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.

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