What to do if your Tesla is stolen?

[DJ 240V]

Trying to learn from this experience
Tesla in Pasadena Accident: Driver Fled

Surprised why the owner did not take any action? Perhaps because he/she wasn't aware ?

Would be nice if our app had an SOS section.

 

[sdorn]

In addition to calling police and Tesla, I'd also enable Valet mode immediately from the app.

 

[brucet999]

In addition to calling police and Tesla, I'd also enable Valet mode immediately from the app.

Good idea, then tell cops that car is speed limited to 70 mph and limited acceleration.

 

[sdorn]

Good idea, then tell cops that car is speed limited to 70 mph and limited acceleration.

And hopefully the sudden loss of power will spook the thief and cause them to abandon the car somewhere.

 

[AustinPowers]

A technical question: I always thought Tesla could track the location of the vehicle all the time, anywhere. Then I thought, what if a thief puts the car in some sort of Faraday cage to disable the trackability. Would that work?

 

[diesel]

A technical question: I always thought Tesla could track the location of the vehicle all the time, anywhere. Then I thought, what if a thief puts the car in some sort of Faraday cage to disable the trackability. Would that work?

Yes it would, or simply removing the LTE module would probably be easier.

 

[jerry33]

Yes it would, or simply removing the LTE module would probably be easier.

It's not very easy to remove the LTE module.

 

[JoaoD]

A technical question: I always thought Tesla could track the location of the vehicle all the time, anywhere. Then I thought, what if a thief puts the car in some sort of Faraday cage to disable the trackability. Would that work?

Unfortunately there are cheap signal jammers that you can plug in the 12v socket or usb that disable all car gps and other signals. I'm not sure those work in a Tesla, but I've read that they are commonly used by thieves.

 

[kort677]

Then I thought, what if a thief puts the car in some sort of Faraday cage to disable the trackability. Would that work?

do you think that many car thieves have that sort of expertise?

 

[JoaoD]

do you think that many car thieves have that sort of expertise?

Surely they do. They even steal the cars without a key. Mostly keyless entry cars like Renault, BMW and Ford.
If Teslas were common they would figure out how to steal them too I'm afraid.

 

[Snowstorm]

Yeah, but a thief usually steal a car if it can be turned into cash somehow. What are u going to do with a stolen tesla? A used parts market do not exist because Tesla single source them and all others will looks suspect. You certainly can't just paint over the car and resell it as it needs to connect to the mothership for things to work and update. No one will buy a "undocumented" us d tesla.

 

[JoaoD]

Although most of the times they steal it to turn it into cash they can still steal it just to use it, like most pens that get stolen on a daily bases, I don't believe anyone is turning them in a cash and most small item thefts.
The car won't update but will still drive as usual, I would guess.

 

[jaguar36]

Yeah, but a thief usually steal a car if it can be turned into cash somehow. What are u going to do with a stolen tesla? A used parts market do not exist because Tesla single source them and all others will looks suspect. You certainly can't just paint over the car and resell it as it needs to connect to the mothership for things to work and update. No one will buy a "undocumented" us d tesla.

There certainly is a used parts market for Tesla's, in fact there is a whole sub-forum for it here. Undocumented salvage title cars also regularly sell as well.
You could easily make $10k off a stolen Tesla, problem is that a thief could probably make more, for less effort off another car.

 

[gavine]

There are large car thief crime rings that steal new cars from dealers and ship them overseas with false (very real-looking) documentation. One way is the thief goes to the dealer for a test drive. He brings a dummy key fob with him for that car brand. After the test drive, he hands the salesman the dummy key and says he has to think about it. He comes-back that night with the real key, starts the car and drives it to the container ship for export.

 

[AustinPowers]

do you think that many car thieves have that sort of expertise?

Absolutely.
Most cars stolen over here are stolen by Eastern-European crime syndicates. Highly efficient, with advanced tech. Extremely fast, violent and ruthless. Most often it is highly secured luxury vehicles that are stolen either to specific order or for turning into spare parts.

There have actually been tests by reporters who left cars (prepared with special tracking devices) deliberately to be stolen, and it turned out that only hours after they had crossed the border they were already completely dismantled and a lot of the parts had already been shipped on to independent target destinations. Incredible.

 

[McRat]

Dumb question. Does your phone app on a Tesla tell you where your car is? That's how I spy on my kids with our cars.

If I want to be a jerk, I can make the headlights flash and horn blow as well. Car parked at Lover's Lane? Wait a couple minutes then turn on the lights and horn. Priceless...

 

[AustinPowers]

Yeah, but a thief usually steal a car if it can be turned into cash somehow.

Perhaps in the US, but over here it is rarely the sole "thief" who just steals a car to make a buck. It is organised crime syndicates that steal dozens of cars every day all over Western Europe, and - funnily enough - even in "western eastern" countries like Poland. Final irony, there used to be a saying in Germany in the early Nineties "kaum gestohlen, schon in Polen", meaning "just stolen already in Poland" because most stolen cars turned out to be solen by people from Poland back then. Now it is crime syndicates from even further East that are stealing cars not only from Western European countries like France or Germany, but also from economically better-off Eastern European countries like Poland, Czech Republic, etc.

 

[gavine]

Dumb question. Does your phone app on a Tesla tell you where your car is? That's how I spy on my kids with our cars.

If I want to be a jerk, I can make the headlights flash and horn blow as well. Car parked at Lover's Lane? Wait a couple minutes then turn on the lights and horn. Priceless...

Not only where, but it actually shows it moving along the map on the app so you can see where it's going in real time.

 

[brucet999]

Final irony, there used to be a saying in Germany in the early Nineties "kaum gestohlen, schon in Polen"….

I remember that from 1993 when we lived for a year near Freiburg im Breisgau. People told us not to venture into the East Bloc or even Italy. We checked into renting a car for such trips and were told that we could not rent a car to drive to Eastern Europe or Italy.

 

[diesel]

It's not very easy to remove the LTE module.