Yet another break in.

[arlorose]

Another S and mine were broken into in a well lit Mountain View, CA parking lot tonight. Super frustrating since my car had nothing in it. But now I begin the multi-thousand dollar repair and multi-month wait.

It’s too bad we’re being targeted. Such a dumb design flaw being exploited.

Other than removing your parcel shelf, what can you do to prevent this?

 

[battleroyale]

That sucks. Sorry to hear. This rash of break ins in the bay has me weary to leave my car in lots for too long.

 

[CalBlue 85D]

It's not a Tesla issue, Bay Area thieves are targeting high end cars for smash and grab scavenger hunt thefts whether or not they see any items to steal. They just assume they will find loot. A lock on the seat latch would just be another item to pay to repair when they break it to access the trunk.

 

[Tiger]

At least you can have some fun at their expense by installing a 360 dashcam

 

[boaterva]

At least you can have some fun at their expense by installing a 360 dashcam

Hope they could ID him from that!

 

[kort677]

Other than removing your parcel shelf, what can you do to prevent this?

parking the car in secure locations seems like it would be the only way to prevent these types of incidents

 

[JasJ]

Too Bad we cannot add 'this' to the car alarm in the US. just allowing it as legal would make thieves worry it was on any car. Flame on!

 

[gabeincal]

parking the car in secure locations seems like it would be the only way to prevent these types of incidents

When I’m in the Bay or SF now, I open the entire back, expose everything that I can so they can see there is nothing in the car that’s easily snatchable. I’ve got front and rear dashcams, hoping they’re not after those units...

 

[kort677]

When I’m in the Bay or SF now, I open the entire back, expose everything that I can so they can see there is nothing in the car that’s easily snatchable. I’ve got front and rear dashcams, hoping they’re not after those units...

dashcams are useless as a smash and grab deterrent, that's not what they are designed for and their field of view is not inwards. and like others have noted these break ins are just a fishing expedition, so I'll stick with parking in a secured location is the only real thing you can do to limit the risks of the car being broken into.

 

[FutureShock]

Another S and mine were broken into in a well lit Mountain View, CA parking lot tonight. Super frustrating since my car had nothing in it. But now I begin the multi-thousand dollar repair and multi-month wait.

It’s too bad we’re being targeted. Such a dumb design flaw being exploited.

Other than removing your parcel shelf, what can you do to prevent this?

Wow, condolences. I live in Mountain View... which parking lot was it (so that maybe I avoid it)?

And I'm not yet a Tesla owner... what's the design flaw, if I may ask?

.

 

[jelloslug]

Another S and mine were broken into in a well lit Mountain View, CA parking lot tonight. Super frustrating since my car had nothing in it. But now I begin the multi-thousand dollar repair and multi-month wait.

It’s too bad we’re being targeted. Such a dumb design flaw being exploited.

Other than removing your parcel shelf, what can you do to prevent this?

What is the design flaw?

 

[thecloud]

Another S and mine were broken into in a well lit Mountain View, CA parking lot tonight. Super frustrating since my car had nothing in it. But now I begin the multi-thousand dollar repair and multi-month wait.

When this happened to me last month, it was neither a multi-thousand dollar repair nor a multi-month wait. Since they broke one of the most expensive windows on the car, it was just over a thousand. I'm told the door windows cost much less since they don't have to replace the chrome trim at the same time. Car was fixed and returned in 2 days.

It’s too bad we’re being targeted. Such a dumb design flaw being exploited.

Teslas aren't being targeted specifically. Cars that look like they might have laptops or other valuables appear to be getting broken into at an epidemic rate in the Bay Area. When my car was broken into, there was a Mercedes and (looked like) a BMW a few stalls away which also had their windows smashed. I assume the "design flaw" you mention is that the alarm isn't triggered by breaking the glass?

Other than removing your parcel shelf, what can you do to prevent this?

I've also resorted to removing the parcel shelf. Other than that, options are limited if you want to minimize the impact of this incident on your life.

 

[Russell]

Another S and mine were broken into in a well lit Mountain View, CA parking lot tonight. Super frustrating since my car had nothing in it. But now I begin the multi-thousand dollar repair and multi-month wait.

It’s too bad we’re being targeted. Such a dumb design flaw being exploited.

Other than removing your parcel shelf, what can you do to prevent this?

Please tell us where in Mtn. View. Castro St?

 

[Russell]

dashcams are useless as a smash and grab deterrent, that's not what they are designed for and their field of view is not inwards. and like others have noted these break ins are just a fishing expedition, so I'll stick with parking in a secured location is the only real thing you can do to limit the risks of the car being broken into.

This thief was caught because of the dashcam footage.

 

[thecloud]

I checked out the Mountain View police blog and was initially hopeful to see this story:

Two men arrested at In N Out parking lot in connection with area burglaries

But then I noticed the date was March 16th. Also, I kind of doubt these two guys are the only ones responsible for all the car break-ins that have been rampant across the entire Bay Area.

 

[kort677]

This thief was caught because of the dashcam footage.

it's interesting that the camera was operating like that, most blackviews go into sleep mode and only activate on motion, this one was constantly running. another oddity is the 2 passes made by the crook's vehicle.
is this a verifiable incident?

 

[Jimmy 1]

I know of another member who was able to catch somebody breaking into his car. He has his camera hooked up so that it records all the time. Even when the car is sitting. So I wouldn’t call that uncommon that the camera records all the time. I know they even make a back up battery with the black view.

 

[arlorose]

Hey, all. Two answers:

Lot: It was the lot behind Scratch (Lot 7). Under a light, and right by that Yoga studio exit.

Design flaw(s): There are 2 actually. No alarm trigger (which made me question if the car even had an alarm). But the one I was feeling was the bad one is that you punch that tiny (expensive) window and can unlatch the back seat to see in the trunk. Previous BMWs I've owned with fold-down seats needed trunk access to fold them down, thus protecting trunk access completely. I don't think that was the case on an older one... maybe they learned this was a theft target?

Turns out the damage was much worse than just the windows. The paint is a scratched mess, and a few interior panels also got trashed by glass.

 

[TaoJones]

Consider this: extremeautowerks

Ask them to send you the video in which they applied this material in between their shop door and some window tint, and then proceeded to try to defeat the glass with baseball bats.

Point being, while nothing is impervious to the wretched scum and villainry afoot in the Valley, very few thieves will be willing to take the time to get through this glass/treatment.

I recommend the shop for tint and paint protection (Opticoat Pro Plus) - had both Model S tinted there. Ask for Bing (the owner) or Ryan (master detailer). Note that Extreme Autowerks is the only SoCal vendor for C-Bond. While their expertise is worth the road trip, surely some enterprising individual will be able to locate whoever's got the NorCal market.

I do wish Tesla would provide the same glass breakage alarm system that was part of European deliveries. At least then we'd know at the time of the incursion or attempted incursion.

 

[Big Dog]

Previous BMWs I've owned with fold-down seats needed trunk access to fold them down, thus protecting trunk access completely.

Perhaps true, but a latch on top of the seat which is easily accessible from the passenger compartment is quite common. Not sure that its a design flaw per se, but it definitely decreases security/increases risk. Of course, the Bay Area cops could help out as well -- broken window theory, but choose to ignore these types of crimes.

TLSA could help out as well, with an upgraded alarm that also blared upon window breakage.