IGLA - Anti Theft Immobilizer

[Highway 11]

Where I'm at (Ontario, Canada), auto theft is out of control. It's now a high-reward/low-risk endeavour for organized crime, to the point where people are installing bollards in their driveways and chaining their wheels together at night in order to deter thieves. I've taken several steps to protect my truck from theft, but as time passes they seem to be less and less effective.

A few days ago I got an IGLA immobilizer installed. It's a module the size of a USB flash drive that gets spliced into the truck's CANBUS system in a hidden location. In order to drive the truck, a passcode has to be entered using the buttons inside the truck.



(Not my truck, I wish I had a Tremor...)

So far, it seems to be working well. I've been able to get rid of the OBD port lock (the port is disabled unless the immobilizer is deactivated) and the steering wheel club. I will say it has been a learning curve remembering to put the PIN in every startup, but there's also a key-fob and phone app I might try down the line.

Just wanted to share in case anyone else was looking into anti-theft measures.

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[Kodiak]

From the looks of it, if you have a Powerboost, you can run the truck to power the Pro Power Onboard, leave it running but if someone tries to drive away it is immobilized until you put in your code. If this is correct this could give that extra measure of security if you need to run the truck to power something like a camper or campsite. Lock the doors but even if that is defeated, the truck doesn't move.

I remember seeing this a year or two ago, along with the Revelco but I did not see it in action.

With that said something like the Club is still a great option just as a visual deterrent. Might save you a broken window from the casual opportunist crook. Good luck with it!

 

[PB2021]

What did they charge for install? Is there a warranty offered? Not for theft necessarily- I’m thinking here of cases where Ford tries to deny warranty coverage because of the device install as happened to a Lexus owner from Toronto recently. Does IGLA cover work then?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/lexus-anti-theft-bill-1.6976240

 

[NzCanuck]

IGLA works great, does not void warranty , because no wires cut to install. From experience, I know it works, because it would not let Ford Canada work on my truck. We had to have company uninstall, so Ford could work on my truck. These should be installed at factory to reduce thefts. Why it is important to you, read “massive problems…..dealers useless” thread on this forum. It will give you an idea bad things can get with this truck!!! IGLA is great !!!!

 

[JExpedition07]

Interesting, sorry to hear you have to deal with that. A car was stolen up the road from me last week, but a Kia which is an easy target with the usb trick

 

[Highway 11]

From the looks of it, if you have a Powerboost, you can run the truck to power the Pro Power Onboard, leave it running but if someone tries to drive away it is immobilized until you put in your code. If this is correct this could give that extra measure of security if you need to run the truck to power something like a camper or campsite. Lock the doors but even if that is defeated, the truck doesn't move.

I remember seeing this a year or two ago, along with the Revelco but I did not see it in action.

With that said something like the Club is still a great option just as a visual deterrent. Might save you a broken window from the casual opportunist crook. Good luck with it!

So you can have the installer configure it for start inhibit or shift inhibit mode. In the video above the engine won't start until the code is inputted. On mine, it was configured for shift inhibit mode. So yes, unless I've missed something, you could start the truck to run the generator, but the moment someone tries to shift out of park without the code, like a police secure idle, it'll shut the engine down.

Unfortunately, while in some cases the club does help, thieves up here in some cases are bypassing them. Either bending them in half/breaking them in half, or just sawing through the steering wheel itself. Maybe they can get a heated steering wheel for the next customer...

What did they charge for install? Is there a warranty offered? Not for theft necessarily- I’m thinking here of cases where Ford tries to deny warranty coverage because of the device install as happened to a Lexus owner from Toronto recently. Does IGLA cover work then?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/lexus-anti-theft-bill-1.6976240

I paid $1200. It's a price set across the board with IGLA's makers. Warranty on the part itself is 1 year, but my installer offers lifetime workmanship warranty and technical support. I guess it depends on the installer. If I remember correctly in that case with the Lexus owner, there was already electrical issues before he got the IGLA installed. I did my research and couldn't find another horror story like his (fun fact, after he removed the anti-theft and fixed the car, it was stolen from a commuter rail station soon after... that was his third Lexus stolen. Talk about bad luck. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/stolen-lexus-anti-theft-device-1.6994007).

I talked to three installers and went out of my way to go to the one that was furthest away because they were the most detailed, professional, and knowledgable in my interactions with them. The install was scheduled for two hours, but they were done after 90 minutes. I didn't know at the time that the install that it included a 30 minute orientation with the installer. We went through just about every question and I received a guidebook summarizing the orientation. Super slick and I came away very impressed.

Interesting, sorry to hear you have to deal with that. A car was stolen up the road from me last week, but a Kia which is an easy target with the usb trick

The irony. Kia boys aren't a thing up here due to mandatory immobilizers. But in exchange, we have organized truck and SUV theft rings that dabble in carjacking... can we swap?

 

[Northguy]

As a fellow person in Ontario I was very worried about theft in general. I was quite concerned on my recent 10k km round trip to Vancouver and back. The truck BTW performed flawlessly and it was incredible for long driving days - the trip made me love the truck even more than I already did. . We stayed at a lot of hotel across the country (US and Canada) and I was concerned about theft. I had the wheel club but also pulled my fuel pump fuse (I kept an extra fuse just in case) every night anytime I was concerned. Wouldn't recommend it on a daily basis but for my use case or say a long stay at an airport, I think it is worth it. Could thiefs determine it was a fuse issue - maybe but would need a very specific 30a fuse. I had to go to 3 shops before I found the correct one. I slept a lot better at night.

 

[minirx7]

Reviving an old thread. Need to get something installed or else my Insurance (TD) will crank my rates up by end of this month. T hey said i must use an immobilizer or GPS. But i always use a faraday box and have NOT gotten my truck stolen even leaving it sitting on the driveway for a a month while on vacation. Meanwhile, several trucks/BMW got stolen around me, so i assume the Faraday box is working.

My take, i dont want my truck back if it is stolen. So immobilizer will at least provent them from taking it and avoid having the truck returned to me after being beaten up.

Was looking at the ILGA, but came across the KEETEC. To be honest, i dont care for doing extra steps to start my car, so this pushing your passcode stuff looks really annoying.

Keetec uses a fob so if i get this isnstalled it will be 1/3rd the price (TD says they will pay up to $500), and it will be just me having to carry an extra fob. The ILGA looks really complicated as it seems to connect through CANBUS, but the KEETEC is simple, as it interrupts the Push to start button completely .

Thoughts?

 

[Ricksc]

Reviving an old thread. Need to get something installed or else my Insurance (TD) will crank my rates up by end of this month. T hey said i must use an immobilizer or GPS. But i always use a faraday box and have NOT gotten my truck stolen even leaving it sitting on the driveway for a a month while on vacation. Meanwhile, several trucks/BMW got stolen around me, so i assume the Faraday box is working.

My take, i dont want my truck back if it is stolen. So immobilizer will at least provent them from taking it and avoid having the truck returned to me after being beaten up.

Was looking at the ILGA, but came across the KEETEC. To be honest, i dont care for doing extra steps to start my car, so this pushing your passcode stuff looks really annoying.

Keetec uses a fob so if i get this isnstalled it will be 1/3rd the price (TD says they will pay up to $500), and it will be just me having to carry an extra fob. The ILGA looks really complicated as it seems to connect through CANBUS, but the KEETEC is simple, as it interrupts the Push to start button completely .

Thoughts?

Not sure on your year but my 22 has a gps on it. If you use FordPass it shows location. If they want your truck they will get no matter what you have. These are criminal rings not rookies. All the computers can be hacked if they want to get in

 

[raider23]

Just picked up my new truck 2 weeks ago, this is the one I’m looking at. https://www.ravelco.com/
47 years in business and not one vehicle stolen. Anyone have any experience with this product?

 

[Highway 11]

Reviving an old thread. Need to get something installed or else my Insurance (TD) will crank my rates up by end of this month. T hey said i must use an immobilizer or GPS. But i always use a faraday box and have NOT gotten my truck stolen even leaving it sitting on the driveway for a a month while on vacation. Meanwhile, several trucks/BMW got stolen around me, so i assume the Faraday box is working.

My take, i dont want my truck back if it is stolen. So immobilizer will at least provent them from taking it and avoid having the truck returned to me after being beaten up.

Was looking at the ILGA, but came across the KEETEC. To be honest, i dont care for doing extra steps to start my car, so this pushing your passcode stuff looks really annoying.

Keetec uses a fob so if i get this isnstalled it will be 1/3rd the price (TD says they will pay up to $500), and it will be just me having to carry an extra fob. The ILGA looks really complicated as it seems to connect through CANBUS, but the KEETEC is simple, as it interrupts the Push to start button completely .

Thoughts?

A bunch of my coworkers just left TD and I just left Desjardins because of the same. You may want to try CAA. They were 2/3 the price of Desjardins for the same vehicle. The faraday box works for your relay attacks, which has started falling out of vogue.... mostly because everybody got faraday boxes.

The IGLA blocks the OBD port and the CANBUS system while active. That way someone can't plug into your vehicle to program a new key or bypass your push button start. With Toyotas there were CANBUS attacks where they would go through headlights injecting code to bypass the security system and start the engine. I believe the 2024+ F150s have encrypted CANBUS systems, so I'm not sure if that's still a vulnerability on them.

I agree the PIN is a pain. I eventually stopped using it and started using the included fob, which has been seamless. I take the increase in convenience with the decrease in security.

Just picked up my new truck 2 weeks ago, this is the one I’m looking at. https://www.ravelco.com/
47 years in business and not one vehicle stolen. Anyone have any experience with this product?

I would say that it's not all that it's cracked up to be. It might be the right product for you - but it's not foolproof. This website dives into the specifics: https://ravelco.fun/?en

 

[minirx7]

Not sure on your year but my 22 has a gps on it. If you use FordPass it shows location. If they want your truck they will get no matter what you have. These are criminal rings not rookies. All the computers can be hacked if they want to get in

Mine is a 21. My insurance requires i get something added (been pushing it off). I really dont want to pay the increase in insurance. If they steal it, its not a big deal anymore, but back in 21, it took so long to get a truck, now there is a surplus so replacement isnt an issue.

Insurance wants aftermarket.

 

[Ricksc]

If yours has GPS tracking I would fight them

 

[minirx7]

A bunch of my coworkers just left TD and I just left Desjardins because of the same. You may want to try CAA. They were 2/3 the price of Desjardins for the same vehicle. The faraday box works for your relay attacks, which has started falling out of vogue.... mostly because everybody got faraday boxes.

The IGLA blocks the OBD port and the CANBUS system while active. That way someone can't plug into your vehicle to program a new key or bypass your push button start. With Toyotas there were CANBUS attacks where they would go through headlights injecting code to bypass the security system and start the engine. I believe the 2024+ F150s have encrypted CANBUS systems, so I'm not sure if that's still a vulnerability on them.

I agree the PIN is a pain. I eventually stopped using it and started using the included fob, which has been seamless. I take the increase in convenience with the decrease in security.





I would say that it's not all that it's cracked up to be. It might be the right product for you - but it's not foolproof. This website dives into the specifics: https://ravelco.fun/?en

I was going to leave TD but EVERYWHERE i get a quote it is signifciatenly higher. Even CAA was stupid expensive and now they want $2500 deductible for my wifes Model S.

My insurance is in 5 figures right now becuase i have 4 vehicles (1 RV, 3 in my sig + 2024 Honda civic), and my daughter is a new driver. Insurers do not like tesla either lol, and having a high stolen vehicle liek the F150 is not fun.

My real reason to jump insurers is because of depreciation waiver (both my truck and wifes model S is coming up to 3 yearss) so was trying to find one like CAA with 5 years but it was way more than TD

 

[raider23]

Highway 11,
thanks for that bit of information!

(Sorry I can’t figure out how to use the quote and insert quotes function. Lol)

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