Theft via Rear Quarter Glass Driver/Left

[kunala]

I never really considered too much theft in Tesla or other luxury vehicles as they have pretty good alarm systems. I've had mine for 4.5 years now and I've never had this issue. However, I wanted to highlight the problem to other owners; you may already be aware.

Thief smashes the quarter glass (as pictured) and is able to easily pull down the backseat and see if there is anything worth stealing. From there, they will smash the larger glass to climb in and grab it. The whole deal takes less than one minute - I had stepped into a Santa Clara restaurant for less than 2-3 minutes and it was done.

For some reason I never really considered this and thought trunk was rather safe. I was lucky, because there was a box in the trunk and they didn't see my laptop

I really recommend all of you to keep things in the frunk. Obviously there will be valuables no matter what you do, but less chance of losing things when glass isn't the safety net.

On a completely separate note and besides the valuables, getting this fixed is a two week headache. From my research so-far:

1. Part costs 300-400$ new / as per tesla labor guide

Body Glass - Rear Quarter - RH Remove and replace 1.55​

2. Tesla does not fix, you need to go to a Safelite/etc.

Safelite quote is 2.5 weeks out due to part availability, and quote was 780$​

3. Insurance useless as it is usually below deductible.

 

[sevenout]

I never really considered too much theft in Tesla or other luxury vehicles as they have pretty good alarm systems. I've had mine for 4.5 years now and I've never had this issue. However, I wanted to highlight the problem to other owners; you may already be aware.

Thief smashes the quarter glass (as pictured) and is able to easily pull down the backseat and see if there is anything worth stealing. From there, they will smash the larger glass to climb in and grab it. The whole deal takes less than one minute - I had stepped into a Santa Clara restaurant for less than 2-3 minutes and it was done.

This exact thing happened to me earlier this year. Broke the passenger rear quarter glass to fold down the back seat to look in the trunk. I did not have anything in the trunk so that is all that happened. Tesla Service Center performed the repair. Took about 2 weeks total with most of that waiting for the replacement glass to arrive. Cost about $1100. The service tech said he is replacing these rear quarter glass windows several times every week. I don't keep stuff in my trunk for long periods of time. But I've now started dropping the parcel shelf down into the trunk when I don't need to use it so any would-be thief can see the trunk is empty.

 

[navinsiri]

Not even the frunk would be a secure place. You can open the frunk without breaking anything or any special tools. Although I think the alarm would activate.
Here's How To Open A Tesla Frunk Without A Key

 

[kunala]

You joined in 2012 and you only have 7 posts lol

i am an expert lurker

Not even the frunk would be a secure place.

Wow, that is really unfortunate, didn't know this - is there any safe space in this car? This does take a bit more time though.

Took about 2 weeks total with most of that waiting for the replacement glass to arrive. Cost about $1100.

I am sorry to hear that - I will try your trick though

 

[Kuhz]

This is a thing in San Francisco area mostly. You are far from the first and unfortunately not the last....

 

[Patrick W]

I never really considered too much theft in Tesla or other luxury vehicles as they have pretty good alarm systems. I've had mine for 4.5 years now and I've never had this issue. However, I wanted to highlight the problem to other owners; you may already be aware.

Thief smashes the quarter glass (as pictured) and is able to easily pull down the backseat and see if there is anything worth stealing. From there, they will smash the larger glass to climb in and grab it. The whole deal takes less than one minute - I had stepped into a Santa Clara restaurant for less than 2-3 minutes and it was done.

For some reason I never really considered this and thought trunk was rather safe. I was lucky, because there was a box in the trunk and they didn't see my laptop

I really recommend all of you to keep things in the frunk. Obviously there will be valuables no matter what you do, but less chance of losing things when glass isn't the safety net.

On a completely separate note and besides the valuables, getting this fixed is a two week headache. From my research so-far:

1. Part costs 300-400$ new / as per tesla labor guide

Body Glass - Rear Quarter - RH Remove and replace 1.55​

2. Tesla does not fix, you need to go to a Safelite/etc.

Safelite quote is 2.5 weeks out due to part availability, and quote was 780$​

3. Insurance useless as it is usually below deductible.

 

[Patrick W]

Sorry to hear it.

Did anything they did set off the alarm?

 

[PrGrPa]

OP, it’s not clear to me whether this happened to you or whether you’re relating a story you’ve read. If the former, I’m sorry to hear about your experience.

This is not really any different from any other ‘hatchback’ car. Access to the boot/trunk is easy through the cabin. Though it’s relatively uncommon on newer cars with no valuables in sight as breaking the glass usually sets the alarm off on a vehicle and draws unwelcome attention.

The 2 week turnaround on glass is what I’d expect with a relatively rare vehicle. Swift compared to some TMC poster’s reports for other parts.

It’s nice to hear about the restrained approach SF car burglars take. My experiences of theft from vehicles is with a full window smashed.

 

[croman]

European Teslas get glass breakage security.... Just rehashing old gripes Tesla still hasn't addressed.

 

[bmah]

Moderator note: Moved a couple of trolling posts (and a non-trolling response) to Snippiness.

Bruce.

 

[jistone]

I know this topic is a bit dated but it just happened to me...

I just had both side rear quarter glass windows broken on my MS mid last week in the Bay Area near Richmond. I thought I'd share my experience and hopefully save others some time.

In the Bay Area and possibly other areas where this happens a lot, DON"T bother with the Tesla service center; they no longer do this repair. Instead they gave me two contacts which are the repair places they used prior and recommend now.

Primerautoglass.com - (925) 548 0394

Precision Auto Glass - (650) 344-8442

This information is right from the Tesla support person I spoke with today. Very nice guy BTW and super helpful.
DON'T bother with Safelite either. They will give you a quote online and let you make an appointment, but will cancel it because they can't get the parts from Tesla. They called me a day or two after I made the appointment to confirm they could NOT do the job. Hope this helps others...