How Secure Are Teslas/Tesla Thefts

[MrBadger]

I think out catalytic converter on our Model 3 got nicked... well, I can't find it so it must have been nicked without us knowing...

I think a few passenger lumbar supports, USB ports and charge pads have ended up as spares, and in America, radars seems to be disappearing too...

 

[PITA]

my thoughts exactly - there's an insurance for that.

yeah, some kind of inconvenience, but come on...

I've had this conversation routine, time and time again... over and over with my Motorcycle mates.

Totally dismissive of security on their £20k machines... until one by one they all started to get stolen... some of which were right in front of them in car parks.

Once a targeted vulnerability becomes wide knowledge in the Criminal Sector, you'll have no Zero Hour protection.

Insurance is there to get 'some' of your money back, if it's your car... but added to that is inconvenience, lost personal items and future security paranoia (if it was your car & money spent).

A bit of forward planning gives you a better chance.

But I do understand, some people just can't be bothered with any of it... your choice

 

[Kansalis]

Wow...I just vaguely listen for the beep to indicate it has locked when I walk away

Guess I’m in the minority then lol. I just think along the lines of I’ve paid insurance for years (30+), never claimed (apart from a couple of windscreen repairs), if its stolen then so be it. It’s not the end of the it’s just a car that can be replaced.

Indeed. Car theft will always be a thing, but I'm not going to go too far out of my way by inconveniencing myself with steering locks or spending large amounts on driveway bollards to mitigate against the very small chance it may happen. Each to their own of course. I'm careful to never leave anything on display in my car that someone may want to break the windows to get at, but that's about the extent of my paranoia.

I think out catalytic converter on our Model 3 got nicked... well, I can't find it so it must have been nicked without us knowing...

There's been a run of this recently near me. Overheard a lady in the vet just this week who explained she missed her dog's appointment because her catalytic converter was stolen the day before... Yet another reason to be an EV driver!

 

[PITA]

I've always had an acceptable rule...

Only spend about 5% of the items value on Security.

Seems reasonable to me, that's all I've ever done.

 

[Rooster6655]

If you purchase the key fob and use it on your regular keys then you need to be aware on the distance from where the keys are kept and the car is parked, if its too close then anyone can come and unlock your car even through walls and doors and there is no way to change the distance. Similar with the phone key but often these aren't left near where the car is parked.

I am not concerned about a relay type of attack on the bluetooth key/fob as its not the same as the previous generation of non bluetooth keys.

Pin to drive is probably the most important but when I got my car earlier this month there was no piece of card saying about setting the extra security details such as Pin to drive like in 2019 when I got my 3 and came with a note about setting the pin asap

 

[MrBadger]

Has anyone mentioned the rear quarter lights? That would seem to be one of the highest risks. Easy to break to put the rear seat down then into the boot. Thankfully, touch wood, it doesn't seem to be a big thing here at the moment.

Then there are EV charge points being ripped off walls, although thankfully I've not seen that mentioned for quite some time.

I've owned soft tops for many years (25+), and my circle of friends owned even longer. If you read the media, they would be a no-no, but touch wood, reality seems to differ. I've had a drill nicked out the back of a car (hatchback where probably only 5 different combination of keys so in hindsight inevitable), some tool once used my car as a 'shortcut' and dented the roof, and some number plates went AWOL. Insurance covered the first, didn't bother with the second, and had a different set on retention that mitigated the fallout from the third - I found it quite amusing driving around in a Smart car with some Jag personalised plates... when I traded that in after 14 years, I got more for the plates than the car. tbh, nothing physical would have prevented any of these and with the first, being so easy to access, other than feeling violated, no damage was done. The plates going missing were the biggest issue as in those days you had to wait for hours at the local registration office to swap things over. Oh yes, it takes literally 5 seconds to remove an original Tesla number plate.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

That only works in the US where their cars don't ship with internal motion sensors, for some reason.

In the UK the motion sensitivity is so accurate a spider can set it off.. breaking a window would definitely do it.

But breaking a window, ignoring the alarm and stealing something on the car really aren't preventable if you live in that kind of area. Stealing an entire tesla with P2D on.. nah. not without a flatbed (good luck getting a flatbed down our street.. you can barely get the Tesla itself..).

 

[Xdama]

That only works in the US where their cars don't ship with internal motion sensors, for some reason.

In the UK the motion sensitivity is so accurate a spider can set it off.. breaking a window would definitely do it.

But breaking a window, ignoring the alarm and stealing something on the car really aren't preventable if you live in that kind of area. Stealing an entire tesla with P2D on.. nah. not without a flatbed (good luck getting a flatbed down our street.. you can barely get the Tesla itself..).

I live in an estate with many streets of nice cars before me, I am at the very end of the last cul de sac, I work on the chance theory ie plenty more to nick before they get to me lol. Just to add to that the bloke opposite has an M3 Perfomance with nice wheels & white interior vs my M3 LR with standard wheels & black interior. I reckon they’d nick his before mine. Finally mine is leased through my business so no direct personal cost other than inconvenience for me.
I don’t use P2D nor sentry mode either, the only time I ever got scammed on my debit card was after they fetched in chip n pin (more use means more chance of it being seen imo) & sentry mode takes too much battery (again imo) especially if you work away from home with no overnight charge available and drive in street parking (headlights constantly flashing at pedestrians who have no intention of touching the car).

 

[Tony Hoyle]

Without P2D.. drop your phone or keycard and you're hosed. It's free security, silly to not use it. The physical security of being in a maze of streets with plenty of other cars is fine.. I have that too.. but you're not always at home.

I wouldn't think sentry was much of a deterrent to theft.. anyone who knew about the car would just nick the USB. It's more for people keying the car or doing stupid stuff. Cheap enough to add a camera outside your house anyway.

 

[Kansalis]

Without P2D.. drop your phone or keycard and you're hosed.

I think "hosed" is a bit extreme, and alarmist.

Only if you happen to be followed by a would-be thief who knows your phone will unlock your car. Or said would-be thief coincidentally happens to find your dropped wallet with your keycard in it, then scours local car parks trying the B pillar on every Tesla they see to find your car. Chances of either happening are pretty miniscule and certainly much less likely to be an issue than simply dropping your keys/fob to another car (which can be used from a greater distance to find a car). At least it's incredibly easy to call Tesla to have them remotely disable a lost keycard or disable phone entry temporarily if you realise you have lost a phone/card. Try doing that with almost any other car.

 

[TiLaSoul]

I have RAM Bollards on my driveway, plus driveway Camera's (Sentry Mode is seperate), plus two factor authentication on my Tesla account to block unauthorised access, plus PIN to drive to stop attempted car-jacking, plus wheel locking bolts and now use a steering lock as well (especially when parked away from home).

You've got a model 3, not a Ferrari

 

[Tony Hoyle]

If you drop your phone when getting out right next to your car they'll find it right next to your car.. and that's the time when things fall out of pockets in my experience. With P2D on that's useless to them to steal the car.. although they could still take valuables if you were silly enough to leave them in the car (which presumably nobody does after a decade of education on this).

I just don't see why you wouldn't. it's like not locking your front door because it's a bit inconvenient.

 

[Xdama]

You've got a model 3, not a Ferrari

To be fair each to their own. I wouldn’t do that for any car personally but I can understand why others would want to. Some people are very attached to their car no matter what it is, to me it’s just a tool to get me A to B in comfort.

Without P2D.. drop your phone or keycard and you're hosed. It's free security, silly to not use it. The physical security of being in a maze of streets with plenty of other cars is fine.. I have that too.. but you're not always at home.

I wouldn't think sentry was much of a deterrent to theft.. anyone who knew about the car would just nick the USB. It's more for people keying the car or doing stupid stuff. Cheap enough to add a camera outside your house anyway.

I use a keyfob so I can open the car for wifey while I’m still across the supermarket car park. I’m the one getting piss wet through while she get’s to sit in the car. The other reason was sporadic entry using the phone, sometimes it would let me in other times it wouldn’t.
Touch wood I’ve never lost either wallet or phone, long may it continue.

 

[nurusz]

I’ve had my Model Y for nearly two weeks now and I’ve been thinking about security. You hear stories about car signals being exploited and stolen within minutes etc.

How secure are our Tesla’s? I know they emit a Bluetooth signal for the phone unlocking etc.

I’m also thinking of installing a drive way security post as we have a lot of cars stolen in this area (Bexley) such as Range Rovers and BMW’s.

Do not use the third-party Tesla app on your phone.

 

[Dilly]

Judging by the woeful current shortage, your windscreen is more likely to get nicked!

 

[Zilla91]

In the unlikely scenario someone is really determined to steal our common as anything Teslas, chances are they’ll burst into your house and threaten you until you hand over the pin. It’s not really worth it, is it?

I don’t get the point of pin to drive or the ghost immobiliser, I’d rather keep my family safe and let them take the car

 

[HenryT]

I wonder how long it will be before powerwalls start disappearing overnight?

 

[Terry F]

In the unlikely scenario someone is really determined to steal our common as anything Teslas, chances are they’ll burst into your house and threaten you until you hand over the pin. It’s not really worth it, is it?

I don’t get the point of pin to drive or the ghost immobiliser, I’d rather keep my family safe and let them take the car

I agree when you are parked at home, but handy if you are away overnight and parked in a public area, airport, hotel, shopping centre, etc.

 

[Buzzliteyear]

I wonder how long it will be before powerwalls start disappearing overnight?

That would be a shocking development

 

[btc1k]

If my family are in the car and someone wants to car-jack it - they can have it.

Not getting into a fight over PIN to drive or anything else. It's just a car.