to unlock the fuel pump.
Or you can spend more and fit trackers and aftermarket alarm/immobilisers.
I owned one of those Korean made Holden's between 2018-2021 but bought when it was about 15 months old.Biggest lump of junk(The Spark).To Holden's credit they had the sense to fit a genuine alarm like what the Cruze and it's successor Astra had around the same time but you could for similar money from memory(I got a loan for mine)scour around for a bigger Pulsar or Corolla or even a Mazda 3.Oddly enough a truck wrote off the Spark never to be seen again and a series 2 update Mazda 3 replaced the Holden and no regrets.I did consider the last off the European Barina's briefly but couldn't find one.
Maybe some strict laws for car thieves.
Steal or break in and get 10yrs no ifs no butts.
Prohibition of tools or devices and stricter penalties is not going to do anything, the crime needs to be prevented and perpetrators caught before they do damage.
Immobiliser is your cheapest way to prevent a car from being driven away, a simple toggle switch hidden and wired inline with the fuel pump, injector power or something else critical for starting will be the easiest and cheapest way. If you make sure the car can still crank with a key a potential thief may assume the car is broken and not consider there is a hidden switch or immobiliser, bonus points if they flatten the battery from cranking.
I totally don't understand why anyone would steal a Commodore let alone own one. I wouldn't be seen dead in one.
You drive your mums Corolla 🤣
My VT V6 is up to 310K, and with a 200K VY2 engine and tranny just put in (1500bucks) inc installation, it's back to 1000km weekends with closed bike trailer then work etc for the rest. I couldn't find a better car for the money to do what mine does. Love VF's and wish the bastard thieves would stick to Camries and Kias, not the last of OUR cars.
Can you provide where you got this information about the commodore being the most “stolen” vehicle in Australia?… I’m genuinely curious. As someone who works within an industry that deals with stolen vehicles… from my experience they don’t even rank in the top 5 most stolen vehicles!?
Criminalizing the devices isn't going to solve anything. Criminals either already have them or will procure them somehow anyway, and a resourceful person can cobble their own device together to do the same thing. The problem is with the basic security of the car, and that thieves know they can get away with it. Since Holden is no more, perhaps it should be GM's responsibility to provide a fix. Barring that, owners will have to take their own steps to better secure their vehicles. The government would be wise to crack down on these thefts to deter thieves. Unfortunately there's little else that can be done beyond that.
Yeah my guess is they would steal one from the mechanics and then go about the car... also even it were banned on ebay they go to temu or the like for it.
Is it just the VF with push button? I’ve got an older VY, I thought it was safe.
They don't make them anymore which sucks
They should have gone years ago so much better around today.
HA HA go buy a VW so so reliable.
@ actually they are not!
I'd happily buy a VF Series 3, with a 4 cylinder turbo and 8 speed ZF box, updated stereo with CarPlay/Android Auto.
They could have done it do cheaply by just raiding the GM/Cadillac parts bin.
A 4cyl turbo and V8 option would have been enough.
That LFX engine used in the 6 cylinder models was a piece of crap, with the damn water fittings being at the back of the block and the oil problems.
Random question, you watch any gt3 racing I am a huge fan of Bathurst 12hr since I first discovered it in 2015 you ever visited Bathurst? Any chance you could perhaps make a video about its history or top racing moments, anyway keep up the good work I love watching your vids!
if a thief wants your car they will get it. Insurance is the only option, if you cant afford the insurance you cant afford the car
Defeatist attitude, I have dogs, a crossbow, a tractor with a bucket and a large piece of land.
And a car with several extra layers of security.
The 'slap on the wrist' punishment might appear problematic to most people - however this system greatly benefits those working for the legal system. They have easy, repeat business, and it also means they can say they are 'too busy' to go after any criminals that are higher up in the system itself.
It also doesn’t help with repeating offenders aus sending there worst back to NZ so they can repeat everything they did over there here. Most of the deported are raised in Australia (but have a nz/samoa/fiji birth certificate) which should make it Aussie’s problem
Why ... if they are born in NZ or the islands it is their problem not Australia's, not Australian and break the rules suffer the results.
My dad got his pride and joy VT club sport broken into stolen. He found it a month later completely different on marketplace but the stupid idiots left the vin on the car. And they said come back tomorrow even though my dad said he wants to buy it now cause he just wanted his baby back but they suggested him to come tomorrow then they were gone nowhere to be seen another month. Later he saw a Facebook post of his car burnt out.
The key lock for my commodore failed and I bought 1 of those devices and a new key instead of taking my car to Holden and paying 3 times the price for the problem to be fixed. Now I'm probably on a police watch list for buying it 😒 I hate car thieves and am looking to getting an immobiliser now
You speak clearly and distinctly. 🎉🎉🎉
@paulthomasunderwood thank you. People in my family never spoke to me in such a way and it left me not understanding them and the things they said or what they were trying to get across which annoyed me and I was always told I don't understand or that I'm stupid. I'm very uneducated but I never want people to feel the way my family made me feel so I try to do my best.
@@No1karezit costs $250 for a new key and programming from a locksmith
@@WhiteHammer-d3j it cost me $105 to order the key and device on ebay with free shipping
@ and it is all useless if you get the bcm encrypted for security
Does anyone know if you can pull out the push button start and replace it with a normal key start barrel?
Aunger club lock installed in reverse. i.e. key lock facing the dash
Damn, anyone know where those missing parts are going? Like where should I avoid so I don't accidentally buy some cheap stolen parts?
Remember the VL?
Stolen Cars Melbourne Page, every 3 seconds: Holden Commodore stolen. What a shame...
Well Victoria is a shit hole
Another issue is that nothing is done about the offenders. Should be 10 year minimum. Also stop the defect craze in the police force, focus on the bigger picture.
Holden version of the kia boyz😂
With the laws in Victoria are so piss weak and there are no consequences for these low life thrives that's why crime is out of control in this state,
Gearboxes on the news 2 days ago now this😂
Should've bought a Ford
Leave you dad kisser
Even XR8 Sprints where being targeted at one point in time.
I miss holdens
you live in victoria? LUCKY YOU
Has anyone picked up on what this guy said Holden shut down in 2017 last car rolled out then but he said the commodore to be built was in 2020
Hey mate, the last commodore to roll off the line in Australia was in 2017 but the zb commodore was produced overseas from 2018-2020
@@MadeByPerspectivethe ZB was never a Commodore.
Yes it was
It was badged and marketed as a commodore
@@JBLegal09 Badge engineering like the Craptiva.
Its interesting how the commodore has kinda gone full circle. The VL commodore was regarded as the most stolen car in Australia, and all these years later, it seems they never learnt.
Pergy pergy
i was legit about to buy a vf too pain in the ass
Only if you have closed garage parking at home and put an immobiliser in to stop this type of theft while parked in public.
@ may be a good idea mate, I was thinking of getting like a backup horn, I wanna buy them while they’re still good my card check engine light just came on so I needs figure something out quick
Must be only the push start button models
@@Vadonis076what state are you in? Owning one in Victoria South Australia and Queensland is a gamble given that’s where 90% are stolen from.
I have a vf gts and a vf ss redline. Both have trackers and the obd is reprogrammed and locked so their devices will not work. That and being parked in a secure parking area with bollards helps. Though still cautious about where I park it when I take it out
@@WhiteHammer-d3j yea I’m in vic in Melbourne in like one of the worst suburbs to be in youth crime wise
The husk of its former self Holden has become is so sad
No one's going to Nick an Evoke 😂
Love my VFSSV
It has all the modern security features how are they stolen
Super cheap auto sells the tool that they are using to reprogram the keys for under $20 dollars! Super cheap should be ashamed
Was never keen on the old bogandore.
🤮
Owned a VE2 V8 which is now sold. Holden is dead. Sell it as it will eventually be stolen no matter what you do.
Public service
Those boganmobiles are mostly bought by cashed-up bogans and stolen by cash-poor bogans.
Really banning a device? Are the computers that you comment from the easiest way for scammers ?
More illegal crap happens on your phone and computer yet are these devices banned?
The LS engine can be found in the US for cheap
Im not sure how that helps
I dont know about the most stolen car there isn't even that many left including falcons out numbered 7 to 1 on the road rangers and bigger cars dominate the market and roads
Holden are at fault by by making it as easy as the previous models where you can start with a paddle pop stick.?.
not a motorsport vid damn
Coveted by thieving gronks.. And a big market for parts..
No plagiarism here….
The v6 is not reliable or the gearboxes wake up gm v6 stuff up the inline 6 holden made was more reliable and easy to work on v6 whare and bad oil feed is a disaster
I think you're over simplifying how these cars are stolen .
COMMON dore
Reliable? Anyone who calls Holden Commodores reliable is bullshiting, I have known nothing but breakdowns with such cars, Hondas & Toyotas are reliable.
If I My self owned owned a high performance Holden I would change the obd port wireing to to short out and fry the obd reader and have a CIA tracker that cannot be beaten
and fard
Average GM quality
By GM standards they were pretty good.
Yet still more reliable and less depreciating than any euro crap.
Stick to what you know...😂
The vf was fuckin amazing quality compared to most gm cars especially of that similar time. Look at the vf interior compared to modern interiors like a 2024 camry, still holds up and looks way better id say, they gave there all on the design for the last shot they had
why do you want to buy a non Australian built car not blessed by Adelaidians!
30 seconds in that's a Ford Falcon bro
It’s definitely a VF commodore, possibly a GTS from the discussions I have seen
Easy spot to tell is where the front guard used to meet the A pillar.
Certainly looks like a VF to me.
@Stambo59 does a VE curve back like that at the boot? Looks like an AU to me?
I'm pretty sure the rear door doesn't curve that much on a Commodore?
I dunno I'm probably wrong
@@Jarmezrocks If you look at a VE on the same angle, where the A pillar meets the front guard it looks more like a commie than a falcon.
I almost agreed with you until I compared that area.
@@Jarmezrocks It does look comically close to an AU from that angle, the pillars and the seatback give away it's a vf tho
Yes mate.. Ross Reviews did this video weeks ago.. get your own content brother.
DO and SUE EBAY ?