Stolen bits…

[Sertao]

Since many parts of the slate appeared to be fastened with a simple torx or hex screws, how are owners supposed to keep parts from being stolen? Most manufacturers concealed fasteners. Many of the Slate’s appear readily accessible.

 

[mapleshade]

Its been stated that at least some of the fastenings are internal on the body panels. i.e. not accessible unless the vehicle is unlocked.

 

[EV Trek]

About the only things that can be removed from the outside are light covers and maybe the grille, everything else has other hidden fasteners that are inaccessible unless you open the hood or doors.

 

[007]

I'm pretty sure many body panels and trim parts are easily removed with a torx wrench. You could use tamper proof torx screws. Of course, any good thief has a set of tamper proof bits from harbor Freight.

 

[FunkyFinch57]

As a Prius owner, I’ve learned that anything on a car can be stolen, even if it means street-smart entrepreneurs carrying around jacks and a cordless sawzall to relieve vehicles of their burdensome and expensive emissions control equipment.

What brought an end to the epidemic of stolen catalytic converters? The prices stabilizing. So long as Slate parts stay reasonably priced/in steady supply, I would assume that the only reason people would try to remove panels is for common mischief, which can also be executed upon your vehicle in a variety of other ways. Sometimes blending in and not being seen pays dividends.

 

[ChickenNugs]

I don't think there will be much of a market for stolen parts so there will be very little motivation to steal them.

For my Ford Ranger, the taillights can be removed with 3 external facing screws and the tailgate can be remove without tools. I never worried about those getting stolen.

 

[E90400K]

First thing I'm going to add to my Slate are steel guards around the catalytic converters.

 

[GaRailroader]

I am not worried about anything outside the cab being stolen. One of the few benefits of the integrated car stereos is the car stereo theft problem went away. Remember back in the 80s and 90s when the aftermarket car stereos had removable faceplates to prevent theft. I wonder if I park in the city of Atlanta whether I will need to hide the bluetooth speaker and cheapo Apple CarPlay unit that will be in my Slate.

 

[AZFox]

At least for the body panels, this was anticipated when they designed the vehicle. They call their solution a Dual-Layer Fastening System.

The take-away is that Slate's dual-layer fastening system (somehow) addresses the concern people have when they see exposed fasteners and, understandably, jump to a conclusion that someone can just walk up to a Slate and remove body panels. They can't.

 

[ChickenNugs]

At least for the body panels, this was anticipated when they designed the vehicle. They call their solution a Dual-Layer Fastening System.

I figured that would be the case. For the fender, you can see the 4 exposed fasteners with the frunk closed but I suspect those black dots that I circled are also fasteners. Unless you have the frunk lid up, it won't be possible to simply remove that fender.

 

[KevinRS]

I figured that would be the case. For the fender, you can see the 4 exposed fasteners with the frunk closed but I suspect those black dots that I circled are also fasteners. Unless you have the frunk lid up, it won't be possible to simply remove that fender.

It's surely similar with other pieces as well, rear panels having fasteners hidden by the door, etc.

 

[Yeller Feller]

... I wonder if I park in the city of Atlanta whether I will need to hide the bluetooth speaker and cheapo Apple CarPlay unit that will be in my Slate.

You could do what I did to my ten-year old Chevette in 1991; install an 8-Track player. Nobody ever stole it despite that the doors didn't even lock.

 

[swami37]

I suggest you move to a new city if you’re worried about someone stealing bits off your car

 

[Johnologue]

The Slate will not be a target for parts theft; there's no big compute module to harvest for VRAM!

But, seriously, there's not much motivation to steal parts like body panels.

To steal something inside the vehicle, someone might just break a window, and the panels themselves wouldn't be worth much (and hopefully wouldn't cost much to replace). What are you going to do, sell them to other Slate owners? Melt down the plastic?

If the goal is to just remove parts from the vehicle to be a jerk, vandalism isn't dependent on accessible fasteners. If anything, if someone decided to vandalize a Slate by removing a body panel, that'd be better than if they destroyed body panels without fasteners or targeted other parts of the vehicle.

 

[GaRailroader]

You could do what I did to my ten-year old Chevette in 1991; install an 8-Track player. Nobody ever stole it despite that the doors didn't even lock.

Ain’t nobody stealing an 8 track player in 1991.😂. We replaced my MIL’s 1978 Pinto in 1995. The newer car had a cassette player. She said ‘How am I gonna play my Barry Manilow 8 Track.’