How thieves get San Diego Teslas

San Diego County Teslas are still at risk of being stolen, despite Teslas reportedly being the least stolen vehicle in the U.S. 

"Has anyone seen this suspect who broke into my white Tesla and stole it with all my belongings," posted a Monica G. on the NextDoor app last month underneath a photo of the alleged thief photographed by the car's onboard cameras. "The guy forgot to disable the camera on the car."

Teslas have a Sentry Mode feature, which, when enabled, warns people that trigger the proximity sensors that onboard cameras are recording. And if someone tries smashing the power windows, Sentry Mode will set off an alarm, increase the brightness of the center screen display and play loud music on the car stereo — like a scene from the Christine classic thriller.

Lucky for Monica, she found her white-colored Tesla abandoned in Linda Vista the day after, a few miles from Little Italy, where it was stolen.  

I messaged Monica to see how the electric vehicle might've been nabbed and if the thief was caught, but she had yet to reply as of press time.

Monica found her Tesla abandoned in Linda Vista the day after it was stolen in Little Italy.

So, I poked around to find out how the popular EVs are getting nabbed.

On December 19, I spoke with AJ Velasco, a Tesla customizer I met at a San Diego car meet.

"How could they have stolen Monica's Tesla?" I asked Velasco.

"The Tesla key is either a phone or a card," he explained. "The card is like a credit card you place in the center console, and you might forget about it. The car won't lock if the key remains inside."

On the online forums, it's common for Tesla owners, especially newbies, to disembark the vehicle and forget the key.

Also, Teslas can be locked, unlocked, and driven with a phone app's smart key. If the driver forgets their phone in the vehicle, as it fell between the interior-confides' crevices, a thief can start the Tesla and drive away.

Then, back on the NextDoor app, some San Diegans said the white-colored Tesla mentioned above could've been stolen via a relay attack requiring two people.

In PSA videos online, the crime starts when the Tesla driver disembarks and locks the vehicle with a Tesla key card with a Radio-Frequency IDentification tag inside.

Then, the thief's accomplice approaches the Tesla driver carrying a small device that can copy a key card's ID tag. The accomplice sends the key card's ID  information to the thief standing near the Tesla. The thief opens the door, starts the Tesla, and quietly drives away.

In June, someone took to Facebook and posted a video of a flatbed tow truck hauling a Tesla within San Diego. "Is this your Model X? If so, Coastal Pride Towing has .... your car. And the alarm is still going off." 

Velasco continued, "I can always track my Tesla except when it's on a flatbed. But the minute they turn it on to drive it off the flatbed, I'll know where it's at." Velasco, originally from Dallas, Texas, has towed his blue-colored Tesla Model 3 to San Diego and other parts of the country, as it's a show-winning EV. "It'll show the last position when it was driven, but when it's turned on and driven off the flatbed, the signal will get picked up."

Tesla drivers suggest storing their smart keys in the ID tag-protected wallets to prevent people from copying them.

"Then there's an optional four-digit pin interface you can implement to drive the car," Velasco concluded, "and lastly, you can turn the speed [limiter] way down so that the car can't go more than 20-25 miles per hour."

Some people take Teslas without the abovementioned methods. In late November, Fox 5 San Diego reported that two people were arrested in San Diego as they were allegedly part of a car theft and title scheme in Riverside County. One of the vehicles in question was a 2022 Tesla Model Y.