Houston Man Left In Limbo After Tesla Stolen

Read the full story on The Auto Wire

But we thought Teslas were ultra-secure?

A man in Houston faced a serious problem after his Tesla, which was taken to one of the automaker’s repair centers, was stolen. Even though the guy could track where the thieves dumped the car, police left him in limbo as he scrambled to figure out what could be done.

Watch a kid on a Honda Grom try outrunning police.

The story, which has been covered by a number of news outlets, is a little confusing to us. For starters, we’ve been told over and over by the Tesla fan club crowd that their beloved EVs are basically next to impossible to steal. Yeah, we know this one was put into repair mode so that made it easier to swipe, but why didn’t the owner guy keep it in that mode overnight?

Note to car thieves: don’t try stealing a bunch of Teslas sitting overnight at service centers because the Tesla crowd will stop keeping them in repair mode when the center is closed. At least we’re pretty sure they will, especially after this.

Because this guy did leave his EV in repair mode, someone was able to boost his Tesla and take it joyriding. When a service center employee called the next morning to ask if he took his car back after it was dropped off, the owner realized someone took it.

Using the Tesla app, he found the vehicle was being driven around Houston. So the guy took the car out of repair mode. Then it was abandoned in an apartment parking lot. The guy wanted to go get it, but police probably didn’t want to respond to an assault or homicide call since Tesla owners aren’t the greatest at protecting themselves in dangerous areas – we’re guessing this is the reason police told him that, not knowing he owns a Sig shirt. Maybe he got it for free?

Personally, we would’ve had a tow truck yanking that thing out of the parking lot but this guy sheepishly did as he was told. A week later, the car was still there and the guy told ABC 13 he was frustrated but didn’t ask to speak with the manager of the police – pathetic. The news station did and that’s when they found out the car wasn’t in the Houston Police Department’s jurisdiction so that’s why they hadn’t done anything.

By following directions like a good little boy instead of doing what was necessary, this guy probably saved himself from getting mugged but his car just sat there with a broken window in an apartment parking lot.

After the news station did their follow-up, police finally had the car towed. But the drama isn’t over because the Tesla owner wants Tesla to pay for damage done to the vehicle and the tow back to its service center. But Tesla says the guy is on the hook for both. We wonder if he has his insurance coverage through Tesla?

There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this story: maybe don’t think your Tesla can’t be stolen, don’t leave your Tesla in repair mode while it sits unattended overnight, get better car insurance, and don’t wait for the police to care about your personal property since they probably don’t.