Less than a minute into a recent TikTok clip from online creator Ibrahim “Beebo” Aburish (@beebotows) you get the feeling that he’s seen so many Toyota Camrys with missing wheels that he can put emergency replacement wheels on them through pure muscle memory alone.
That’s because the vehicles are one of the top targets of wheel theft across the nation. Aburish, who is based in Maryland and services the Washington, D.C. area, is frequently called out to multiple theft scenes per day. He helps get the cars in suitable driving condition again.
The clip has been viewed more than 1.1 million times. It begins with Aburish’s camera locked on a 2025 Camry SE. It’s resting on yellow plastic crates instead of its wheels—they’ve been forcibly removed.
“Another one,” Aburish laments as he zooms-in and shows that the car’s rocker panels have been collapsed. They’re now bearing the weight of the vehicle against the crates used by the wheel thieves to prop it up.
Did Toyota’s wheel lock help?
A close look at the empty wheel mount assembly shows the lugnuts strewn about the area. Aburish notes the thieves took off the dealer wheel lock “like it was nothing.”
“Wheel lock useless,” the top comment on the post reads.
What’s a wheel lock?
They are lug nuts that need to be removed with a key. As Chapel Hill Tire writes: “Without your wheel lock key, the tire, rim, and wheel cannot be easily removed. Wheel locks only protect against the theft of tires, wheels, and rims. They do not protect against car theft. They are commonly confused with wheel chock locks and wheel lock clamps, which act as a tire ‘boot’ to prevent vehicle theft.”
But apparently, they’re easy to work around for thieves.
A look at Aburish’s TikTok library shows an almost comical number of roughly the same images; Camrys sitting on blocks and missing all of their wheels. He’s become something of a local celebrity in addressing the wheel theft wave that’s affecting plenty of other cities across the country as well.
Just how bad is wheel theft nationwide?
According to WheelNet, auto insurance claims for wheel theft through the end of last year were up 6% over the prior year, and 11% from the beginning of 2023. The average cost to insurance carriers for the thefts of four wheels and tires was $2,800, but the number can climb to $40,000 for some luxury brands with very pricey parts.
How to prevent wheel theft
The boldness and audacity of the thefts, which typically take place in parking lots or other public areas, suggests there’s no way to 100% prevent them from happening. But auto experts do offer some tips to minimize the chances of becoming a target:
- When parallel parking, turn your wheels toward the curb to make it harder to move.
- Use wheel locks that require a key.
- Use alarms and other anti-theft devices.
- Use a steering wheel lock to prevent steering from inside the car.
Via email, Aburish gave Daily Dot the following advice on how to avoid having your car’s wheels stolen: “The two wheel locks I have been recommending have been rimlox.com and Advancedlock.com. Those are the two best on the market that I know of. Luckily I haven’t had to tow one in a couple of weeks. Turning your wheels or parking close to the curbs doesn’t really help. If you have a wheel lock don’t leave the key in the glove box. Thieves have been breaking the windows and getting the key from the glove box to remove locks. Those are few things that help prevent wheels from being stolen.”
A 2021 post from European parts company Rimguard addresses the growing trend of wheel thefts in the U.S., which caused the company to make its wheel locks available for Toyotas and other brands common in North America.
Viewers offer DIY solutions
Commenters on the clip were irate over the problem, and ready with possible solutions.
“Have an AirTag installed inside the tire on the rim. Won’t stop them from taking them but at least you find out where they went and who took them,” one of them wrote.
Another who said they worked in the industry said wheel theft has become more and more commonplace.
“when I worked for a dealership people came in and stole all the venza rims and stole the caps off of brand new tundras,” they wrote.
@beebotows #toyotacamry #wheellocks #stolenwheels #Fyp #fypage #wheeltheft #dmvtiktok #dmv ♬ original sound – Beebo
And the award for most outlandish idea goes to…
“make exploding lugnuts. or at least lugs loaded with blue paint under a specified torque pressure.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Toyota via email.
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