Click image for a gallery of '05 - '07 F-250 and F-350 Super Duty trucks
If the Ford Escape Hybrid is "The Candidate's Choice," then the automaker's big, bad Super Duty trucks are "The Smuggler's Choice." You see, unfortunately for truck owners, drug and human traffickers are "choosing" to steal them from the public to use in their nefarious endeavors. The reasons are simple: they're big (plenty of contraband can be carried), rugged (they can handle running off-road in the border areas), powerful (handy when running from the police), and apparently easy to make off with (they can be "stolen with a screwdriver" according to the Houston PD). In 2007, 1,245 F-250 and F-350 Super Duties vanished from Houston driveways, a forty percent increase over 2006, and notable when you consider overall car thefts in the city were down. In response, Ford is enhancing vehicle security by using keys embedded with chips required to activate new 2008 trucks' electronic ignition systems. Of course, that may not help win back former owners whose trucks have already been stolen. The Chronicle article tells of one victim whose actions spoke volumes. He switched to Chevy.
[Source: The Houston Chronicle]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jan 20th 2008 1:11PM
Wow, Ford didn't put in an electronic ignition interlock until now?
Chevy pioneered this with the Corvette in 1984! It's been on even lower-end GM cars for over 5 years now.
I guess price competition is murder in the truck market? To have to leave off $10 worth of theft prevention?
lintsniffer @ Jan 20th 2008 2:55PM
my '99 F-150 has it...
David W. @ Jan 20th 2008 8:03PM
As the other person said, this surprises me, I have a '99 Mustang with it...
matt @ Jan 20th 2008 1:35PM
I dunno about the electronic ignition lock. I have an 03 Harley SE F-150 with it, so it seems to me like they'd be using them in the 250 and 350 since then, but maybe not.
Alex Nunez @ Jan 20th 2008 1:46PM
The article notes that ignition interlock has been in use on other Ford trucks and SUVs....but not the F-250 and F-350 until MY 2008.
Torrent @ Jan 20th 2008 1:46PM
LOL
stanger_missle @ Jan 20th 2008 2:31PM
That's what I call a "Bold Move" LOL
Tony @ Jan 20th 2008 3:17PM
The reason they didnt come with chips embedded in the keys because mostly these trucks are work trucks, and keys are lost allot of the times and it was easy to get copy's of the keys and cheap. My dad's 2007 f250 king ranch 4 door got stolen and taken across the border to Mexico in Texas where there usually sold fro around $1500. There used in deep Mexico in the ranches for drug dealers or used to smuggle illegal aliens . Thoose trucks are the number one trucks being stolen right now. When my dad's got stolen, the police officer said it was the 9th one that night..... so my advice, put a cheap alarm, will be well worth it....
tekdemon @ Jan 20th 2008 5:41PM
An alarm with an engine cut is a neccessity for those trucks if they're such targets. Still, your truck will probably get broken into anyway by some idiot who thinks he can steal it easily.
I get the easy key copying logic, but maybe including more chipped backup keys would have been a better solution?
Lindsey @ Jan 20th 2008 3:22PM
had an f-350 broken into in houston around jersey village at a bowling alley, with the ole screwdriver trick. They got a few hundered dollars worth of stuff. At least they didn't get an 50k truck.
Sunnyside @ Jan 20th 2008 4:13PM
Boy they got you to pay $50.000.00 for a motorized horse and buggy. My God, no wonder you have to worry about someone stealing it. Hell, my truck is the work truck of the future and I start it with a screwdriver every day. But then if I told you that the "cooks" put a tracking device in my truck, are you going to want to try to steal it? My truck is a Synchro-link by the way. It's one of a kind and you can find out more about it at http://Synchro-link.com
whofan @ Jan 20th 2008 4:11PM
Toyota doesn`t have this problem. Nobody in their right mind would steal a Tundra.
Then again criminals aren`t the the smartest people either. They could find out its easier to work for their money than steal it.
AM @ Jan 20th 2008 4:45PM
Whew! It was beginning to look like somebody wasn't going to take a shot at the Tundra in this post. Thanks for somehow incorporating your xenophobia into every thread.
I also like how you inadvertantly imply that criminals aren't very smart and therefore steal Fords-of which I am a one time NEVER again owner of. Clearly the best selling truck in the same same vein as the Tuarus was once the best selling sedan-take away the fleet sales and then lets see where they stand.
caddy dave @ Jan 20th 2008 10:38PM
Aw come on now, give the Tundra a break on this one Whofan. They did try stealing them but found the bed bounced so bad on ruff terain that all the packaged coke and pot bags broke scattering the merchandise all accross the border. Think of the money they lost that could have gone into repairs. And it's no laughing matter. When they tried smuggling the Illegal workers in, it bounced them so badly they were bruised so bad they could'nt steal any jobs for at least two months.
So be sympathetic to the Tundra and give it a break. Oh never mind, they break enouph on their own.
Gardiner Westbound @ Jan 20th 2008 4:40PM
Q: Why does Ford put a $5 ignition lock in a $50,000 truck?
A: Because they ran out of $1 ones.
Timsvtgen1 @ Jan 20th 2008 4:47PM
:rolls eyes @ Some on the Comments on here:
Kevin @ Jan 20th 2008 5:13PM
What a great opportunity to eliminate criminals. Ford Superduty owners can now park their trucks in visible areas, hide in the bushes with a long range rifle and when some unsuspecting prey comes along wanting to steal the truck, the owner can shoot him (or her) stealthly.
Make it like a bait car, only instead of going to jail, criminals get executed. Tax dollars are instantly saved and these criminals dying throughout the nation can be used as a theft detterent.
"Built Ford Tough... but if you try to steal the Ford, you will lose your life."
Seriously though, don't do this. Put a ravelco antitheft device in your truck and don't worry about it.
northstar @ Jan 21st 2008 2:43PM
Idiot.
Guenther @ Jan 20th 2008 8:02PM
A club costs about $30. Stick it on the wheel at night if you live near the border. The thief will steal your neighbors truck instead.
That One Person @ Jan 20th 2008 9:02PM
If people WANT to steal it, they will steal it....plain and simple.
People will steal a vehicle even if it has a Club or an alarm.
The guy thinks a Chevy truck can't be stolen? Wait till someone figures it out.