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Broken Window Twice Within Two Weeks
- Thread starter energy7
- Start date
@energy7 sorry to read your post and sorry you got hit twice with cars you were driving. There have been other owner posts about car break-ins in the Saratoga Road area and in popular shopping areas. It's happening all over here and even in out of the way places like Alaska based on an owner's experience there. While I detest that I have to park my car with my back seat down on my Model 3, there is definitely a let's say Governmental component to this and leave it at that (doesn't have to be political at all). I even leave my back seat down in my driveway for fear of getting it smashed at home in a decent neighborhood -- and I see half-dozen reports in this area of car break-ins and outright thefts in just one week's Police Blotter report so know even at home it's not immune -- and those reports are the ones that people actually take the time to report. I think until our city and state leaders and PDs workers have their vehicles hit repeatedly little will happen on the legislative front. Right now it's just the "other" guy getting vandalized. There is too much apathy for this type of crime and we need a place to put all these guys that get caught if that changes.
For those owners in States that haven't been seeing a rash of this type of crime, all I have to say is when an idea catches on it can spread like wildfire. From what I understand from the news, back East has a much more serious issue of opioid and other drug issues and when people are looking for "free" money to buy their supply, your car regardless of what kind it is but might have something of value in it, is a prime easy target since unlike a home they can tell if "no one is home".
BTW I have seen these type of posts frequently moved from the main "model" threads and put elsewhere. I personally think this is a mistake as more and more people own Teslas, come here to TMC for info on their cars and apparently aren't seeing the warnings of others about leaving their back seat/s down or keeping the parcel shelf off resulting in them posting their break-in experience after it happens. Every owner here should be aware of this potential. And as OP said in his first break-in it's not just your rear triangular window they will break if they see something of interest. People need to change how they shop and park their cars if they don't want to become a statistic.
For those owners in States that haven't been seeing a rash of this type of crime, all I have to say is when an idea catches on it can spread like wildfire. From what I understand from the news, back East has a much more serious issue of opioid and other drug issues and when people are looking for "free" money to buy their supply, your car regardless of what kind it is but might have something of value in it, is a prime easy target since unlike a home they can tell if "no one is home".
BTW I have seen these type of posts frequently moved from the main "model" threads and put elsewhere. I personally think this is a mistake as more and more people own Teslas, come here to TMC for info on their cars and apparently aren't seeing the warnings of others about leaving their back seat/s down or keeping the parcel shelf off resulting in them posting their break-in experience after it happens. Every owner here should be aware of this potential. And as OP said in his first break-in it's not just your rear triangular window they will break if they see something of interest. People need to change how they shop and park their cars if they don't want to become a statistic.
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To the OP: I feel your pain. Happened to my last P85D twice - took forever and cost a ton to fix. The main advice I got from my service rep was to remove or flip up the visual barrier in the trunk area so they can see nothing is back there. People will break in just to look. The cops don't care. I had a crazy homeless person throw a brick through the windshield of my wife's car in SF, right in front of me, then put out a pipe and threaten to kill me. Cops came but did nothing. If the property damage is less than $1,000 they do not have the authority to even arrest the person. The homeless person had walked off by then, and hadn't actually injured anyone, so the cops shrugged their shoulders and moved on. Didn't matter than a local bar caught the whole thing on a security camera, and gave it to the cops.
For our Seattle, Washington Tesla owners who I guess feel their car is maybe immune to break-ins or being stolen here's some info on the area. "In the past three years, the Seattle Police Department has received, more than 23,000 reports of break-ins to parked cars – that’s about 21 car prowls a day." No idea what the date of this article is so no idea how current the statistics are.
https://www.seattlepi.com/lists/sli...ods-have-the-most-car-66946/photo-4955555.php I hate having to advance throught 65 frames to see all the totals. They saved the neighborhoods with higher break-in numbers for the end.
The following Seattle Gov/Police site shows police reports and the type of crimes within 12 hours of report. The 23,000 total over 3 years has to be accounted for under some other category other than Motor Vehicle Theft in these reports probably because they are classified as a lesser crime than auto theft due to the monetary loss.
Online Crime Maps - Police | seattle.gov
From looking at the "911 Map" link, it shows the last 24 hours of police reports on a map and it looks like in Seattle there are more stolen cars (guess why take the time to break in a car when you can just steal the whole vehicle) than car break-ins, but I see a number of those too within the last 24 hours. The "SPD Records Map" is archived over weeks and months is pretty interesting.
And there's these recent articles on car break-ins. This from Seattle Q13Fox from June 26, 2018:
Victims of car break-ins in Wallingford frustrated over lack of police response Sounds like the neighborhood isn't getting any police responding to car break-ins. Interestingly a few of these cars had alarms going off but more cars were still hit in the area with the alarms in earshot. Oh and the neighbors affected bring up homeless and druggies as the potential source. Sounds familiar to SF Bay Area break-ins. Hmm.
This from another neighborhood from just Oct. 17, 2018: West Seattle Crime Watch: Car break-in at Lincoln Park which apparently made the news again just Nov. 12, 2018: West Seattle Crime Watch: Lincoln Park car break-ins
Interesting Reddit thread from Seattle, Washington car owners who have faced break-ins and what they did about it or commented on it: Car break-ins : SeattleWA Includes one who decided to leave his car unlocked--something a few people here have suggested. BTW doubt all these car break-ins are Teslas.
Point of this post is don't think you are immune to having your car broken into. Wonder how many arrests Seattle PD makes for break-ins, if the majority of them are prosecuted and where they house all those criminals found guilty.
https://www.seattlepi.com/lists/sli...ods-have-the-most-car-66946/photo-4955555.php I hate having to advance throught 65 frames to see all the totals. They saved the neighborhoods with higher break-in numbers for the end.
The following Seattle Gov/Police site shows police reports and the type of crimes within 12 hours of report. The 23,000 total over 3 years has to be accounted for under some other category other than Motor Vehicle Theft in these reports probably because they are classified as a lesser crime than auto theft due to the monetary loss.
Online Crime Maps - Police | seattle.gov
From looking at the "911 Map" link, it shows the last 24 hours of police reports on a map and it looks like in Seattle there are more stolen cars (guess why take the time to break in a car when you can just steal the whole vehicle) than car break-ins, but I see a number of those too within the last 24 hours. The "SPD Records Map" is archived over weeks and months is pretty interesting.
And there's these recent articles on car break-ins. This from Seattle Q13Fox from June 26, 2018:
Victims of car break-ins in Wallingford frustrated over lack of police response Sounds like the neighborhood isn't getting any police responding to car break-ins. Interestingly a few of these cars had alarms going off but more cars were still hit in the area with the alarms in earshot. Oh and the neighbors affected bring up homeless and druggies as the potential source. Sounds familiar to SF Bay Area break-ins. Hmm.
This from another neighborhood from just Oct. 17, 2018: West Seattle Crime Watch: Car break-in at Lincoln Park which apparently made the news again just Nov. 12, 2018: West Seattle Crime Watch: Lincoln Park car break-ins
Interesting Reddit thread from Seattle, Washington car owners who have faced break-ins and what they did about it or commented on it: Car break-ins : SeattleWA Includes one who decided to leave his car unlocked--something a few people here have suggested. BTW doubt all these car break-ins are Teslas.
Point of this post is don't think you are immune to having your car broken into. Wonder how many arrests Seattle PD makes for break-ins, if the majority of them are prosecuted and where they house all those criminals found guilty.
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You changed the fact pattern to now involve a police car. I'm sure the police would view that a little differently.So what you're telling me is that if you walk up to a parked, empty police car, put a brick through the side window to take a peek inside for any goodies, maybe help yourself to their lunch, the cops would just stand back and say "we don't have any authority to arrest you, have a nice day"? While I find it extremely hard to believe, I guess anything is possible in California.
But, ya: when I confronted the cops with the surveillance video clearly showing who did what, they complained that they did not have the authority to arrest anyone for property damage under $1,000. It wasn't that the cops didn't want to go after the guy - in fact, this cop was pissed that he couldn't - it's that they were under political directives not to. The cop who talked to me about it was very frustrated by the situation. And I'm not sure how much the wrong-doer being a crazy homeless person plays into the policy reasoning, compared to if someone like you or I committed the same act against one another.
That said, the window break ins are mainly attributable to crime rings - not the homeless. Organized criminals get kids and junkies to do the dirty work, then bring whatever they find somewhere else to be sifted through. It's an epidemic in San Francisco, which has made it's way South to Silicon Valley in the last year or two. Tesla has a hard time keeping the glass for the side windows in stock.
TSLA could change the design of the locking mechanism on the fold down seat. For example, 1) move the lock pull insides of the trunk (so it can't be folded down from inside the passenger compartment), 2) put an actual key lock on the top of the the seat back so it takes a key or some other implement to unlock the seat back and lower the seat back (my old Saab required a key to lower the rear seat back); 3) add an electrified lock which works with your phone. I'm sure that there are plenty of other ways to derail a smash and grab.
Of course, all of those ideas costs money and weight. And #1 would be a hassle, but better than standing in line at a SC to replace a window.
btw: in the future, why not hide your laptop in the trunk well?
whitex
Well-Known Member
Most cops I ever met were very decent and professional people. It sounds like the cop you dealt with was one too. Change my example to "personal car of a SF council member" instead of "police car". Maybe the ones who make the rules should experience the business end of those rules?
PS> Considering the wait time for Tesla repairs, couldn't you make it >$1,000 if you include a Tesla rental for the time while waiting? I think Hertz in CA rents them for $400 per day, so 3 days rental alone makes it >$1,000 damage.
The first time around I used a "Tesla certified" third party body shop, and that repair time took like two months and cost $7k. My insurance only covered about 3-4 weeks of a rental car, and then abandoned me after that. But Tesla was super cool and gave me a loaner P100D because I agreed to order a P100D after my lease was up, so that was cool. The second time my window got busted out (shortly thereafter) Tesla had it's own body shops online, so I just dropped it off with Tesla and gave them the fob. My lease was up anyways, so they charged me to fixed the window, but I never saw the old car again.Most cops I ever met were very decent and professional people. It sounds like the cop you dealt with was one too. Change my example to "personal car of a SF council member" instead of "police car". Maybe the ones who make the rules should experience the business end of those rules?
PS> Considering the wait time for Tesla repairs, couldn't you make it >$1,000 if you include a Tesla rental for the time while waiting? I think Hertz in CA rents them for $400 per day, so 3 days rental alone makes it >$1,000 damage.
whitex
Well-Known Member
Could you have used the $7K cost of the first time to prove that this is not under $1,000 damage, hence allowing the cop to pursue it?
No. The $7k of damage was done to my old P85D in san francisco (both side windows plus body damage). I did file a police report but it never went any where because I had no evidence of who did the crime. The brick through the windshield, which was caught on video, was done to my wife's SUV (also in San Francisco) and that only cost like $300 to replace. For the sake of completeness, there was a second brake in on my P85D (in San Jose) but only the rear, small side window. I forget what that cost but it was around $1k(ish) if I recall.
Needless to say, I try to avoid driving my P100D to San Francisco these days.
I would strongly recommend letting an actual Tesla body shop deal with it. At least last year, there were problematic supply chain issues for the window glass because it was be allocated heavily to new production vehicles. So it took months and months to secure for repair purposes. At least Tesla got it faster than a third party certified shop.
I am not aware of a mobile service. The smaller side windows aren't so bad because, besides the glass, the only other problem is the rubber thingy (technical term) that seals the glass in place. But the larger side windows pose a larger problem because of the mechanical elements inside the door that get all jacked (also a technical term) when the glass gets busted, meaning body shop has to disassemble and sometimes repair mechanisms within the door.
Gentlemen (and/or ladies), this is a wonderful site about Teslas. I'd respectfully ask that we all try to keep political discourse/exchanges to a minimum. Thank you
Yeah, I learned that hard way that any valuables you're going to leave in the car should be in the frunk. Would-be thieves might still bust out your windows, but at least they can't steal your gear. And leaving anything in plain sight just invites unwelcome attention.
The rear camera was not as good as the front but it was better than nothing. I just received the new 4K cameras so hopefully I'll be able to get much better video should this happen again.
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