Do car thieves tend to ignore Teslas?

[elambo]

In just a week's time I've heard personal reports of two different cars being stolen. Two different friends of mine. One, which occurred just last night, was a Jeep and the other was a Tesla. I don't suspect that it's good news for the Jeep owners as it appeared that the thieves had planned this out and didn't leave tracks, but the Tesla's owner was able to monitor their car the entire time it was being driven away, and the police arrived at the suspect's house shortly after they did. Had they had their interior camera on they could have watched the guy driving it away.

There's a lot of security tech built in, which is great. Does this mean that thieves think 'forget it, too risky' and move onto something else? I wonder what the stats would show, Tesla thefts vs. other cars.

 

[laservet]

The Most and Least Stolen Vehicles In America

 

[Mrdrbot23]

How did your friend's Tesla get stolen? Did they leave their phone (key) or card key in the car? Or was a phone or card key stolen first and used later to get the Tesla?

 

[Tronguy]

A determined enough thief can snag a Tesla. This usually involves putting it into a shipping container ASAP. The shipping container, being steel, is a decent Faraday Cage. The occasional victim sometimes discovers their stolen car being driven around in Africa or something.

The other thing about Teslas is that, in general, the company Got The Memo about security being a process, not an absolute. Which means that it's inevitable that some cracker or other is going to figure out how to drive off with a Tesla - but Tesla has, over the years, I dunno, maybe ten times or so, maybe more, has pushed updates to close off those kinds of attacks. And in, for automobiles, near real-time. (As compared to the likes of other manufacturers who, if their cars are even close to being out of warranty, simply shrug their shoulders and say, "That's your problem, not ours.")

The best thing to do if one is worried about this kind of thing is to enable PIN-to-drive. This tends to frustrate thieves. Still doesn't stop someone with a flatbed tow truck, but one does what one can.

 

[Skavatar]

the only Tesla stolen in Houston that I've heard of was when the car was in repair mode at Tesla's Service Center parking lot. i suspect the tow truck driver (or maybe a Tesla employee) had a friend steal it b/c he knew it was in repair mode and sitting out in the parking lot.

'There should be an effort' Pearland man tracking stolen Tesla cannot get help retrieving it

Albert Molina's Tesla is sitting at an apartment complex in the Bellaire area, which he was advised not to go by after it was taken off the lot of a service center it was towed to the previous day.

abc13.com

Tesla tells Houston-area owner of car stolen from their lot that he's responsible for damage done

The owner of one Tesla wants answers after his vehicle that he had towed to a Harris County Tesla dealership was stolen, and the dealership won't pay for the damage.

www.fox26houston.com

 

[Dangaurd_Ace]

in hawaii thieves use a forklift...and no one says or does anything about it

 

[SidetrackedSue]

Note: you can only track the location of the car on the move if it is in drive. If it is on a flatbed, it doesn't register its location.

The majority of vehicle thefts in my city are heading overseas. A tesla without access to the mother-ship isn't really a tesla. No supercharging, no NAV (remember, the car doesn't support Apple or Google auto apps), no voice command (needs connectivity) and no updates. Therefore one gives up a ton of the features teslas are known for and gets the pain of keeping a car charged in areas with less reliable electricity.

I use pin-to-drive and figure for those not-infrequent times I leave my phone key in the car, the damage will be loss of the phone (a mid-range Android) rather than the car. EXCEPT, I've read one can start the car via the app, overriding pin-to-drive. That's a new 'feature' added in the app which basically effs me over if I get a car thief who actually knows teslas. It also feels like it makes the car less secure. If I really want the car to be started by someone who doesn't know the pin, I'll let them in the car via the app, tell the car to go into drive and then I expect them to be asked for the pin (which I would have told them either by a voice or text.)

 

[elambo]

How did your friend's Tesla get stolen? Did they leave their phone (key) or card key in the car? Or was a phone or card key stolen first and used later to get the Tesla?

They passed their keycard to a parking attendant and the rest is history.

It's actually not quite that simple. The guy who took their car didn't realize it was their car -- thought it was a different Tesla. Yes, it's odd.

 

[elambo]

The Most and Least Stolen Vehicles In America

Well there ya go. I had a feeling it might be toward the bottom.

 

[fredzos]

They passed their keycard to a parking attendant and the rest is history.

It's actually not quite that simple. The guy who took their car didn't realize it was their car -- thought it was a different Tesla. Yes, it's odd.

i normally put the car in valet mode when i valet the car at a restaurant or wherever.

might not keep it from being stolen but can frustrate the thief a bit if they can't drive at normal speed.

 

[Dear_OP]

Thieves who still cars do not think the Tesla is cool enough.
Those that think Tesla is cool are too nerdy to steal.


Just look at the list. They are noisy large vroom vroom vehicles.

 

[Mrdrbot23]

They passed their keycard to a parking attendant and the rest is history.

It's actually not quite that simple. The guy who took their car didn't realize it was their car -- thought it was a different Tesla. Yes, it's odd.

That's crazy. Your friend must be very upset! Was it recovered or is it gone for good?

I haven't been in a situation yet where I've had no choice but to hand over my key card to a parking attendant/valet. In general, I try to avoid them at all costs since I have car trust issues.

 

[Tronguy]

That's crazy. Your friend must be very upset! Was it recovered or is it gone for good?

I haven't been in a situation yet where I've had no choice but to hand over my key card to a parking attendant/valet. In general, I try to avoid them at all costs since I have car trust issues.

Being over here on the Mid-Atlantic coast, the SO and I occasionally drive into NYC for this and that.

Have had no qualms over the years about handing the key card off to a parking lot attendant. Or doing so even when we drove ICEs around. First year we had a Tesla we confirmed that the attendant knew how to drive one and where the Sweet Spot was. Have never had a dent, either.

On the other hand: Some decades ago, my Father-In-Law got his Caddy stolen by handing the key to a valet parking attendant in the Detroit area. He was rather upset afterwards to discover that that restaurant didn't actually have valet parking. That still happens these days.

 

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

Note: you can only track the location of the car on the move if it is in drive. If it is on a flatbed, it doesn't register its location. ...

No sir. My Teslas show their location when parked and in "Park." Honest.

Rich

 

[Goobers]

No sir. My Teslas show their location when parked and in "Park." Honest.

Rich

It might be a "last known" location kind of thing. You'd have to check to see if it registers while being flatbed towed or otherwise moved (not under its own power) somewhere far enough.

 

[Skavatar]

if the Tesla has internet connection it should be able to give live gps location.

 

[Goobers]

if the Tesla has internet connection it should be able to give live gps location.

My previous post was in response to someone claiming they were getting live updates while Parked. I was suggesting a way to prove one way or another.

That said, a quick google indicates what @SidetrackedSue said is what is accepted so far. Even with decent connectivity, it won't report current GPS locations, unless in Drive.

 

[RichAZ/CapeCod]

Guys, I don't understand the debate over this subject. I have two Teslas (M3 SR and MY LR).

The M3 is sitting at 50% SOC, plugged and and in Park in our garage south of Tucson. The app is showing it's precise location in AZ.

The MY is sitting, not plugged in but in Park within fifty feet of me on Cape Cod. The app is showing its location at our address here.

Rich

 

[tzgator]

Imagine a Tesla in Park and locked. Then someone comes with a flatbed and loads it onto the flatbed and drives away, the location will not update if you view it in the app.

Many people have shipped their Teslas cross country and the location doesn't update until the car it turned back on/put in drive, when it's off loaded from the trailer.

 

[brainhouston]

OPs post contradicts the title since a Tesla was stolen, so not ignored

But jokes aside, any vehicle with a key available will get stolen
Need to be specific when talking about car theft
If stealing via hacks like old school hot wire then its a diff subject vs stealing fob/keycards n driving away
End result is the same...