How did this happen?

[Tiny Tim]

I have had my Tesla Model 3 for just over a year now (LR Dual Motor). I live in Twickenham and the car is parked overnight directly in front of my house. There has never been any security issues until this week when I discovered that all the change I keep in the storage box in the central armrest was missing apart from one bright new pound coin. All told, about £40 was gone. There was no sign of forced entry and nothing taken from the boot or frunk. I cannot be certain when the money was taken but certainly within the last 48 hours.

Sentry mode was not enabled but pin to drive was. I'm certain it wasn't anybody in my family who took the money so I am left with two options:

a) The car was unlocked and it was an opportunistic theft

b) Someone managed to unlock the car (to steal), but couldn't because of pin to drive and took the cash instead

The problem with a) is that I have passive entry enabled which means that my iPhone acts as the key and locks the car automatically as I move away. I thought I may have kept the phone too close to the car whilst in the house so that it was effectively open but after having done some experimenting this is unlikely. You have to have the phone very close to the car to unlock it.

So is b) a possibility? It was odd that one coin was left behind, maybe as a little joke. Are there attacks possible which could bypass the phone? Anybody have any similar experiences or ideas of what might have gone on?

 

[ACarneiro]

I would say a is the more likely explanation.

My other half’s phone is just within range when we’re in the bedroom (facing the front of the house) so the car kept getting unlocked all the time...

 

[NorfolkMustard]

I'm certain it wasn't anybody in my family who took the money

Do you have teslafi, perhaps see when doors were opened

 

[Jason71]

£40! How much do you need to get a supermarket trolley in Twickenham?

I also think a) is more likely.

 

[MrBadger]

Some of them pavements are quite narrow in Twickenham...

I would see if you can recreate the conditions of a) and try and open the door with phones in the house.

Also the suggestion of TeslaFi is a good one. It can notify you if doors/windows have been left unlocked for a period of time. But it won't catch the situation if the phone is one the limits and its oscillating being in/out of range.

 

[Sparkeur]

2020.30.4.1. Auto prepay supercharging from coin tray.

 

[pgkevet]

It's possible you failed to close a door properly so it didn't lock or someone used the delay between you leaving and the car locking. If you have kids 9yrs+ then they can be very devious and can't be ruled out. Or you had a blonde moment and forgot you spent it..
Or it's Karma £40 in the car suggests you have too much. I keep a small amount of parking change and a basket token in mine 'cos I'm cheap.

 

[Tiny Tim]

Thanks for the replies. At least no one is suggesting that passive entry can be compromised, which is what most concerned me. So it is in all probability a). And yes, parking here is expensive. Four hours down by the river cost me £7.50 today.

Paid for by phone!

 

[Lx2m3]

I had an instance where my car didn’t lock when I left it, later discovered that the boot wasn’t properly latched.
It would be very useful if the app notified you when you’re out of Bluetooth range and it’s unlocked.

 

[Tiny Tim]

I think this is very probably what happened. If the car can't be maliciously unlocked then it most probably remained unlocked when outside of bluetooth range. The alternative explanation, that the phone was too close to the car from inside the house and therefore unlocked it has not been proved after a lot of testing yesterday.

Being notified of the car being unlocked when outside bluetooth range would be incredibly helpful - bit of a no-brainer really.

 

[CMc1]

Being notified of the car being unlocked when outside bluetooth range would be incredibly helpful - bit of a no-brainer really.

TeslaFi and Stats app support this functionality

 

[rincewind]

I have the honk the horn setting enabled on walk away lock. It gets some strange looks sometimes but peace of mind is enabled - I always listen for the hink so I know it's locked.

 

[Tiny Tim]

I have the honk thing set too, but sometimes its easy to get distracted. I've tweeted Elon with the suggestion to get an alert from the app if it happens. Long shot, but hey.

 

[Doudeau]

Thanks for the replies. At least no one is suggesting that passive entry can be compromised, which is what most concerned me. So it is in all probability a). And yes, parking here is expensive. Four hours down by the river cost me £7.50 today.

Paid for by phone!

A couple of thoughts from me..... there have been a number of cars broken into in Twickenham by a person/people just looking for money - I also live in Twickenham and have a video of somebody taking coins from my other car a few months ago (it wasn’t me who left it unlocked).

Are you aware that if you get a “Richmond Card” you can park for free with a zero emission car throughout Richmond-upon-Thames? It’s about 3 hours max - less if it’s a short stay parking bay e.g around Richmond green.

 

[CMc1]

I have the honk thing set too, but sometimes its easy to get distracted. I've tweeted Elon with the suggestion to get an alert from the app if it happens. Long shot, but hey.

His account is disabled at the min, so might be worth trying again in few days

 

[ACarneiro]

Hah! Has he been a naughty boy on Twitter again?

 

[Neilio]

Or it's Karma £40 in the car suggests you have too much. I keep a small amount of parking change and a basket token in mine 'cos I'm cheap.

That's really harsh. Besides, living down here in West London too: £40 IS change for parking meters!

 

[EVMeister]

Hah! Has he been a naughty boy on Twitter again?

He was just one of several accounts affected by the Twitter BTC hack. Access to affected accounts was disabled for a little bit, but Elon's clearly Eloning away on Twitter again now.

 

[UrbanSplash]

There have been times when my car hasn’t locked when I’ve walked away (key fob). Sometimes no reason, others because of a door not closed properly. To confuse matters, yesterday I noticed the door was unlocked but the mirrors were closed.

I check on the app at night now that it’s locked.

So most likely opportunistic with an unlocked door. Mega shame no sentry mode.

 

[Adopado]

It was odd that one coin was left behind, maybe as a little joke.

I think the idea is that you will rule out theft if there's a coin left. You might therefore not check your security and the perpetrator hopes to come back and do it again.