Tesla Model 3 driven by the wrong owner

[Tripod1404]

This is easily explainable. When you have all white interior, you can easily not see that the car you're in has black interior by simply keeping your eyes closed the entire time. The same is true if you have black interior and get into a car with gleaming bright white interior.

Sometimes when I get home from work, I walk into the wrong house "accidentally". At that point, no reason not to grab something expensive and run out the door.

I'm not a Tesla fanbois, they do plenty of things wrong... but this story smells. I think it's not true.

To be honest this whole story sounds like it can only happen if it was orchestrated.

 

[zoomer0056]

orchestrated ...

... by an AI chatGpt bot.

 

[NRVM3]

After a lifetime of driving I have three wrong car examples.

Once we had a rental. My wife and I hopped into an unlocked car. Correct model and color. It just didn’t feel right. After perhaps 20 seconds we realized it was not our car.

My wife and I both had Mazdas. I was driving mine but had her keys with me. I double parked unlocked and when I got back I used her keys to try to start. They inserted fine but would not turn. Cars were now waiting behind me. Very stressful. It took about a minute to sort out.

We now drive a blue model 3 with roof racks. We keep the roof racks on to make it easier to recognize the car. One day there was a blue model 3 with roof racks parked next to us. There are a lot of Teslas in our neighborhood.

 

[cbigfoot]

This is easily explainable. When you have all white interior, you can easily not see that the car you're in has black interior by simply keeping your eyes closed the entire time. The same is true if you have black interior and get into a car with gleaming bright white interior.

Sometimes when I get home from work, I walk into the wrong house "accidentally". At that point, no reason not to grab something expensive and run out the door.

I'm not a Tesla fanbois, they do plenty of things wrong... but this story smells. I think it's not true.

i second that motion...if it is true, they need an IQ test is my 2cents as I think we may have entered the movie Idiocracy.

as their seats would also be configured differently (in theory), the steering wheel diffrently(In theory) music diffrent(in theory), etc...

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

I'll admit that I too have made this mistake in my youth. One time I was visiting a friend who flipped burgers at the local regional airport cafe and I parked my Datsun out front. Well, he snuck me a few beers (I was underage) and then I did a speedball in the bathroom and dropped 3 tabs so it wasn't really my fault. But long story short I went out the wrong door of the cafe and started heading home. I was actually at 35,000 ft before I noticed that the interior was different. My Datsun didn't have an altimeter or any fancy stuff so I landed at the next airport and used a pay phone to call the number I found in the log book. We all had a good laugh as much to my surprise, the plane owner had also driven my Datsun to Tijuana without even noticing either. It was a pretty fast car.
Keys were a lot simpler in those days but the point is, it happens - so you should always try to remember what the inside or outside of your car looks like, or where you last saw it.

 

[Sanderpman12]

Goes to show people need to mod their m3 because there’s a dozen of these cars looking alike

 

[father_of_6]

Goes to show people need to mod their m3 because there’s a dozen of these cars looking alike

More than a dozen. There's at *LEAST* fifteen of them.

 

[jazzerone]

This is easily explainable. When you have all white interior, you can easily not see that the car you're in has black interior by simply keeping your eyes closed the entire time. The same is true if you have black interior and get into a car with gleaming bright white interior.

Sometimes when I get home from work, I walk into the wrong house "accidentally". At that point, no reason not to grab something expensive and run out the door.

I'm not a Tesla fanbois, they do plenty of things wrong... but this story smells. I think it's not true.

Ah... thanks so much for clearing this up. See, whenever I get in a car, especially if I'm going to drive it, I have to keep my eyes open. But then, I'm quite old and this might just be a new feature of my age. Come to think of it, when I was younger I did pretty much everything with my eyes closed, so this really is starting to make sense now.

In fact, as a side note and just to confirm how easy it is to make a mistake like this, a few minutes ago I answered the front door to find 2 cops standing there. They said a woman had called and reported a stranger in her house. I went to the bedroom to ask my wife what was going on, and there was this strange woman there, definitely not my wife. After looking around, I realized that last night, after coming home late, I must have gone into the wrong house, gotten in the wrong bed, and slept with the wrong woman all night... anyway, that's the story I'm telling my wife when she comes to bail me out.

 

[Sans-gas]

Might be the new Hyundai / Kia theft trend?

Tesla Model 3 unlocked and driven by the wrong owner

Rajesh Randev of Vancouver told Global News that a stranger’s Tesla was parked next to his and was the same model and color as his own. He used his app to open the car, and reality started sinking in a few miles down the road when Randev noticed the windshield of the Tesla he was driving was cracked.

…

“Worrying” is an excellent word to use for this situation, because it did not involve hackers or bad actors of any kind. That a random person could drive away with a car and ride around town without any warning signs in the car or otherwise is a matter of concern. Also worrying is Tesla’s response, which so far has been nonexistent.

Randev has called the automaker and submitted video evidence, but some emails bounced back, and he has received no response. The company’s inbox seems to be full, and CEO Elon Musk famously cut Tesla’s public relations team, so it appears there’s little recourse for some owners with basic support needs.

I suspect there's a keycard on the console (hard to see if in driver’s seat) or active phone inside the car. Wish I could learn more about the event.

 

[Sans-gas]

Slap on a couple window decals-no confusion.

 

[rpiotro]

Slap on a couple window decals-no confusion.

Not to mention you can knock .3 seconds off of your 0-60 time with the right ones.

 

[father_of_6]

Not to mention you can knock .3 seconds off of your 0-60 time with the right ones.

Which ones?

 

[Sanderpman12]

The thing is, if he took your Tesla and you took his, and you both have the same Tesla…. Then it’s the same car you might as well keep on driving. Especially if it took you that long to realize

 

[heavyD]

Goes to show people need to mod their m3 because there’s a dozen of these cars looking alike

I'm glad I got a red one as in my part of the world it feels like 80% are white.

 

[enemji]

Which ones?

 

[rpiotro]

Which ones?

Just check out your nearest 20 year old riced out Civic.

 

[RxMx]

I don’t understand. Just enabled PtD while on a trip and, every time I use phone as key, I’m having to enter the PIN.

What would be the point of PtD if you could set it to be ignored when your BT phone as key was used to enter? Especially if you’re concerned about leaving your phone in the car by mistake or having it with you but near the car.

I agree! But that is how it works; not when you unlock the car though. It's when you go to the Controls screen in the app and click on the "Start" icon. If you do that, no PIN is required. That is considered a feature.

 

[MikeyC]

I agree! But that is how it works; not when you unlock the car though. It's when you go to the Controls screen in the app and click on the "Start" icon. If you do that, no PIN is required. That is considered a feature.

I just tried it and mine doesn't seem to work like this. I hit "Start" from the app and then went to the car, got in, and as soon as I put my foot on the brake, it asks for the PIN as usual. Which is, of course, what I would expect: it is pin to DRIVE... not pin to START. Or did I do something wrong in order to see the problem?

Mike

 

[skygraff]

I just tried it and mine doesn't seem to work like this. I hit "Start" from the app and then went to the car, got in, and as soon as I put my foot on the brake, it asks for the PIN as usual. Which is, of course, what I would expect: it is pin to DRIVE... not pin to START. Or did I do something wrong in order to see the problem?

Mike

Just guessing here but, if you have your phone as key tied to your profile and you had that phone with you (with BT enabled), the car probably canceled the remote start authorization as soon as you approached/opened the door.

 

[MikeyC]

Just guessing here but, if you have your phone as key tied to your profile and you had that phone with you (with BT enabled), the car probably canceled the remote start authorization as soon as you approached/opened the door.

That's possible. I did have the phone with me. I'll retry without the phone when I get a chance.

Mike