# Model 3 Rolling Away Unattended!!!



## RMSOX (Aug 30, 2018)

Model 3 Friends,

I am desperately seeking some help/advice on something that happened to me less than 48 hours after taking ownership of my Model 3. Let me explain.....

I went to our local farmer's market to pick up our weekly farm share. When I arrived there was quite a bit of traffic and no real place to park. I parked the car next to the delivery driveway, which was only 5-10 feet away from where I was to pick up my share. Two minutes later, a delivery truck arrives, so I dash back over to my car to move it (since other cars have since departed, I could actually now park). I got in the car, but it would not engage. I could not put it in drive or reverse. Perplexed, I assumed the bluetooth key had not synced up with the car, so I quickly pulled out my Tesla card and placed it on the council next to the cup holder. The car still would not go into drive. I then thought maybe I needed to put the card on the outside sensor, so I grabbed it and opened the door and got out. Before I could put the card on the sensor, my Model 3 started moving forward!!! There were three people loading produce in their car in front of me! What the heck?

I quickly got back in the car and it stopped. What I don't recall is if I stopped it or if the car stopped itself. I was in a complete panic. I could have really hurt a few people. I want to find out what happened and how to make sure this never happens to me (or anyone else) again.

I would appreciate some feedback from fellow M3 owners who may have some ideas as to what happened, or who may have experienced the same thing. I am still spooked about this happening and keep thinking about what could have happened if the car did not stop. Thank you in advance for your feedback.

RMSOX in Michigan


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## PNWmisty (Aug 19, 2017)

That's not possible unless the car isn't functioning properly. Have you reported it to Tesla Service? If you are a real owner they will want to hear from you immediately. This is not the kind of problem that should be diagnosed online.


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## RMSOX (Aug 30, 2018)

PNWmisty said:


> That's not possible unless the car isn't functioning properly. Have you reported it to Tesla Service? If you are a real owner they will want to hear from you immediately.


Well, I am the real owner, so check mark there. I did report it this morning via their website in great detail, and checked the box that said "Escalate this concern for executive review." I will report back on this should I hear back from them. But for now, it would be good to know if someone else has experienced anything like this as well.


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## rsf (Jul 22, 2018)

I once experienced my car not going into drive or reverse. I don't really remember what I did (if anything) to resolve it because 15 seconds later I was able to put it in drive.


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## Gavyne (Jul 7, 2018)

Did you hear beeps or sounds of anything when you tried to put the car in drive? Did the touchscreen display anything when you tried?

I once tried to put the car in reverse to back into a Supercharger. I pressed the stalk down once by accident to put it into reverse. This was when I was still getting used to my Model 3. The car just completely stopped moving. I couldn't move forward, car just stalled there. I kept pressing the stalk down to try to get it into drive, but it wouldn't.

Turns out because my car was in drive when I pressed the stalk down, it engaged TACC (Traffic Assisted Cruise Control). Well when you have TACC enabled, and there are parked cars in front if you, the car wouldn't move. It's smart that way. I kept trying to push the stalk down to get my car into drive but it just kept beeping. When TACC is enabled and you try to push the stalk down again, you would usually engage autopilot. But because there was no autopilot path, the car just beeped and said autopilot not available.

In order for me to disable TACC and drive normally, I had to push the stalk up once (that's how you would disengage autopilot as well). But at the time I was panicking, thought the car died, so I wasn't reading the screen. I know I heard the beep beep, but when you are panicking you don't read what the screen says.

I was pressing the stalk down to put it in drive, but it would beep saying autopilot not available. While in panic mode I was pressing the stalk up too quickly while it was displaying autopilot not available, therefore it didn't disengage TACC. I was just tere pressing the stalk down, then up quickly, then down again, then up again.

When I finally stopped for 5 seconds, I pressed the stalk up and it disengaged TACC, and I was then able to press stalk up again to put the car in reverse. This all happened very quickly, I'm describing this in slowmo but I was in full panic mode during that short period of time. This was during my early ownership and I had not even used TACC yet, so I didn't know what to look for on the screen.

I'm not sure what might have happened to your car, but it's possible you did put the car in drive. But in a hurry you may also have activated TACC by pressing the stalk down one too many times. Or if you held your stalk down more than a second you may have put the car in neutral. Although in either case, once you exit the vehicle, the car should've put itself in park. So while I'm not saying what you saw didn't happen, but what you are describing isn't really possible since the car would've been put in park automatically once you exit the vehicle. So something is missing from your experience.


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

RMSOX said:


> Model 3 Friends,
> 
> I am desperately seeking some help/advice on something that happened to me less than 48 hours after taking ownership of my Model 3. Let me explain.....
> 
> ...


Not sure on not being able to get it into gear, besides suggesting maybe the brake was not pressed?
But for rolling, tesla has a safeguard that if a door is open, seatbelt unfastened, the parking brake will be engaged to prevent unattended cars from rolling away. (I previously knew this, but experienced it when deciding I needed to move a few inches forward in my garage. It beeped at me, then abruptly stopped with the appropriate warning on the screen.)


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## Love (Sep 13, 2017)

Any chance that this is happening to others more and more? Could be a bug in a firmware... I just posted this which seems slightly related:
https://teslaownersonline.com/threads/unable-to-shift.8966/


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## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

RMSOX said:


> Model 3 Friends,
> 
> I am desperately seeking some help/advice on something that happened to me less than 48 hours after taking ownership of my Model 3. Let me explain.....
> 
> ...


Sounds like the display monitor computer was locked up. The display computer is not required to drive, and it does seem to lockup periodically. When it does, commonly it will be black and in a few minutes you see the Tesla logo. When it is locked up or rebooting, the car drives as normal, you just can't see what is happening. And yes, it feels freaky to put it into Drive and hit the pedal and it moves.


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## kort677 (Sep 17, 2018)

RMSOX said:


> Well, I am the real owner, so check mark there. I did report it this morning via their website in great detail, and checked the box that said "Escalate this concern for executive review." I will report back on this should I hear back from them. But for now, it would be good to know if someone else has experienced anything like this as well.


do not depnd on a quick response from a website report, CALL it in to them!


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Ed Woodrick said:


> Sounds like the display monitor computer was locked up. The display computer is not required to drive, and it does seem to lockup periodically.... When it is locked up or rebooting, the car drives as normal, you just can't see what is happening. And yes, it feels freaky to put it into Drive and hit the pedal and it moves.


This does seem like a likely explanation. So you probably placed it into drive (but with no visible feedback that you were in drive), and it was still there when you got out.

At that point, the safety feature that @MelindaV mentions kicks in. I've experienced this myself. While driving my Model 3 around my driveway with no seatbelt, it suddenly slammed on the brakes and displayed some warning message. I don't believe I had my door open at the time, but I could be mis-remembering. So it's possible that the car had stopped itself for @RMSOX .


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## kort677 (Sep 17, 2018)

garsh said:


> This does seem like a likely explanation. So you probably placed it into drive (but with no visible feedback that you were in drive), and it was still there when you got out.
> 
> At that point, the safety feature that @MelindaV mentions kicks in. I've experienced this myself. While driving my Model 3 around my driveway with no seatbelt, it suddenly slammed on the brakes and displayed some warning message. I don't believe I had my door open at the time, but I could be mis-remembering. So it's possible that the car had stopped itself for @RMSOX .


if the car is moving it

should not automatically stop if you unhitch your seat belt, what would happen is that tacc/ap would shut down.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

kort677 said:


> if the car is moving it should not automatically stop if you unhitch your seat belt


I didn't unbuckle the belt - I had simply never put it on. Also to clarify, this had happened at very low speeds (1-2 mph) in my driveway.


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## RMSOX (Aug 30, 2018)

rsf said:


> I once experienced my car not going into drive or reverse. I don't really remember what I did (if anything) to resolve it because 15 seconds later I was able to put it in drive.


Your experience described above also happened to me the day I picked the car up. Went through the demo with my Tesla rep, shook his hands and then got in the car expecting to drive away. Nada..... Took a few minutes before I could put it in drive. Some 26 hours later, it happened again as described above at the Farmer's Market. I'm still not sure how it is possible that the car moved as I was getting out. My foot was not on the pedals, seatbelt undone, car door open, and no one in the driver's seat. Car still moved ~3ft by itself.


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## RMSOX (Aug 30, 2018)

Thanks everyone for your replies so far. One thing I forgot to mention is that I tried putting the car in drive multiple times (maybe 3 times within 10 seconds). Each time I did this the display showed nothing in the top right above the car. Normally you would expect to see a "P" for Park, or "D" for drive. There was no letter on top. This is why I assumed the bluetooth failed to engage. When I got out of the car, I "did not" press the park button, so if there was a delay in processing, maybe it finally kicked in. Don't know.....

Also, it has now been 24 hours since I first reported this to Tesla and I have not heard back from them. Granted, yesterday was a crazy day for the entire company....


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## Trebonius (Sep 6, 2018)

RMSOX said:


> Also, it has now been 24 hours since I first reported this to Tesla and I have not heard back from them. Granted, yesterday was a crazy day for the entire company....


I really don't think this is the sort of thing you should rely on a web/email report for. This is something you talk to a service center about. There's a very good chance you won't hear anything for a week or two, then they'll tell you to contact your service center.


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## babula (Aug 26, 2018)

RMSOX said:


> Thanks everyone for your replies so far. One thing I forgot to mention is that I tried putting the car in drive multiple times (maybe 3 times within 10 seconds). Each time I did this the display showed nothing in the top right above the car. Normally you would expect to see a "P" for Park, or "D" for drive. There was no letter on top. This is why I assumed the bluetooth failed to engage. When I got out of the car, I "did not" press the park button, so if there was a delay in processing, maybe it finally kicked in. Don't know.....
> 
> Also, it has now been 24 hours since I first reported this to Tesla and I have not heard back from them. Granted, yesterday was a crazy day for the entire company....


If the display doesn't show anything useful, make sure you do a soft reset before you attempt putting it in drive or park (this way you know exactly whats going on). Sounds to me like you assumed it was in park and it might not have been. As others have mentioned, for an issue that you think is important - you need to call ASAP instead of relying on email.


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## Brokedoc (May 28, 2017)

I believe this is a somewhat too common incident of inadvertent auto park engagement. The giveaway is the repeated attempts to engage in gear and then possibly pressing park repeatedly which will trigger autopark. As soon as you get out of the car and close the door, the car will start moving. With only one screen and being frustrated that the car isn't moving, it's easy to miss the display prompts. As soon as you try to open the door, the car will stop.

This is a winded vid showing autopark function in an AP1 Model S. The important part starts about 1:45.


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

Brokedoc said:


> I believe this is a somewhat too common incident of inadvertent auto park engagement. The giveaway is the repeated attempts to engage in gear and then possibly pressing park repeatedly which will trigger autopark. As soon as you get out of the car and close the door, the car will start moving. With only one screen and being frustrated that the car isn't moving, it's easy to miss the display prompts. As soon as you try to open the door, the car will stop.
> 
> This is a winded vid showing autopark function in an AP1 Model S. The important part starts about 1:45.


I could be wrong, but don't think you can initiate autopark on the Model 3 from the screen. But instead need to use summon on the app. (Im sure someone will correct me if wrong  )


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## Brokedoc (May 28, 2017)

MelindaV said:


> I could be wrong, but don't think you can initiate autopark on the Model 3 from the screen. But instead need to use summon on the app. (Im sure someone will correct me if wrong  )


According to the Model 3 manual, you are correct but if there is some bug in the software where you can engage autopark in a Model 3 with a double press of the park button and the rest of the software isn't configured for it, it can absolutely cause the behaviour that the OP describes.


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## RMSOX (Aug 30, 2018)

Brokedoc said:


> I believe this is a somewhat too common incident of inadvertent auto park engagement. The giveaway is the repeated attempts to engage in gear and then possibly pressing park repeatedly which will trigger autopark. As soon as you get out of the car and close the door, the car will start moving. With only one screen and being frustrated that the car isn't moving, it's easy to miss the display prompts. As soon as you try to open the door, the car will stop.
> 
> This is a winded vid showing autopark function in an AP1 Model S. The important part starts about 1:45.


Good info. Key difference between what happened to me and what your scenario suggests is that I never closed the door. I was half-way out of the car and it started rolling. Door was open.


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## iChris93 (Feb 3, 2017)

MelindaV said:


> I could be wrong, but don't think you can initiate autopark on the Model 3 from the screen. But instead need to use summon on the app. (Im sure someone will correct me if wrong  )


The only auto park I know of, you absolutely initiate from the screen.


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## Brokedoc (May 28, 2017)

RMSOX said:


> Good info. Key difference between what happened to me and what your scenario suggests is that I never closed the door. I was half-way out of the car and it started rolling. Door was open.


Was it a powered roll like summon or a slower roll like gravity.

Either way it should not have happened with an open door. In neutral or drive, it automatically goes in park as soon as you lift your butt. This is why car washes are a PIA unless you know the correct settings. For autopark to work, the door needs to close. Definitely the software guys need to figure this one out so someone doesn't get hurt!


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Brokedoc said:


> Definitely the software guys need to figure this one out so someone doesn't get hurt!


Can we figure out how to duplicate this behavior? That will go a long way towards fixing the problem.


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## raptor (May 6, 2018)

Unless I missed it, you haven't confirmed if you attempted to reach out to them via phone. You need to do this ASAP, just so they get a chance to preserve logs/diagnostics data. Call your local service center, call the main toll-free.

Do you remember seeing the keycard animation?

Wouldn't autopark use the turn signals (which are pretty audible, and even visible)?


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## RMSOX (Aug 30, 2018)

raptor said:


> Unless I missed it, you haven't confirmed if you attempted to reach out to them via phone. You need to do this ASAP, just so they get a chance to preserve logs/diagnostics data. Call your local service center, call the main toll-free.
> 
> Do you remember seeing the keycard animation?
> 
> Wouldn't autopark use the turn signals (which are pretty audible, and even visible)?


Unfortunately, I have NOT been able to call them because I have been traveling this week (near Fremont, CA of all places. Model 3s everywhere!). They did reply back to me and suggested that I also call their support number. I will do so today during my lunch break.

In terms of logs and other data, I put a total of 10 miles on the car since the event happened. M3 just sitting in the garage while I travel this week.


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## kort677 (Sep 17, 2018)

I don't know about the model 3 but if the model s detected that the seat wasn't occupied it would go into park, an example, some people when backing up will "stand" a bit removing their rear end from the seat and the car would immediately stop, so I question the OP's assertion of the car rolling away unattended.


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## RMSOX (Aug 30, 2018)

UPDATE: I did call the number the Tesla team advised me to call. I was rerouted to the Cleveland, OH service center and was provided the option to leave a voice message. I was very detailed, yet brief in describing the problem I experienced. Call was made at 8:45am PT. No reply back as of this evening.


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## babula (Aug 26, 2018)

RMSOX said:


> UPDATE: I did call the number the Tesla team advised me to call. I was rerouted to the Cleveland, OH service center and was provided the option to leave a voice message. I was very detailed, yet brief in describing the problem I experienced. Call was made at 8:45am PT. No reply back as of this evening.


You should call during business hours and speak with someone directly, I would also suggest making an appointment if you can reproduce this issue.


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## RMSOX (Aug 30, 2018)

babula said:


> You should call during business hours and speak with someone directly, I would also suggest making an appointment if you can reproduce this issue.


I did call during business hours, early Wednesday morning Pacific time. As of today, Monday morning Eastern time, no call back.

The good news is that I have not experienced this issue since I returned home on Friday afternoon. I will call them again.


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## theloneranger08 (Sep 29, 2017)

MelindaV said:


> I could be wrong, but don't think you can initiate autopark on the Model 3 from the screen. But instead need to use summon on the app. (Im sure someone will correct me if wrong  )


Autopark and summon aren't the same thing. Summon is engaged through the app. Autopark is engaged in the car through the screen.


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## Vin (Mar 30, 2017)

Just a thought, but maybe the car was accidentally put into neutral? By pressing the stalk maybe it accidentally went up slightly for enough time to engage into Neutral (and possibly didn't show on the screen).
Was the direction you were rolling on a slight incline?

Edit: I didn't read all the posts until the edit, so i think it's correct that Neutral doesn't allow you to be off your seat, but never tried it myself.


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

theloneranger08 said:


> Autopark and summon aren't the same thing. Summon is engaged through the app. Autopark is engaged in the car through the screen.


what @Brokedoc was referencing though, was not the autopark (looking for a parallel or perpendicular space that the car would then maneuver into), but implementing summons from inside the car.


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## RMSOX (Aug 30, 2018)

UPDATE: Many thanks to those who chimed in with possible solutions to what happened to me 30 days ago. With a month's experience under my belt as a Model 3 owner, I have had more time to better understand the car and how it operates. I believe I know what happened and how/why the car moved. I'm interested in your thoughts.

As I only had the car for two days when this happened, I was not aware at the time that when you start the car by pressing on the break that you need to give it 2-3 seconds to wake up. Because I was trying to quickly move my car from blocking a driveway at the Farmers Market, I quickly jumped in, attempted to put the car in gear quickly, and nothing happened. The car stayed in park. I pressed down on the shifter at least two more times in the next five seconds with no results. Attempting to put the car in drive before waking up apparently does not work. You must give it those critical seconds to wake up. 

Other things I now know that I did not know at the time: Because i was able to open the car without delay, my bluetooth connectivity was working properly. This did not phase me at the time. When I became frustrated that the car would not go into drive, I assumed that it had not been engaged with my Bluetooth, so I took my key card out and attempted to activate the car that way. Nothing happened, the car was still in park and I could not shift into drive.

At this point, I decided to get out of the car and place my key card on the outside sensor. It is at this point, while I was outside of the car and NOT in the driver's seat, the car engaged and moved forward about 3 feet. 

My theory: I was too quick in trying to activate the car into drive. Too many commands while the car was waking up created an overload for a car/computer in wake-up mode. The car eventually kicked into gear just as I stepped out. It quickly stopped. I am assuming that it stopped because there was no one in the drivers seat.

SUMMARY: While I believe my inexperience in starting the car played a huge factor in this, the end result is that the car still moved while I was out of the seat and my back was turned towards the outside sensor on the door. I know for a fact that I have resolved the first issue (my inexperience), but do worry still about how the car moved on it's own. I did call Tesla Support based on their email back to me about this. I never received a call back.


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## PNWmisty (Aug 19, 2017)

Thanks for filling us in. 

I would just like to point out that cars moving with no one in the driver's seat has been an issue for as long as there were cars. Fortunately, as you experienced, the Model 3 cannot "runaway" like some other cars. It can only go 2 or 3 feet because it senses there is no driver.


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## NOGA$4ME (Sep 30, 2016)

On a related note, my LEAF tried to kill me once! I had gotten out of my car while it was in the driveway for some reason (maybe I had to bring the garbage can in before I pulled in the car). As I was standing at the back of the garage doing whatever I was doing, I heard the LEAF's noise generator (thank goodness it had one) and I turned around to see my LEAF coming at me. Fortunately it ran into the garbage can(s) which provided just enough clearance such that the bumper didn't completely push my legs into my table saw I was standing in front of, but I was well and truly pinned as the car was putting significant pressure on me. Fortunately my wife was home and heard my screams for help.

I must have forgotten to click the "P" button in the LEAF, and because my driveway was on a very slight uphill slope, the car remained motionless until I had made my way to the back of the garage at which point it finally started rolling.

I have noticed the Model 3 that if you even open the driver's door while not in P it will definitely beep strongly at you!


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## Bernard (Aug 3, 2017)

RMSOX said:


> UPDATE: Many thanks to those who chimed in with possible solutions to what happened to me 30 days ago. With a month's experience under my belt as a Model 3 owner, I have had more time to better understand the car and how it operates. I believe I know what happened and how/why the car moved. I'm interested in your thoughts.
> 
> As I only had the car for two days when this happened, I was not aware at the time that when you start the car by pressing on the break that you need to give it 2-3 seconds to wake up. Because I was trying to quickly move my car from blocking a driveway at the Farmers Market, I quickly jumped in, attempted to put the car in gear quickly, and nothing happened. The car stayed in park. I pressed down on the shifter at least two more times in the next five seconds with no results. Attempting to put the car in drive before waking up apparently does not work. You must give it those critical seconds to wake up.
> 
> ...


It's conceivable that an interrupt from the stalk at "just the wrong time" might cause a race condition in the software, although I would think that, if that were really the case, we would have heard of many other such events by now. However, it is not possible to "overload the computer" by human actions -- in the time between two presses on the stalk, the computer can execute a few *billion* operations ;-) And, in my experience, using the stalk right after putting your foot on the brake in a parked car does nothing -- that is, the command does not get queued for execution once the car is up and ready. (I use easy entry, so the car takes about 3s to adjust the seat and during that time it cannot be taken out of hold.)

That being said, I have had a similar experience early in my ownership: just outside my garage, driver door open, safety belt off, RFID card on the console, left leg out of the car, but still 3/4 seated and right foot near (but not on) the pedals, and the car started rolling slowly forward. I hit the brake pedal immediately on noticing the movement, so it did not roll more than half a foot. I keep "creep mode" turned off, so even in drive the car would not normally move on its own, but the apron in front of the garage slopes down a bit, so the car rolled by gravity. I must have put it inadvertently in neutral, but in the short time the car was rolling, I did not look at the screen and by the time I looked at it, it was in Hold mode because of my foot on the brake.

The difference is that I still had enough of my weight on the seat to keep the car from stopping; and what I find worrisome about your experience is that it apparently took the car a few seconds to stop from the time you removed your weight from the seat -- a few seconds even at very low speeds is time enough for real damage with a car.


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## RMSOX (Aug 30, 2018)

Bernard said:


> ......and what I find worrisome about your experience is that it apparently took the car a few seconds to stop from the time you removed your weight from the seat -- a few seconds even at very low speeds is time enough for real damage with a car.


In my case, the real "damage" would not have been to the car, but to the people loading up their car with produce five feet in front of me!!! That part still haunts me.


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## oripaamoni (Jan 25, 2018)

I would like to mention that the OP said he doesn’t remember if he stopped the car or it if the car stopped itself. Sounds like the car was in neutral before he got out and in the time it was trying to engage the parking brake it rolled a bit, unless he was on a steep hill I can’t see it rolling more than a few inches. How sure are you about the 3ft roll? How steep was the hill.

Just another theory


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