The prize for Having a Firm Grasp on the Blindingly Obvious goes to the radio newscasters yesterday - I heard a couple of them - who were reporting on the theft of six more-or-less identical Toyota Highlanders, all from my old Leaside neighbourhood, within about a one and a half hour span:
"It may have involved organized crime."
Gee, d'ya think?
OK, maybe the newscasters were just quoting the 'authorities'.
In any event, we should consider alternative possibilities.
Maybe it was just a coincidence?
Maybe the thieves, organized or not, just have a fleet of really quick tow trucks?
A better bet is that the bad guys have some sort of computer program which scans through all possible combinations of codes for the supposedly unbreakable electronic locking and immobilizer system, which all of these vehicles have. When it hits the right code, CLICK!, and your car is into a container and on its way to Russia or Nigeria or someplace, probably before you even notice it's gone.
And the Whistling Past the Graveyard prize goes to poor Sandy de Felice, a spokesperson for Toyota who I know quite well. She said in a prepared statement that "Toyota is confident in the integrity of our vehicle security system. We have a robust system, the integrity of which has never been compromised."
I guess she would have to say that.
I might add to that prepared statement, "...so far."
Or, "...as far as we know."
But if I still lived anywhere in The Big Smoke (not just Leaside) and owned a Toyota Highlander (or any car with an electronic locking system) I'd stick it in a garage with a good old-fashioned steel padlock.
The other unanswered question is: Who is the dynamite Toyota sales person who has clearly made the Highlander the official car of Leaside?
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