Sentry Mode not working during break ins / Removing rear seat latch

[O Dub]

These aren't "stupid people". They are criminals who have gone through the risk/reward analysis and decided that breaking into cars is a better gig than working at a fast food restaurant since the enforcement in the San Francisco Bay area is seriously lacking.

San Francisco has the 11th largest police department in the United States. Maybe they need to re-set their priorities.

I disagree. Most of them are "stupid" hence the life decisions that they have made. Not to mention the fact that when I have my seats down, and there is nothing in the trunk, a thief still decides to smash the window only to realize there is nothing in the trunk. I do realize this could have been a "stupid" thief not even looking before smashing the window, or the real possibility that the thief wasn't stupid, but simply didn't give AF about anything and just wanted to break a window because it was a tesla. Both very real possibilities, but I would like to think, based on reading about these incidents and watching multiple videos of it, that the thiefs really don't look inside first to see whether the seats are down, whether there are locks on the seats, or whether there is anything of value before smashing. I believe the best and quickest approach for them is to smash first, then assess after. The more time they spend around the vehicle looking suspicious, the more likely someone is to notice them.

 

[BluestarE3]

Visual cues like a bright red locking mechanism on the latch + sticker on windows that read SEATS LOCKED?

As noted in post #21 and in your post #39 above, there are no 100% failsafe methods to prevent your car from being targeted. You can only take steps to improve your odds and hope the thief looks inside your car first before smashing.

 

[GuyDude]

There have been numerous rear quarter window break-ins in the Bay Area over the past couple of weeks. The local fb group page is filled with depressing broken window posts. All of them mentioned that Sentry Mode didn't go off when the rear quarter window was broken. It appears the Sentry alarm is activated by microphones in the car and apparently breaking the rear quarter window isn't loud enough to set it off. I hope Tesla addresses this weak link in a future update.

In the meantime, leaving your rear seats folded down is all you can do, but removing the rear seat latch altogether may be the best solution. Has anyone thought about completely removing and relocating that latch? I think this would involve re-upholstering the rear seats. I'd gladly pay to have the rear re-wrapped covering the latch. My last BMW 5 series had the rear seat latch located in the trunk and not once was it broken in during my 6 years of ownership. I freely parked it everywhere in the streets of SF. Even overnight.

Agreed!! it should be in the trunk like Bmw

 

[aspec818]

Was that the underground garage in Japantown in SF?? My quarter window got broken about 2 months ago in Japantown on the street right outside the garage, and ever since then I decided to park inside that garage, and I guess now it doesn't seem to be a safe spot anymore....

Yes it was! The dudes were just roaming the jtown parking garage to break in.

 

[RayK]

I have not tried to figure out how to take off the existing window and fit the new one. From looking at the plastic pins it would seem to be an operation of pulling off and pushing on. There's the grey plastic tab which I guess fits under/into the adjoining section of chrome trim.

Necroposting and quoting my own....

A new thread was posted yesterday that asked if anyone had the procedure to remove and replace this window. I answered with a .PDF that was extracted from a service manual. Posting this here in case anyone who subscribed to this thread wanted to know.

 

[Huskyf]

What concerning is when Sentry Mode goes off playing "Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor", pedestrians are going to think it's another dumb ass playing loud music. My area I get a lot of drivers playing their music full blast. Also the music will just drown out glass breaking for the thieves. I'd much prefer the traditional alarm sound, or at least give us the option to choose.

They played the music and the alarme with flashing LED I don't think it confuse for others peoples around your car.

 

[Fernand]

These voodoo talismans have worked for me .. so far. Fingers crossed. Bilateral Blinking glass break alarm and sticker.

Some hip-hop girls were passing a joint in a car parked next to mine when I returned one time, and they politely asked if "there is really a camera". More concerned about their own privacy, I think, than anything else

.

 

[TraumaDoc]

Lowering the seat only goes so far... next you'll need to leave the under-trunk uncovered.

Why not just leave it unlocked with a couple of doors slightly ajar, and pin to drive enabled, that way everyone can have a good, damage free look around, satisfy themselves there's nothing to be had, and then move on.