Moving to Denver- Looking for advice on about security for my car

[bvles]

I will be moving to Denver in the next few months in a nice area in a condo complex.... Recently even in the covered coverage they have had a number of thefts. When we did further research and spoke to the condo manager- it seems that Colorado as a whole and Denver in particular has the highest per capital car theft in the country. I am most concerned about theft from the car garage at night where I will be charging the car as they have free charging stations. Can i ask for specific preventative measures and where to get more info.. THANKS - and of course any advice on how to prevent the other than the obvious

 

[santua]

I would imagine it is not the easiest to rob a tesla, however, I've seen that many have gotten their wheels robbed. So perhaps a good idea would be to get wheel locks.

 

[Zythryn]

Set “Pin to Drive”.
As long as you keep your Tesla account secure, and don’t choose a Pin such as 0000 or 1234 you should be set.

 

[oreobbq]

Yea pretty difficult to steal a tesla unless they just tow it and disable tracking. If you're really worried you can make sure theft is covered in the insurance you choose. In a parking garage full of easy targets, it's not likely they would choose the annoying car with computers and cameras facing in all directions. They're more likely to just smash a window to see what you have inside.

Paranoid take: you're not trying to brainstorm how to steal one right..

 

[gaswalla]

Californian here - thanks to our politics, we have a lot of crime experience to share. You are at very low risk for the car itself to be stolen. Using PIN to drive will provide a second layer of safety if you are still worried about this. On the other hand, Teslas are favorites for smash and grab thefts bc of the perceived high worth of the owners and also bc of the ease of getting into the trunk (smash the rear passenger window and pull up on the rear seat latch and grab the trunk contents quickly). Use sentry so that you see who stole your stuff (being facetious here - maybe the sentry alerts stop an amateur thief in Denver, not going to faze a pro from LA or SF), and drop your rear seats to show the empty trunk space while parked (of course, keep the trunk empty) so that thieves know there isn’t anything in the trunk).

 

[Barry]

My catalytic converter is missing!

 

[In4lo]

I live just south of Denver. The complex I live in has security cameras all over it that can see at night as well as day. We had a few cars broken into last summer, but the idiots were caught a few days later due to them.

I'd agree that stealing a whole Tesla is probably a difficult one as there's too much electrical security to try and drive it away. Yea they could tow it away but honestly at that point it won't matter what you really do heh. Just have good insurance.

The "smash & grabs" seem to be what happens most often. Don't leave valuables sitting in the car visible, park in a well lit spot etc...

Locking lugnuts are a good idea! Also been reading that it's a good idea to get a small SSD drive to plug into the glove bax for Sentry Mode (like a samsung T5/T7 512GB/1TB) instead of the smallish USB drive that comes with the car. I'm still researching that part myself as I don't pick up my M3P till Tuesday.

Coming from Miami it looks like, crime is generally not as bad here as it is there (used to live in central FL). So whatever you did/do there will probably apply here just fine.

Welcome to the land of higher taxes and no humidity

 

[dgpcolorado]

...Welcome to the land of higher taxes and no humidity

"Higher taxes" is relative. It isn't widely known but Colorado has the fourth lowest property taxes in the country (source: Kiplinger's). My property taxes for a house on five acres in a rural county are currently $1382 (although I paid $988, due to the senior exemption). That's rather low compared to a lot of states with no income taxes, although perhaps not Florida. (On the other hand, property taxes here for non-residential property, including commercial and vacant lots, are very high. It's complicated.)

Yes, we do have a state income tax rate of 4.55% (roughly based on federal taxable income) and sales taxes of varying rates, depending on location.

So, yes, higher taxes. Stay away!

 

[Barry]

Maybe real estate taxes are lower in CO, but personal property taxes (eg., car registration) make up for it. When I lived in PA, car registration, was about $25/year. Value of the car wasn't factored in. I forget the exact number, but the first year registration on my Model S was in the $3-4K range. Now that it's 7 years old, it's down to $500.