Epidemic of Model 3 small window break-ins

[Scrutmonkey]

Sigh.. just happened to our ☰ in Saratoga Mitsuwa parking lot.
Do i file insurance claim?
Anybody know how much it’ll cost for the 3?

P.S. i don’t even have anything in the car. Argh.. (now I really need to leave the rear seat folded so they don’t need to break my window to see there’s nothing inside)
P.P.S Happened the same day after another friend got his car broken into in SF palace of fine arts in broad daylight.

just curious where you parked. Was it in the back lot behind the Mitsuwa? I'm thinking about just putting one of those huge bears from Costco and strapping it into the middle seat. the high back trunk makes the rear visibility poor anyways.

 

[mmccking]

Try covering your small back window with fake window covering as if it's already been broken. You can put magnets on it so it's easily removable when you get back to your car.

Although I semi-joke about it, I'm guessing this will be something I try after I get my first break-in.

 

[TheLocNar]

Maybe a brightly colored sticky note just below the side pillar camera that says "SMILE. YOU'RE ON CAMERA!" would scare away some of the less hardened thieves. Eh. Who am I kidding.

 

[BioSehnsucht]

How about an electric shock when car know it is being vandalized (joke people joke)

MagnaVolt - "It won't even run down your battery!"

 

[SJC3]

Sheesh! So don’t visit SF! That’s what I’m hearing.
Haha fancy metal cards? Some non fancy metal cards have primary insurance coverage too.

Let’s not get hysterical here. Im in the city at least twice a month and never had a problem with our cars. I park in garages and on the street without issues...Tesla S, 3 or otherwise. something could happen, especially in such a Tesla dense region, but I’m not going to let thieves take away the joy of driving what I want. BTW the city is a blast with EVs. Just never leave anything visible or purposely leave my kids crap out

 

[thecloud]

Let’s not get hysterical here. Im in the city at least twice a month and never had a problem with our cars. I park in garages and on the street without issues...Tesla S, 3 or otherwise. something could happen, especially in such a Tesla dense region, but I’m not going to let thieves take away the joy of driving what I want. BTW the city is a blast with EVs. Just never leave anything visible or purposely leave my kids crap out

I'm glad you've been lucky so far. Most of us who've been victimized did not have anything in the trunk, let alone visible in the car. The new normal is speculative break-ins: apparently enough people stash laptops or purses out of sight in the trunk to make it worth the effort.

 

[ebmcs03]

Let’s not get hysterical here. Im in the city at least twice a month and never had a problem with our cars. I park in garages and on the street without issues...Tesla S, 3 or otherwise. something could happen, especially in such a Tesla dense region, but I’m not going to let thieves take away the joy of driving what I want. BTW the city is a blast with EVs. Just never leave anything visible or purposely leave my kids crap out

Too late. I already booked two southwest plane tickets and a car at enterprise San Bruno.

I much rather enjoy my cars in one piece.

 

[run-the-joules]

Let’s not get hysterical here. Im in the city at least twice a month and never had a problem with our cars. I park in garages and on the street without issues...Tesla S, 3 or otherwise. something could happen, especially in such a Tesla dense region, but I’m not going to let thieves take away the joy of driving what I want. BTW the city is a blast with EVs. Just never leave anything visible or purposely leave my kids crap out

Just about 30,000 car break-ins in SF alone in 2017. The place is a hellscape. Even if your car isn't broken into, you've got needles, feces, and the insane to contend with. Shame we can't move the good restaurants somewhere else.

 

[egggg]

When I was in the Bay, my last car was broken into two times in broad daylight during lunch. Smash and grab both times. I guess they really needed shorts. One time was at an In N Out parking lot packed full. At least In N Out was sympathetic and gave me 10 free meals.

The thieves are brazen and know they're not going to get caught. Call the police and they say file an online police report. They'll rubber stamp it.

Why can't the bluetooth mic on the M3 listen for glass breaks and turn on the cameras to record? Or even better, run the thieves over, call the cops, upload the video to youtube and attach it to a police report. I mean if the car can drive itself, why not? Someone tweet Elon, maybe in version 10?

Oh, and if you need to report poop in public areas (pretty much everywhere) in SF, there's always SnapCrap.

A better solution than leaving your seats down would be to get a glass trunk -- leave no mystery that there is no junk in there.

 

[UnknownSoldier]

Is it safe to park your car outside in other parts of the Bay Area outside of SF? I'm going to taking a road trip from WA to CA next month and I'm not sure how I feel about driving my car 2 states to a car robbers paradise.

 

[boiler81]

Where's the aftermarket in making a retrofit locking system for the poorly designed Tesla folding seats?

Not being able to effectively secure any part of the interior (frunk, trunk, glovebox, or cabin), is a major design deficiency.

 

[Mahi-Mahi]

Friend of mine parked his Model 3 in a covered lot in SF. Comes back to find the rear triangle window smashed. Went to Tesla to get repaired and told this is increasingly common.

Technique:
1) Smash the small window
2) reach in and unlatch the back seat and fold down
3) use flashlight to see if anything interesting stored in trunk. If so, break in. If not, walk away.

The tragedy is that the car alarm DOES NOT go off. So this is an easy, quiet smash and grab. @musk & co - I hope you can modify the alarm to detect this? Maybe the internal camera can detect motion?

Given how often this happens and how short they are on parts, it's been 2+ weeks and he's still driving around with a smashed window. Pass this along to see if we can get action from Tesla.

 

[gaswalla]

yes, very common in the Bay Area for past couple of years with the S.. Maybe the dash cam will help? esp if they activate more cameras

 

[Santa Claws]

My S4 has the ability to lock the seats with the physical key. I know we don't have a physical key, and I don't want one, but it would be nice to have some ability to lock those seats in place.

 

[woodisgood]

What exactly do people hope to accomplish with the cameras? Assuming you could get a clear view of the perp’s face (and maybe the B pillar cans could), will it have prevented the crime? Will it help you pay for the replacement? Do you think it will lead to increased prosecution and ultimately a reduction of these crimes in SF/Bay Area?

Sadly, the answer to all of those questions is no. These crimes will continue to occur as long as the community is tolerating them by not handing out harsher punishments. Period. Video MIGHT help catch an offender here or there (more likely police will ignore your footage) but it probably won’t give people the sense of justice they’re after.

I’m not saying a parking mode and other cams active would never be useful - I’m talking specifically about this particular type of crime in this particular location.

 

[mspurplepurl]

Friend of mine parked his Model 3 in a covered lot in SF. Comes back to find the rear triangle window smashed. Went to Tesla to get repaired and told this is increasingly common.

Technique:
1) Smash the small window
2) reach in and unlatch the back seat and fold down
3) use flashlight to see if anything interesting stored in trunk. If so, break in. If not, walk away.

The tragedy is that the car alarm DOES NOT go off. So this is an easy, quiet smash and grab. @musk & co - I hope you can modify the alarm to detect this? Maybe the internal camera can detect motion?

Wouldn't the car alarm go off the moment they attempt to open the door from reaching inside of the car? Also they wouldn't be able to open the frunk or drive away, right?

I'm not discounting how much it sucks to have a broken window, but trying to understand where the alarm and anti-theft protection begins and ends considering the alarm isn't sounding when the window is broken.

 

[Wooloomooloo]

Yes it's a little worrying.

The thread is a little misleading, implies that a rash of M3's are being stolen, not that a rash of things are being stolen from M3's.

 

[C141medic]

Sorry about your window. I posted this in another thread but I think it applies here as well:

 

[Eno Deb]

My S4 has the ability to lock the seats with the physical key. I know we don't have a physical key, and I don't want one, but it would be nice to have some ability to lock those seats in place.

Agreed, an electric lock would be the best solution (would also make the valet mode much more useful). Alternatively the mechanical release handles could be moved inside the trunk which many other automakers are doing now. Frankly, I'm surprised that Tesla didn't learn from the many incidents involving the Model S in the last few years.

In the meantime, the only solution is not to leave anything in the trunk and fold down a back seat so the crooks can see it without breaking the glass.

Wouldn't the car alarm go off the moment they attempt to open the door from reaching inside of the car? Also they wouldn't be able to open the frunk or drive away, right?

If they see something in the trunk, they will then smash the big rear window and lean in to grab the item. You can find videos on Youtube.

I'm not discounting how much it sucks to have a broken window, but trying to understand where the alarm and anti-theft protection begins and ends considering the alarm isn't sounding when the window is broken.

Car alarms are mostly ignored anyway because everyone assumes they are false positives.

 

[PoitNarf]

Sorry about your window. I posted this in another thread but I think it applies here as well:

That seems a bit overly destructive. I think a Trunk Monkey is a better option:

In all seriousness though this really sucks. Is this primarily a California issue? I haven't seen anything like this happening around NJ.