# Unexpected learnings or surprises about Model 3?



## $ Trillion Musk

To those who have the pleasure of owning a Model 3, have you encountered any unexpected surprises or have you learned anything new about the car since you took delivery? Hoping to consolidate some aspects of the Model 3 that haven’t yet been discussed or are infrequently discussed in the forums.


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## MarkB

$ Trillion Musk said:


> To those who have the pleasure of owning a Model 3, have you encountered any unexpected surprises or have you learned anything new about the car since you took delivery?


Very small thing, but.... in my previous vehicles (that used fobs), I needed to unlock the front doors. With my Model 3, I can unlock the back door without having to first unlock one of the front doors. Currently have a Chargepoint J1772 charger at home, and it's an easier reach to unlock the vehicle via back door so I can remove the J1772 adapter.


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## SoFlaModel3

$ Trillion Musk said:


> To those who have the pleasure of owning a Model 3, have you encountered any unexpected surprises or have you learned anything new about the car since you took delivery? Hoping to consolidate some aspects of the Model 3 that haven't yet been discussed or are infrequently discussed in the forums.


I have learned that homelink, while being software based is still limited to 3 doors like traditional cars with physical buttons.


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## The McGee

1. Did not know that the front dashboard speakers were actually a sound bar that spanned the entire width of the dashboard
2. Underestimated the usefulness of TACC (Traffic Aware Curise Control) on any road with stop and go traffic.
3. Usefulness of HOLD Feature for inclines, etc.
4. Ability to utilize one pedal driving through the use of Regenerative Braking. Did not know how little I would actually have to press the brake pedal.
5. The WOW factor each time I get in my Model 3. It looks so futuristic compared to any other vehicle that I've seen lately.
The actual ease associated with charging. I have a 240V 60amp plug installed in my garage located about 3 foot from the charging port.


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## jlquinn

I was surprised to learn there is no resume in the standard cruise control.
I was surprised to discover that while the white interior seats are very stain resistant, the same is NOT true of the ceiling fabric.
I was slightly and pleasantly surprised to discover the inflatable bolsters for front seats.


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## Gavyne

-Traction control is really good, "like really good" -Elon. With my previous ICE cars, I knew certain spots where my tires would spin out and my car would slip a bit. At times it was embarrassing to turn a corner and have my tries spin out as I stomp on the gas pedal. With the Model 3, I can feel when traction control kicks in. The car just keeps on going with little to no tire slips. The result is a safer car, and a much more fun driving experience because when you stomp on the accelerator pedal you just go. I have respect for German engineering, but can we get a hooah for 'murica engineering.

-Was surprised to see all 5 stars all category & sub-category crash rating from NHTSA. When I bought the car, Model 3 wasn't rated, so there was always a question mark on just how safe it is. FUDsters were spreading the rumor that the all glass roof was unsafe. I'm very happy to learn that the Model 3 is the safest car on the road.

-Was pleasantly surprised by how good the trunk's space usage is. I wasn't expecting that large space under the cargo cover, I love it. Also that deep compartment to the left of the trunk, genius design. That space is perfect for your interior/exterior car cleaning wash kits because you don't want to lay your spray bottles containing liquid sideways or they could leak. That's where I have my waterless wash bottle and microfiber towels, neatly stacked to the side, no leaks to worry about, and don't take up any usable space in the trunk or car. You never want to leave bird droppings to dry because they will etch your paint. Having cleaning kits with you at all time allows you to spot clean as needed.

-Phone key, the best thing since sliced bread. Yes I know some people don't like it, and I know it doesn't work well with android phones. But my gosh, being able to just walk up to your car, open either the door or trunk without pressing any buttons at all is just FREAKING FANTASTIC. And leaving the car, no fiddling around with keys, I just open & close the door, and walk away. Or getting my groceries out of the trunk, close it, and walk away with my hands full. I used to carry keys, the keyfob was of course the bulkiest one. Getting rid of that allowed me to now just be down to 1 house key. I now keep the house key in my wallet, so there goes any sort of key chain at all. I can't describe how much happier I am reducing bulk in my pocket and not having to fiddle with keys anymore.

-Unexpected peace of mind. I used to worry about my car, because where I lived, people have set off my car alarm multiple times before. Also I found car alarms to be generally inadequate. For one, they all sound the same. And nobody really cares if a car's alarm is set off. Plus if you're away from the car, such as at a dinner, you can't hear the alarm go off anyway. With the Model 3, you get an alert on your phone when the alarm is set off. You get to track your car's positions. And it just so happens to be one of the hardest cars to steal. I was a bit overprotective of my Model 3 initially. But this peace of mind quickly got me to feel a lot more comfortable.


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## PNWmisty

Gavyne said:


> Phone key, the best thing since sliced bread. Yes I know some people don't like it, and I know it doesn't work well with android phones. But my gosh, being able to just walk up to your car, open either the door or trunk without pressing any buttons at all is just FREAKING FANTASTIC.


I share your enthusiasm for the phone key. And it's not whether the phone is Apple or Android that determines whether it works every time, it's the Bluetooth implementation of the phone (and potentially the power-saving configurations chosen by the user), regardless of Apple/Android. Older Apple phones are notoriously bad as a phone key as are older Android phones. Both my wife's Samsung S9 and my S8+ work perfectly, 100% of the time. We've had the Model 3 for 4 1/2 months and use it every day with multiple trips. Both our phones adhere to Bluetooth 5 specifications.


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## PNWmisty

I was impressed with how much daily driving one could do with 310 miles of range. That's 5 solid hours of cruising along at a mile/minute.

On delivery day I was surprised to learn Tesla throws in free digital radio over cellular. No subscription required.

I was blown away by how useful and nice the instant torque would be. ICE cars need to downshift and the motor needs to spool up. I didn't realize what a game-changer it would be to have instant throttle control. 

I didn't realize how much more relaxing freeway driving would be with Autopilot engaged. It took a few weeks to master but it's so much more relaxing to travel on the Interstate now.


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## kort677

jlquinn said:


> I was surprised to learn there is no resume in the standard cruise control.
> I was surprised to discover that while the white interior seats are very stain resistant, the same is NOT true of the ceiling fabric.
> I was slightly and pleasantly surprised to discover the inflatable bolsters for front seats.


inflatable bolsters? do you mean the lumber support or something else?


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## systemBuilder

The other day at 5pm I was looking at my phone app and it said the car was 98 degrees inside,so I changed it to 75 degrees (the car was 600 feet away, 4 buildings away), and watched in awe as the temperature descended. I actually worked super late that night, and rather than the cabin being 60 degrees it was 75 when I arrived. "Make it so, Captain!"


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## kort677

systemBuilder said:


> The other day at 5pm I was looking at my phone app and it said the car was 98 degrees inside,so I changed it to 75 degrees (the car was 600 feet away, 4 buildings away), and watched in awe as the temperature descended. I actually worked super late that night, and rather than the cabin being 60 degrees it was 75 when I arrived. "Make it so, Captain!"


fwiw: the distance from the car isn't relevant, your app is communicating with the car via cell phone


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## FRC

I have been very pleasantly surprised by the power of the regen brake. I have driven hybrids for 15 years previously and so am very familiar with the usefulness of regen in extending battery range. I was surprised at how much braking the P3D does on regen. It's great! Maximize range, any brake life to boot. I never needed a brake job on my Camry hybrid until year 11, this car may never need one. My only wish is a software change to adjust regen by degrees(like a 0-100 slide adjustment) because my wife hates driving regen, and might take to it if she could acclimate by degrees(Elon???).


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## Love

- I find that it's helpful to do a reset (hold both scroll wheels and depress the brake until the Tesla logo appears, then release) whenever your car does an update... think of it like new software on a computer that then needs to restart.

- Use the above method as a first means of fixing any odd/quirky software glitches or bugs you encounter. 

- Make use of the right scroll wheel "bug report" feature whenever you can to help Tesla make their (and YOUR!) car even better!

- I'll be putting a piece of foam or rubber on the latching area of the center console. There's a vibration rattle at speeds and on rough roads. Nothing major at all but I hate rattle/vibration noises. 

- Your doors will be difficult to close at first, be it for a break in period of the seals or due to them being different than other vehicles.

- When you make a list of things like this to try and be helpful, you can end up staring at your screen for awhile ...blankly... and forgetting you've owned the car for 8 months.


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## MelindaV

I was surprised at how hard the head rest is (when you inadvertently accelerate too fast and bang your head into it)


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## $ Trillion Musk

Just a note from Larry Benjamin’s latest video:

To set the car to neutral, hold the right stalk behind the steering wheel up for 2 seconds. 

Please correct me if there’s anything missing from the above.


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## iChris93

$ Trillion Musk said:


> Just a note from Larry Benjamin's latest video:
> 
> To set the car to neutral, hold the right stalk behind the steering wheel up for 2 seconds.
> 
> Please correct me if there's anything missing from the above.


This does happen. I've accidentally put the car into neutral when trying to turn off EAP. This was very scary as it turns off regen and I turned it off as I was coming to a light.


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## Love

iChris93 said:


> This does happen. I've accidentally put the car into neutral when trying to turn off EAP. This was very scary as it turns off regen and I turned it off as I was coming to a light.


Just to add to this: I'm pretty sure that if you do accidentally shift out of drive you can push down on the stalk (putting the car back into drive) while the car is still moving. No harm, no foul. At least, that has been my experience


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## Kizzy

I was surprised at how annoying it is to use the keycard as the sole key.

I was surprised at how effortlessly easy it is to use my phone as a key (100% success out of the handful of times I've been able to use it now).

I'm also surprised at how quickly I've acclimated. Going back to an ICE car was surprising (that engine roar).

I've learned that hill hold is absolutely your friend if creep mode isn't enabled. I've also found using both feet to be safer than one when changing drive modes in precarious hill positions.

Also learned that AWD with all-season tires does not always work for making turns into steep, wet driveways.


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## PNWmisty

Kizzy said:


> Also learned that AWD with all-season tires does not always work for making turns into steep, wet driveways.


???
That would have to be one heck of a steep, wet driveway for all-season radials to not work on with AWD! I think you are referring to the diagonal wheel problem (when the contour of the driving surface is such that two diagonally opposite wheels are both in the air). This is a potential issue for any AWD that doesn't have a limited slip differential. The secret is to "roll through" the problem spot and avoid trying to creep through it. So it's mostly a problem when going too slow. However, I thought the traction control in the Model 3 would apply the brakes of the elevated tires to transfer power to the weight bearing tires. Is this not the case?


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## Kizzy

PNWmisty said:


> ???
> That would have to be one heck of a steep, wet driveway for all-season radials to not work on with AWD! I think you are referring to the diagonal wheel problem (when the contour of the driving surface is such that two diagonally opposite wheels are both in the air). This is a potential issue for any AWD that doesn't have a limited slip differential. The secret is to "roll through" the problem spot and avoid trying to creep through it. So it's mostly a problem when going too slow. However, I thought the traction control in the Model 3 would apply the brakes of the elevated tires to transfer power to the weight bearing tires. Is this not the case?


I did to make a second attempt at a slightly different angle (and did so at higher speed).

I think the traction control limited the power to the wheels (I was afraid I'd bottomed out/gotten stuck or broke something).


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## PNWmisty

Kizzy said:


> I did to make a second attempt at a slightly different angle (and did so at higher speed).
> 
> I think the traction control limited the power to the wheels (I was afraid I'd bottomed out/gotten stuck or broke something).


Do you have the Michelin tires with the 18" Aeros? What tire pressure have you been running?


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## John

Between the built-in navigation and the streaming music, I now no longer use my phone for those things.
Being able to tap the screen and pull up Recent Calls and tap one to call someone back is handy.
It is faster to say an address in Model 3 than to type it (I have had voice commands for 10 years in previous cars, and always abandoned using it, whereas I ALWAYS use it in Model 3)
Ditto it's nice to suddenly think of a song-or have someone mention one-and then just ask for it (kinda requires subscription to Slacker, though, to work right)
The traffic-aware navigation's time estimates are very, very good; I no longer consult my phone for traffic jams and re-routes, it's all right there on the screen. It's funny to be on a back road working around a traffic jam and see so many Teslas also following the re-route (welcome to California)
Autopilot feels like adding a layer of safety assistance in heavy traffic. It pretty much eliminates that distracted moment when you realize the car in front of you has stopped suddenly.
Unlike other cars, in Model 3 you can put the steering wheel EXACTLY where you want it, not just where you've always put it. Mine is down on my lap, so that I can cruise in Autopilot with one hand resting on my knee and holding the bottom of the wheel. And with Easy Access enabled, the wheel automatically moves up out of the way for getting in and out.
It takes about 6 months for the nagging worries about the oil change interval and how much gas is in the car to fade.
Suddenly the only worry is more frequent tire rotations.
I'm still not sure how long it takes to get over wanting to accelerate faster than is strictly necessary for a given situation, but I know I need to knock it off. Soon.
I use the frunk a lot less than I though I would. But when I use it-like for takeout food so that it doesn't smell in the cabin, or valuables-it's super cool.
My local library has free charging, for some reason.
Most Model 3 drivers in California are just people driving around, not fans waving at every other Model 3 driver. Can you imagine being in a Camry and waving at another Camry driver? I live at Ground Zero, but it is starting to feel like Norway here in the Bay Area.
Every-and I mean every-new passenger has to be instructed "push the fat part, pull the thin part" to get in, and "grab the handle and use the thumb button to get out." I've learned it's not cool to just let them try and figure it out, because a full 90% of the time they can't. It's fine once they do-it's a fun novelty-but's it's frustrating if you don't explain (or they will use your emergency release getting out)
Always having a "full tank of gas" every day is super nice.
For me, it takes longer than 6 months (how long I've had the car) to feel comfortable driving around with less than a quarter tank of electrons. In past cars, I trusted the car on fumes, but with Model 3 I'm still working on that. Right now, worry starts ramping below 50% which, yes, is unnecessary, but I'm just being candid here.
Turning on the air conditioner before you get in the car is super useful. As is being able to glance at your phone to verify the car is locked.
Phone-as-key works so well that when the fob comes out I'll probably buy one, but not carry it. I literally carry no keys any more, ever.
It's odd for driving to be this fun. Probably that's different for someone like a Porsche or performance BMW driver, but after decades of driving practical cars as transportation, it's kinda unexpected. And the reason I say this is that in an urban environment, you really shouldn't be sporting around. The other day, my college-age daughter said, "Let's go some place we can really drive it!"
Literally the only car I am jealous of is the P3D. And I would term that a mild jealousy that seems solvable in the future.
Actually, I take that back; I'm also jealous of any Tesla that gets the software update before I do.
Never thought I'd volunteer to help another company sell things. Or own stock in an automotive company. Or want to go to shareholders meetings.


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## oey192

The one thing that bugs me about the car is the fact that it has no dedicated yellow/orange light for the turn signal in the rear. I’m sure this was a deliberate design choice since it has yellow indicators in the front and on the side, but I really wish it had one on the rear too. I remember growing up looking at all the cars on the road that had to use their brake lights as turn signals and just thinking “they are so old and outdated”

If I had known about this design choice before I bought the car I almost, ALMOST wouldn’t have bought it (it’s that big a deal to me even though the car is so amazing) but at the end of the day I have no other electric options in this price range that remotely match the specs or the experience. Also, only other drivers ever really notice the design “flaw” so it’s kinda petty for me to care so much


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## babula

oey192 said:


> The one thing that bugs me about the car is the fact that it has no dedicated yellow/orange light for the turn signal in the rear. I'm sure this was a deliberate design choice since it has yellow indicators in the front and on the side, but I really wish it had one on the rear too. I remember growing up looking at all the cars on the road that had to use their brake lights as turn signals and just thinking "they are so old and outdated"
> 
> If I had known about this design choice before I bought the car I almost, ALMOST wouldn't have bought it (it's that big a deal to me even though the car is so amazing) but at the end of the day I have no other electric options in this price range that remotely match the specs or the experience. Also, only other drivers ever really notice the design "flaw" so it's kinda petty for me to care so much


Interesting. I thought the need for back blinkers was taken away by the top break light, because thats the dedicated break light the others can be used to signal.


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## systemBuilder

John said:


> It's odd for driving to be this fun. Probably that's different for someone like a Porsche or performance BMW driver, but after decades of driving practical cars as transportation, it's kinda unexpected. And the reason I say this is that in an urban environment, you really shouldn't be sporting around. The other day, my college-age daughter said, "Let's go some place we can really drive it!"
> Literally the only car I am jealous of is the P3D. And I would term that a mild jealousy that seems solvable in the future.
> Actually, I take that back; I'm also jealous of any Tesla that gets the software update before I do.
> Never thought I'd volunteer to help another company sell things. Or own stock in an automotive company. Or want to go to shareholders meetings.


My son makes the cutest sounds before we accelerate in the P3D+ ....

No Dad. no. no no No No No NO NO NONONONONO NOOOOOOO!​
And then when I hit the accelerator

aaagugggghghhh auuuguggghhhhh auuugghghhhha aaaugggggh (only lasts for 3.5 seconds)​
Just thought I'd gloat a little bit. Upgrading from the $35k car to the $70k car : Best decision I *EVER* made!


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## oey192

babula said:


> Interesting. I thought the need for back blinkers was taken away by the top break light, because thats the dedicated break light the others can be used to signal.


I have no idea what regulations are/were in place regarding rear blinkers, but I would agree that the middle/top brake light removes the _need_ for a dedicated turn signal light. However, that doesn't stop me from automatically assuming any car without a dedicated turn signal light is really old. I of course can easily correct this assumption but I don't like doing so
(I realize there are plenty of modern car models without a dedicated rear turn signal light but I don't like it on any of them)


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## Kizzy

oey192 said:


> I have no idea what regulations are/were in place regarding rear blinkers, but I would agree that the middle/top brake light removes the _need_ for a dedicated turn signal light. However, that doesn't stop me from automatically assuming any car without a dedicated turn signal light is really old. I of course can easily correct this assumption but I don't like doing so
> (I realize there are plenty of modern car models without a dedicated rear turn signal light but I don't like it on any of them)


I really appreciated this video on the subject.


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## Love

- I've learned that if walk up unlock doesn't appear to work (the car not opening when pulling the handle to open) if I hold the handle in the "open up, car!" position for a brief amount of time it usually corrects the problem, unlocks and opens. This might be known, only work for me, or be a REVELATION... but others should try it.


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## $ Trillion Musk

Kizzy said:


> I really appreciated this video on the subject.


I would consider swapping out the tail lights for euro spec ones in the future. Hopefully they'll be plug and play.

Other than cost savings, which is shameful, I cannot imagine why anyone would get rid of such safety features.


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## Tchris

Lovesword said:


> - I've learned that if walk up unlock doesn't appear to work (the car not opening when pulling the handle to open) if I hold the handle in the "open up, car!" position for a brief amount of time it usually corrects the problem, unlocks and opens. This might be known, only work for me, or be a REVELATION... but others should try it.


What is the "Open up, car!" position? Are you just pulling the handle out a little bit without trying to open the door?


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## MelindaV

Tchris said:


> What is the "Open up, car!" position?


to translate for @Lovesword, I believe he means holding the handle in the open position (fat part in, skinny part extended).


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## Love

MelindaV said:


> to translate for @Lovesword, I believe he means holding the handle in the open position (fat part in, skinny part extended).


Yes, @MelindaV nailed it. Thanks Melinda. 

I mean the same as if I was opening the car, and it doesnt... i sit there for a few seconds. I think perhaps it then continues to try and find the phone and finally does. I've tried this each time my phone didnt instantly work in the past week or so and seems to do the trick so ... not sure why but just today it dawned on me to post here. Hopefully it's not isolated random/lucky on my part and will help others out.


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## John

Lovesword said:


> Yes, @MelindaV nailed it. Thanks Melinda.
> 
> I mean the same as if I was opening the car, and it doesnt... i sit there for a few seconds. I think perhaps it then continues to try and find the phone and finally does. I've tried this each time my phone didnt instantly work in the past week or so and seems to do the trick so ... not sure why but just today it dawned on me to post here. Hopefully it's not isolated random/lucky on my part and will help others out.


While you do this, you should look up at the sky and mutter, or glance at your (nonexistent) watch, as if you mean to just stand there a second as you try to recall where you need to be. Much cooler than trying the handle several times and blurting "Dammit! This **** again."


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## Love

John said:


> While you do this, you should look up at the sky and mutter, or glance at your (nonexistent) watch, as if you mean to just stand there a second as you try to recall where you need to be. Much cooler than trying the handle several times and blurting "Dammit! This **** again."


LOL! Luckily every time this has happened to me has been early morning before work as my car is still in my garage. (It's more likely just a small delay in waking up a few random times... now that I type that out and read it).

But rest assured my friends, I shall not feed the ravenous shorts any sort of clickbait "Tesla owner curses at vehicle as phone-as-key fails again and again" material. No sir! I shall indeed play it off as though Santa and Mothra are dogfighting high in the sky...followed by an important phone call that i must retrieve my phone from my pocket for. 

Who am I kidding, amongst all the jacked up diesels in my work parking lot, not a single one of them probably even know my phone is my key.

Wait... what was this thread about again? Oh... um..
- You should go ahead and buy the official trunk liner from Tesla, it's very awesome... but you will likely end up like me, wanting even IT to not get any scratches/dents/dings!!!! <NOOOOOOOO


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## garsh

Lovesword said:


> I mean the same as if I was opening the car, and it doesnt... i sit there for a few seconds. I think perhaps it then continues to try and find the phone and finally does.


Thanks! It worked for me when I caught my car in a deep sleep. Just stood there holding the handle open for 3-4 seconds, and it finally unlocked and opened.


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## Love

garsh said:


> Thanks! It worked for me when I caught my car in a deep sleep. Just stood there holding the handle open for 3-4 seconds, and it finally unlocked and opened.


Awesome! I hope this spreads!

To add for others: when you try your handle and it doesn't unlock/open/work for you, don't release it....just sit there for a bit holding the handle in the position that will "normally" make the door open. As @garsh mentioned and jives with my findings, it takes a few seconds but eventually works 
Hope this works for more and more as others try it.


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## choney22

Lovesword said:


> Awesome! I hope this spreads!
> 
> To add for others: when you try your handle and it doesn't unlock/open/work for you, don't release it....just sit there for a bit holding the handle in the position that will "normally" make the door open. As @garsh mentioned and jives with my findings, it takes a few seconds but eventually works
> Hope this works for more and more as others try it.


Might be a silly question but have you tried it without having your phone in your pocket to make sure it's not a door defect? That the door will always open when door handle is held open like that?


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## Love

choney22 said:


> Might be a silly question but have you tried it without having your phone in your pocket to make sure it's not a door defect? That the door will always open when door handle is held open like that?


Just did, and at least this once it didn't open. Small sample size of one try though. I have successfully done my strategy on both driver side doors (front and rear) so that's a plus.


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## FRC

I had never had this issue until I read about it here this morning. Today I had the problem every time I tried to open the door(about 6 times). Holding the lever open did the trick for me each time. Is this a new software glitch, since it's never happened before?


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## $ Trillion Musk

I read somewhere that the doors swing open wider than usual. Has anyone experienced issues with this? Is it relatively easy to open them halfway without accidentally swinging to the full open position?

The sharp angle of the rear doors are unusual as well. I’m afraid they might gouge an adjacent car in the parking lot if not handled with care. Thoughts?


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## PNWmisty

$ Trillion Musk said:


> The sharp angle of the rear doors are unusual as well. I'm afraid they might gouge an adjacent car in the parking lot if not handled with care. Thoughts?


Any door will scratch/damage another car if not handled with care. Nothing new here.


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## JML

$ Trillion Musk said:


> I read somewhere that the doors swing open wider than usual. Has anyone experienced issues with this? Is it relatively easy to open them halfway without accidentally swinging to the full open position?
> 
> The sharp angle of the rear doors are unusual as well. I'm afraid they might gouge an adjacent car in the parking lot if not handled with care. Thoughts?


My previous car was a two door, so the doors on the Model 3 seem light and small to me. I don't have a problem controlling them, but I'm the sort that pays attention to not banging the cars next to me. BTW, I did have to use summon for the first time in anger today, because somebody parked very close on my driver's side. Fortunately no dings.

It is necessary to pay attention to all of the angles on the doors. The white panels on the walls in the picture are door protectors for the wall. As you can see, the front door first hits very low down, and the back door hits up high.


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## jsanford

I haven’t noticed the doors being wider, but this is my first four door car. Coupes always have wider doors.

I’ve never had a complaint about the back seat—even with three people back there. But when there are two, often the seat belt is buckled to the wrong receptacle.

This car is infinitely more suited to downtown Seattle freeway traffic than my 5-speed Yaris was.

I love prewarming and precooling.

I left the front door ajar once and the car didn’t toot—and I didn’t notice. Wish it would have alerted me.

My Pixel connects far quicker after the 9.0 update.

The wipers need regional profiles. The auto settings, frankly, don’t work for PNW milquetoast misty rain.

If you put takeout in the frunk it won’t smell in the cabin.

People still ask me if I still love it, after five months. I’ve never had so much interest in a vehicle’s reliability.

I spent three nights at my sister’s charging off a regular outlet. I’d worried unnecessarily about it—just plugged the car in when I wasn’t using it. Trip charging for that weekend was overkill; I didn’t factor “day charging” when planning.

Few other Model 3 drivers wave, but on the freeway, they like to form a convoy.


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## YAMSA44

I dont like the auto wiper feature. The windshield gets covered with water droplets and blurs my vision before the auto wiper actuates.


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## garsh

YAMSA44 said:


> I dont like the auto wiper feature. The windshield gets covered with water droplets and blurs my vision before the auto wiper actuates.


Put a hydrophobic coating on your windshield, like Rain-X. It really helps with visibility in the rain.


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## FRC

Haven't seen this one mentioned and just discovered today. Many times for various reasons the TACC is set at a speed that I don't want. My normal procedure was to scroll up or down to the speed I want. However, if you tap the speed limit icon TACC will reset to your preset speed relative to the speed limit.


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## webdriverguy

garsh said:


> Put a hydrophobic coating on your windshield, like Rain-X. It really helps with visibility in the rain.


but the manual says not to do so


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## AutopilotFan

YAMSA44 said:


> I dont like the auto wiper feature. The windshield gets covered with water droplets and blurs my vision before the auto wiper actuates.


If you push the button on the left-side stalk just slightly, it will do a single wipe with the windshield wipers. That should take care of the blurry stuff before the auto wiper actuates.

If you push it in further, it will squirt washer fluid and do 3 wipes. Which might be what you want if your windshield gets splattered with something not entirely made of water.


----------



## GateFather

Still awaiting my Model 3 but a coworker of mine who has one told me a couple cool little known features. First, apparently the car will sense weight in the back seat and only send heat/cooling through the rear vents if it senses a person in the back. Second, if you have a carseat in the back that uses the carseat hooks, the seatbelt warning indicator will continue to remind you to buckle up. Apparently holding the seatbelt bucket down on the side that the carseat is on will allow you to turn off that alert for the carseat. That's what I understand from what he told me anyways! I'll have one car seat so that info will come in handy for me.


----------



## garsh

webdriverguy00 said:


> but the manual says not to do so


For reference, the manual says:

_Caution: Do not use windshield treatment fluids. Doing so can interfere with the wiper friction and cause a chattering sound._​
To this I'll say: I've put Rain-X on my windshield, and I get no chattering during manual wiper use. There's a small amount of chattering sometimes on auto, but others report that happening even without using a hydrophobic coating. The Model 3 wipers in Auto mode have an issue that causes chattering regardless of the use of windshield treatments. I think Tesla was "grasping at straws" when they added that caution statement.

The benefit of using a hydrophobic coating is too great to skip. It helps visibility in rain *tremendously*. This is one of those things I wish I had known in my youth. I can hardly believe that I was putting up with such poor visibility for years before learning about them.

References:
Auto wipers not ready for prime time (Mar. '18)
Rain-x without affecting auto wipers?


----------



## webdriverguy

I am going to hold off from doing this since the visibility does not bother me at all. My only issue right now with auto wipers is the infrequent swipes.


----------



## MelindaV

webdriverguy00 said:


> I am going to hold off from doing this since the visibility does not bother me at all. My only issue right now with auto wipers is the infrequent swipes.


if you use a hydrophobic treatment, fewer swipes are needed. On my car on auto wipers, I find it swipes TOO often for my personal preference.


----------



## webdriverguy

I don't know why on my M3 its less too often. this is w/o any treatment


----------



## garsh

webdriverguy00 said:


> I don't know why on my M3 its less too often. this is w/o any treatment


The lack of treatment is _exactly_ why it doesn't swipe enough for you.

Please, give Rain-X or plain old wax a try. You'll hardly even need your wipers after having done so.


----------



## Bokonon

garsh said:


> The lack of treatment is _exactly_ why it doesn't swipe enough for you.
> 
> Please, give Rain-X or plain old wax a try. You'll hardly even need your wipers after having done so.


I'm in the same boat as @webdriverguy00. With no treatment, it wasn't swiping often enough for my liking (though it used to, back on 36.2). So, I applied some Rain-X to my windshield the other week, and it has helped... Sort of.

During the first rain (a few days after application), I started the car with a lot of water already beaded up on the windshield, and the auto wipers immediately went to maximum speed, as others have reported. There was also a bit of a misting effect. I tried driving without wipers for a bit, but ended up setting the wipers to the lowest manual setting to avoid having to press the wiper button periodically. On subsequent rainy drives, wipers were perfect on auto.

However, it seems the Rain-X is already wearing off after a couple of weeks (~4 rainy drives), as it's raining today and the water no longer beads in the wiper paths. This is the first time I've ever used a hydrophobic coating, and I'm wondering whether I would have better luck with another product like Aquapel, or if it's possible I somehow messed up the application and that's why it didn't last very long. I get that using the wipers shortens the life of the coating, but since most of my commute is at slower speeds, I never really get to the point where the wind alone is enough to keep the windshield clear.


----------



## webdriverguy

@garsh @Bokonon its been a while since i last used rain-x. going to give that a shot


----------



## garsh

Bokonon said:


> However, it seems the Rain-X is already wearing off after a couple of weeks (~4 rainy drives), as it's raining today and the water no longer beads in the wiper paths. This is the first time I've ever used a hydrophobic coating, and I'm wondering whether I would have better luck with another product like Aquapel, or if it's possible I somehow messed up the application and that's why it didn't last very long.


Rain-X wears off. But I find that even though it's no longer beading up as well as when freshly-applied, it still works much better than an untreated window.

I've heard that Aquapel lasts much longer, but haven't tried it yet. The easiest thing to do is probably what @PNWmisty does - find a rag that you used to wipe off wax (or add a little wax to a rage), and wipe that on the windshield as needed.


----------



## SoCalWine

Just discovered that I can press the "release" button on the charger while in close proximity to the charger door and the door will open. No need to tap the door.


----------



## FRC

This morning, for the first time I drove directly in to the blinding morning sunrise. In other cars I'd be forced to squint and dodge behind the visor to try to see road markings and traffic. What a pleasure to hit TACC, lane keep, and NOA drop the visor and let the car do all the squinting and dodging while I relaxed on stand-by.


----------



## ADK46

The Tesla 3 is the heaviest car I've ever owned, including vans and SUVs. I'm not sure how they did it, but it feels light. 

======

The decision to apply Rain-X is a lifetime commitment, to some extent - as it wears off, you can enter regimes where the wipers don't like what what remains of it. I've made that commitment in other cars, but not yet for the 3. The idea is not to use the wipers at all, but that depends on the rake of the windshield and how fast you're going - the droplets must either go up or down. There is some real magic to Rain-X when driving in dirty, salty, slushy stuff at night, when it becomes burdensome to control wipers to avoid salt streaking.


----------



## Jim Brown

Why does anybody APPLY Rain-X to your windshield? Just get a bottle of this stuff and it APPLIES the Rain-X every time you use your windshield washer. Bada-Bing, Bada-Boom. It's much easier than re-applying it all the time. I think it's $3.00 at Walmart.


----------



## TheMagician

That a 3 year old (okay, maybe a 5 year old) can break into your locked frunk with a 9 volt battery (thanks to member "John" for pointing this out).

https://teslaownersonline.com/threads/lockout.8235/

And can second garsh's recommendation about Rain X. Been using it for over 30 years. At some point, the windshield literally becomes saturated and I only need to apply it a couple times a year (talking when I lived on the east coast with crappy winters). Amazing how the faster you drive, the better it works.


----------



## babula

You can use a wedge to push out the wipers before snowfall.


----------



## Jay Jay

I'm going to ceramic coat all of the glass on our M3. I'm thinking it'll be as effective, but longer lasting than products like RainX. We'll see.


----------



## FRC

Jim Brown said:


> Why does anybody APPLY Rain-X to your windshield? Just get a bottle of this stuff and it APPLIES the Rain-X every time you use your windshield washer. Bada-Bing, Bada-Boom. It's much easier than re-applying it all the time. I think it's $3.00 at Walmart.


Haven't I read in other threads that RainX washer fluid, specifically, shouldn't be used as it may damage the window washers?


----------



## garsh

Jim Brown said:


> Why does anybody APPLY Rain-X to your windshield? Just get a bottle of this stuff and it APPLIES the Rain-X every time you use your windshield washer.


People have reported that this stuff will gunk up your washer nozzles over time.


----------



## sharksfan22

After two weeks of ownership, the biggest surprise for me is how much driving a Tesla has totally distorted every other automobile experience. Every other car seems like the one driven by Fred Flintstone (go to :08 here 



).

The adaptive cruise control makes freeway driving and stop/go traffic so much more relaxing.

I'm still getting used to giving the car full control for Autopilot, but will get there. Too much of a control freak, I guess.


----------



## Jim Brown

garsh said:


> People have reported that this stuff will gunk up your washer nozzles over time.


I've been using it for years in my other cars without any problem. Sometimes have mixed it with water depending on the time of year. Maybe that's why nothing has clogged up? I don't know. Now I'm a little leery about putting it in the Tesla.


----------



## Effopec

On paper I have 5 cu-ft less cargo space than my previous Ford C-max energi. But in practice I can fit much more in the trunk, not including the frunk or the trunk basement. I can fit my hockey bag and a large cooler of beer in the trunk without folding a seat down, something I couldn't do with the C-max.

Also, on paper the 3 has a larger turning circle, but in practice I can do a u-turn much more easily.


----------



## MelindaV

Effopec said:


> On paper I have 5 cu-ft less cargo space than my previous Ford C-max energi. But in practice I can fit much more in the trunk, not including the frunk or the trunk basement. I can fit my hockey bag and a large cooler of beer in the trunk without folding a seat down, something I couldn't do with the C-max.
> 
> Also, on paper the 3 has a larger turning circle, but in practice I can do a u-turn much more easily.


had you seen the "Model 3 has more balls" article? Seems Tesla has undersold the Model 3 cargo space, significantly.


----------



## Burnchar

I was surprised that the Model 3 has so many sensors. It monitors the torque output of the motor vs. the pedal position to ensure that no mechanical or software failure will cause unintended acceleration. It monitors the temperature of each individual pin in the charge port. It monitors when you close the center console storage area too aggressively. Look up the Engineerix video on Tesla's diagnostic software. It seriously has a sci-fi number of sensors.

Not to be that guy, but "learnings" is not a word, same as "drivings" or "phone callings". 
https://www.dailywritingtips.com/what-the-heck-are-learnings/


----------



## SarahsDad

Jay Jay said:


> I'm going to ceramic coat all of the glass on our M3. I'm thinking it'll be as effective, but longer lasting than products like RainX. We'll see.


Had OptiCoat ceramic coating on my Model S windshield - worked better than RainX and never had to reapply. I rarely used the wipers at all. Have RainX on my Model 3 while waiting to get that coated too. Works well but ceramic coating is better. RainX chatters the wipers more.


----------



## $ Trillion Musk

Burnchar said:


> .Not to be that guy, but "learnings" is not a word, same as "drivings" or "phone callings".
> https://www.dailywritingtips.com/what-the-heck-are-learnings/


The word was used in Cymbeline. If it's good enough for Shakespeare then it's good enough for me.


----------



## Love

$ Trillion Musk said:


> The word was used in Cymbeline. If it's good enough for Shakespeare then it's good enough for me.


The @Burnchar doth protest too much, me thinks. 

@Shakespeare


----------



## MelindaV

I just noticed tonight that the icon for the v9 calendar app updates to the actual date! 

The wall I park against at work is a graffiti magnet and it has been clean for the last couple weeks. I noticed when unlocking my car new metallic silver graffiti right in front of my car and so opened up my dashcam's app to see if it was there all day and just missed it in the morning (the wall is grey, so it does blend in) or if it was done during the day - so started to open the calendar app to check that today is the 29th before I got too far scrolling thru video clips - noticed before I opened the calendar app itself that the app card shows the cal with the current date  
Yay for the little things!

(and the graffiti was from last night, so no catching someone painting the wall right in front of my camera.)


----------



## LUXMAN

MelindaV said:


> I just noticed tonight that the icon for the v9 calendar app updates to the actual date!
> 
> The wall I park against at work is a graffiti magnet and it has been clean for the last couple weeks. I noticed when unlocking my car new metallic silver graffiti right in front of my car and so opened up my dashcam's app to see if it was there all day and just missed it in the morning (the wall is grey, so it does blend in) or if it was done during the day - so started to open the calendar app to check that today is the 29th before I got too far scrolling thru video clips - noticed before I opened the calendar app itself that the app card shows the cal with the current date
> Yay for the little things!
> 
> (and the graffiti was from last night, so no catching someone painting the wall right in front of my camera.)


Watch for overspray!


----------



## Jim Brown

Has anybody had this happen? I have a Samsung Galaxy S8+. I've had my Model 3 for almost a month. I can open the door pretty regularly. Once in a while I have to try 2 or 3 times. But if I try to play music from my phone, or heaven forbid, answer a phone call, forget it. I have noticed the Bluetooth symbol in the upper right corner of my car screen flickering on and off. Usually it's on and off about 50/50. But occasionally it's mostly off. I've tried the screen reset a few times. I've tried pairing and unpairing my phone numerous times. Nothing seems to work. I love my car. But this is very annoying. Especially trying to answer a phone call. If somebody calls while the Bluetooth is on, everything is wonderful. Then it flickers off and I have to pick up my phone. Back on and I hear them through my car speakers again. Back and forth. Back and forth. This is making me crazy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## PNWmisty

Jim Brown said:


> Has anybody had this happen? I have a Samsung Galaxy S8+. I've had my Model 3 for almost a month. I can open the door pretty regularly. Once in a while I have to try 2 or 3 times. But if I try to play music from my phone, or heaven forbid, answer a phone call, forget it. I have noticed the Bluetooth symbol in the upper right corner of my car screen flickering on and off. Usually it's on and off about 50/50. But occasionally it's mostly off. I've tried the screen reset a few times. I've tried pairing and unpairing my phone numerous times. Nothing seems to work. I love my car. But this is very annoying. Especially trying to answer a phone call. If somebody calls while the Bluetooth is on, everything is wonderful. Then it flickers off and I have to pick up my phone. Back on and I hear them through my car speakers again. Back and forth. Back and forth. This is making me crazy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


What app are you using to stream music over Bluetooth? My wife and I don't use our phones as iPods so maybe that's why ours always work.


----------



## LUXMAN

Jim Brown said:


> Has anybody had this happen? I have a Samsung Galaxy S8+. I've had my Model 3 for almost a month. I can open the door pretty regularly. Once in a while I have to try 2 or 3 times. But if I try to play music from my phone, or heaven forbid, answer a phone call, forget it. I have noticed the Bluetooth symbol in the upper right corner of my car screen flickering on and off. Usually it's on and off about 50/50. But occasionally it's mostly off. I've tried the screen reset a few times. I've tried pairing and unpairing my phone numerous times. Nothing seems to work. I love my car. But this is very annoying. Especially trying to answer a phone call. If somebody calls while the Bluetooth is on, everything is wonderful. Then it flickers off and I have to pick up my phone. Back on and I hear them through my car speakers again. Back and forth. Back and forth. This is making me crazy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


I can say that my iPhone has paired just fine this whole time. and I have a new iPhone Xr that works just fine too. 
If your phone doesn't have a problem in other cars, then I would say you have a problem. Is there anther type of phone you can try?


----------



## JML

Jim Brown said:


> Has anybody had this happen? I have a Samsung Galaxy S8+. I've had my Model 3 for almost a month. I can open the door pretty regularly. Once in a while I have to try 2 or 3 times. But if I try to play music from my phone, or heaven forbid, answer a phone call, forget it. I have noticed the Bluetooth symbol in the upper right corner of my car screen flickering on and off. Usually it's on and off about 50/50. But occasionally it's mostly off. I've tried the screen reset a few times. I've tried pairing and unpairing my phone numerous times. Nothing seems to work. I love my car. But this is very annoying. Especially trying to answer a phone call. If somebody calls while the Bluetooth is on, everything is wonderful. Then it flickers off and I have to pick up my phone. Back on and I hear them through my car speakers again. Back and forth. Back and forth. This is making me crazy. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


I have a Galaxy S8, so essentially the same as yours, just smaller. It isn't as bad as yours, but it isn't great. As in, the bluetooth on the $120 JVC head unit it my old car was much more reliable.

I typically stream over bluetooth, and it will occasionally disconnect, and then reconnect after a minute or two. This doesn't happen very frequently, but often enough to be noticeable. It also has difficulty with the initial connection, in that it might take a minute or two to pair with the car. It will also often be out of sync, in which the phone thinks it's connected, but the car doesn't think it's connected. The car will also show the phone as being connected, but give it a name like "Ildaaaaaaanaaa" instead of "Galaxy S8". Answering calls with the car sometimes works perfectly, but other times the phone will answer, but is using the handset instead of the bluetooth. I blame the phone for that, because it does the exact same thing when I'm using a bluetooth headset.

Anyway, I'm not sure exactly how much of this is Tesla's fault and how much is the phone's. At about the same time I got my car the phone received an update which made bluetooth much worse.


----------



## Burnchar

$ Trillion Musk said:


> The word was used in Cymbeline. If it's good enough for Shakespeare then it's good enough for me.


Nooo!!
You have either opened my eyes or dislodged my connection to all that is true and real.
Either way, I provide proof of your claim in the link below:
http://shakespeare.mit.edu/cymbeline/full.html


----------



## $ Trillion Musk

A bunch of HVAC questions:

How easy is it to defog the windshield and side windows while driving? Is it almost impossible that you’ll need to pull over or let the passenger take care of it for you?

How many taps on the screen does it take?

Is it easy to change fan wind direction while driving, for example switch from windshield to feet?

I’ve run into many situations where your line of sight is clear at first but then fogs up suddenly while driving when there’s a huge delta in temperature and humidity between the inside and outside of the car. It can be a very dangerous situation if you can’t resolve windshield fogging within seconds.


----------



## Bokonon

$ Trillion Musk said:


> How easy is it to defog the windshield and side windows while driving? Is it almost impossible that you'll need to pull over or let the passenger take care of it for you?
> 
> How many taps on the screen does it take?


Easy. One tap on the screen, sometimes two. There is a dedicated defog/defrost button at the bottom. One tap puts the HVAC into "defog" mode (remove moisture from cabin and dry the windshield without adding heat), and a second tap puts it into "defrost" mode (heater and fan on high, air directed at windshield).

I've only needed to use defog once while driving, and activating it wasn't a big deal at all. Just one sideways glance to locate and tap the button.



$ Trillion Musk said:


> Is it easy to change fan wind direction while driving, for example switch from windshield to feet?


There are toggle buttons for airflow to feet, windshield, and passenger. One tap to open the HVAC controls, then one tap to toggle each desired airflow. In other words, one more step than activating defog/defrost.

I've rarely found the need to manually toggle the vents while driving, though... In the rare case where the windshield fogs up, I head straight for the defog/defrost button, and it adjusts the vents for me.


----------



## MelindaV

$ Trillion Musk said:


> A bunch of HVAC questions:
> 
> How easy is it to defog the windshield and side windows while driving? Is it almost impossible that you'll need to pull over or let the passenger take care of it for you?
> 
> How many taps on the screen does it take?
> 
> Is it easy to change fan wind direction while driving, for example switch from windshield to feet?
> 
> I've run into many situations where your line of sight is clear at first but then fogs up suddenly while driving when there's a huge delta in temperature and humidity between the inside and outside of the car. It can be a very dangerous situation if you can't resolve windshield fogging within seconds.


to go along with @Bokonon, an image to show the front and rear window defrost dedicated buttons








this last week I'd been doing a test of keeping a HVAC off and see how much of an impact that had to my typical commutes (it reduced their wh/mile rate by about 20%), and when the windows began to fog up, I'd tap either/both. easy. And they both works quite well at clearing the window in about 10 seconds each, then could turn them back off. 
OR more power usage, just turning the entire system back on Automatic, and it is smart enough to know to use the front windshield vent when the conditions require it.


----------



## Drizzle

Torque at 0 mph seems to be limited. Torque at 20-40mph is insane.


----------



## PNWmisty

$ Trillion Musk said:


> I've run into many situations where your line of sight is clear at first but then fogs up suddenly while driving when there's a huge delta in temperature and humidity between the inside and outside of the car. It can be a very dangerous situation if you can't resolve windshield fogging within seconds.


Yes, it could be dangerous if the windows fogged up unexpectedly. But I thought you haven't been driving a Model 3? Are your comments formed from your experience driving a Model 3 or just general automobile observations?

Because there is not much more simple than simply tapping the defrost icon parked on the bottom of the screen and that is very effective at de-fogging the windshield in a hurry.



> How many taps on the screen does it take?


One tap.


----------



## $ Trillion Musk

PNWmisty said:


> Yes, it could be dangerous if the windows fogged up unexpectedly. But I thought you haven't been driving a Model 3? Are your comments formed from your experience driving a Model 3 or just general automobile observations?
> 
> Because there is not much more simple than simply tapping the defrost icon parked on the bottom of the screen and that is very effective at de-fogging the windshield in a hurry.
> 
> One tap.


My questions and comments are derived from general automobile observations, and not specifically from Tesla vehicles.

Any info that owners can provide is valuable to prospective buyers such as myself.

Thanks everyone for the great info and please keep on posting!


----------



## MelindaV

$ Trillion Musk said:


> My questions and comments are derived from general automobile observations, and not specifically from Tesla vehicles.
> 
> Any info that owners can provide is valuable to prospective buyers such as myself.
> 
> Thanks everyone for the great info and please keep on posting!


be assured, the Model 3's defroster is fantastic. It by far is the quickest to clear the glass of any car I've owned. 
And the rear defroster, when clearing interior fog (from people inside while driving), is also the fastest. I've not had the weather yet this winter to see how it does clearing anything on the exterior, but for the little bit of fog that accumulates inside with a car load of people, it takes maybe 5 seconds of being on to clear.


----------



## $ Trillion Musk

MelindaV said:


> be assured, the Model 3's defroster is fantastic. It by far is the quickest to clear the glass of any car I've owned.
> And the rear defroster, when clearing interior fog (from people inside while driving), is also the fastest. I've not had the weather yet this winter to see how it does clearing anything on the exterior, but for the little bit of fog that accumulates inside with a car load of people, it takes maybe 5 seconds of being on to clear.


That's very convincing especially coming from someone who lives in a humid/foggy part of the country! Thanks @MelindaV!


----------



## chaunceyg1

I recently learned during a road trip that the calculator for estimated mileage until the next supercharger is quite accurate. The first part of the trip, I had range anxiety like never before. On the way back, none at all. It planned out my trip amazingly well!


----------



## iChris93

chaunceyg1 said:


> I recently learned during a road trip that the calculator for estimated mileage until the next supercharger is quite accurate. The first part of the trip, I had range anxiety like never before. On the way back, none at all. It planned out my trip amazingly well!


It is less accurate in the colder climates or with other non-ideal weather conditions.


----------



## chaunceyg1

iChris93 said:


> It is less accurate in the colder climates or with other non-ideal weather conditions.


My trip was to Maine, so I accounted for that by watching my usage graph in Trip mode. I could not imagine taking this trip before they added that feature.


----------



## pdp1

Only have had my Model 3 for 4 days (2 of those days it was in service) so I only have one thing to add. When using Autopilot on the freeway in the right most lane and approaching an entrance merge where the right line marker breaks to "let the cars coming into the freeway in", Autopilot will always swerve to the right and then make a little "merge back into the freeway". It's kind of annoying, but it kind of makes sense.

I've never been so excited about a car purchase before, I'm a "tech guy" and poring through all the features and stuff to figure out how this car works is something I've been looking forward to. Also, I installed my own 14-50 NEMA outlet in my garage (bulit in 1982) and used it for the first time last night to charge at the full 32A with the UMC. It didn't burn down the house so I'm proud of that too.


----------



## JML

pdp1 said:


> Only have had my Model 3 for 4 days (2 of those days it was in service) so I only have one thing to add. When using Autopilot on the freeway in the right most lane and approaching an entrance merge where the right line marker breaks to "let the cars coming into the freeway in", Autopilot will always swerve to the right and then make a little "merge back into the freeway". It's kind of annoying, but it kind of makes sense.


I totally get your excitement, and congratulations. I can tell you after 3 months, it still hasn't worn off. I get the swerving to the right thing, too. It used to be worse, or it just doesn't bother me as much. I was behind another Model 3 recently, and it was probably on autopilot (or at least TACC), because both of our cars braked for the same bridge shadow. I did recently learn that it is possible to use the throttle to override the phantom braking (or braking for phantoms). Using the throttle will keep the car from brake checking the guy behind you, and it doesn't disable the autopilot or TACC. I used to override it by pushing up on the shift lever, and then had to turn back on autopilot.


----------



## pdp1

JML said:


> I totally get your excitement, and congratulations. I can tell you after 3 months, it still hasn't worn off. I get the swerving to the right thing, too. It used to be worse, or it just doesn't bother me as much. I was behind another Model 3 recently, and it was probably on autopilot (or at least TACC), because both of our cars braked for the same bridge shadow. I did recently learn that it is possible to use the throttle to override the phantom braking (or braking for phantoms). Using the throttle will keep the car from brake checking the guy behind you, and it doesn't disable the autopilot or TACC. I used to override it by pushing up on the shift lever, and then had to turn back on autopilot.


Thanks! I'm looking forward to the months and months of excitement! I'm also sure that as features/fixes/enhancements get rolled out with updates, the excitement will just be prolonged that much more.

Also, I do have another story about AP that goes along the lines of brake checking the guy behind me. I was following a car in the second lane from the right most lane, the right most lane was an exit only lane. The car in front of me slowed down a lot to merge into the exit lane... so naturally AP slowed down to match. However, even after the car moved over far enough so that I would have started accelerating again to make up for the loss of speed, AP continued to decelerate. I had to manually step on the accelerator to not piss off the car behind me.

Anyway, all these nuances to keep the ride interesting!


----------



## FRC

JML said:


> I totally get your excitement, and congratulations. I can tell you after 3 months, it still hasn't worn off. I get the swerving to the right thing, too. It used to be worse, or it just doesn't bother me as much. I was behind another Model 3 recently, and it was probably on autopilot (or at least TACC), because both of our cars braked for the same bridge shadow. I did recently learn that it is possible to use the throttle to override the phantom braking (or braking for phantoms). Using the throttle will keep the car from brake checking the guy behind you, and it doesn't disable the autopilot or TACC. I used to override it by pushing up on the shift lever, and then had to turn back on autopilot.


Interesting that, in our old cars, we used to have to be ready to brake in odd situations, now we have to be ready to accelerate!


----------



## MelindaV

pdp1 said:


> However, even after the car moved over far enough so that I would have started accelerating again to make up for the loss of speed, AP continued to decelerate. I had to manually step on the accelerator to not piss off the car behind me.


AP will not pick speed back up until that car is totally into its own lane, so a great instance to step on the accelerator and get past him as you normally would like @JML mentioned.


----------



## Burnchar

A minor Easter egg:
The maximum pen size in Tesla's painting application is 42 pixels wide because of course it is.
Elon is a frood that knows where his towel is!


----------



## FRC

Burnchar said:


> A minor Easter egg:
> The maximum pen size in Tesla's painting application is 42 pixels wide because of course it is.
> Elon is a frood that knows where is towel is!


I am clearly an idiot. Can someone please explain this to me?


----------



## Bokonon

FRC said:


> I am clearly an idiot. Can someone please explain this to me?


It's a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference:

42 (Number): The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy



> The number 42 is, in _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ by Douglas Adams, the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything", calculated by an enormous supercomputer named Deep Thought over a period of 7.5 million years. Unfortunately, no one knows what the question is. Thus, to calculate the Ultimate Question, a special computer the size of a small planet was built from organic components and named "Earth". The Ultimate Question "What do you get when you multiply six by nine"[16] was found by Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect in the second book of the series, _The Restaurant at the End of the Universe_.


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## Pete_in_OC

garsh said:


> Put a hydrophobic coating on your windshield, like Rain-X. It really helps with visibility in the rain.


I much prefer Rejex over Rain-X, as the wipers do not chatter.


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## Pete_in_OC

ADK46 said:


> The Tesla 3 is the heaviest car I've ever owned, including vans and SUVs. I'm not sure how they did it, but it feels light.
> 
> ======
> 
> The decision to apply Rain-X is a lifetime commitment, to some extent - as it wears off, you can enter regimes where the wipers don't like what what remains of it. I've made that commitment in other cars, but not yet for the 3. The idea is not to use the wipers at all, but that depends on the rake of the windshield and how fast you're going - the droplets must either go up or down. There is some real magic to Rain-X when driving in dirty, salty, slushy stuff at night, when it becomes burdensome to control wipers to avoid salt streaking.


I believe an ammonia and water solution will remove Rain X. Careful of the paint.


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## garsh

Pete_in_OC said:


> I much prefer Rejex over Rain-X, as the wipers do not chatter.


I've been using Rain-X, and I've had no issues with wiper chatter.


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## SeanyMac83

The quality of the Bluetooth audio when making phone calls. I’ve had several high end luxury cars where the Bluetooth audio quality sounds low bit rate. With my iPhone X the audio sounds like the other person is in the car with you. Also super happy with the phone key. Works perfectly all the time.


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## Pdadddy

See the attached image.

Unless it was a ghost, can someone explain why the pedestrian icon was showing up even though no one was there?


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## iChris93

Pdadddy said:


> See the attached image.
> 
> Unless it was a ghost, can someone explain why the pedestrian icon was showing up even though no one was there?
> View attachment 20950


Dirty rear view camera? Or obstructed by water?


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## Pdadddy

Hmmm...probably not dirty, but I guess it could have been the rain. However, it rained most of the day and this only happened briefly when I first headed out for work. No other "ghosts" since


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## Love

Pdadddy said:


> See the attached image.
> 
> Unless it was a ghost, can someone explain why the pedestrian icon was showing up even though no one was there?
> View attachment 20950


Were you in a horror movie by chance?


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## Pdadddy

In a previous life...yes! How did you know?


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## iChris93

Pdadddy said:


> Hmmm...probably not dirty, but I guess it could have been the rain. However, it rained most of the day and this only happened briefly when I first headed out for work. No other "ghosts" since


Maybe once you got moving, the air force cleaned it up!


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## Bokonon

Pdadddy said:


> Unless it was a ghost, can someone explain why the pedestrian icon was showing up even though no one was there?


My Model 3 also sees dead people in my driveway sometimes. We do have a young apple tree planted about 15 feet downhill from where I usually park, and I think that's somehow tricking the cameras into thinking it's a person. Perhaps something similar is happening in your picture?

Then again, it doesn't explain what happened yesterday, when I backed into a parking space behind a Chevy Tahoe, and it somehow rendered as a person...


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## Love

Bokonon said:


> My Model 3 also sees dead people in my driveway sometimes. We do have a young apple tree planted about 15 feet downhill from where I usually park, and I think that's somehow tricking the cameras into thinking it's a person. Perhaps something similar is happening in your picture?
> 
> Then again, it doesn't explain what happened yesterday, when I backed into a parking space behind a Chevy Tahoe, and it somehow rendered as a person...
> 
> View attachment 20951


The confusion doesn't end there. UCONN, the University of Arizona. MAKE UP YOUR MIND TRANSFORMING CHEVY TAHOE-MAN!!!

Also, I think you and Pdadddy are in the same horror movie. 
You two careful, he is big.


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## Pdadddy

The Walking Tesla Dead?


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## JimT

maybe this is old news but I live in Wisconsin where it's below zero a lot. I took the car to a manual pressure wash at 10 at night and hand washed it. brought it home and parked it in the heated garage and dried it off. I left all the doors and the frunk and trunk open to dry. I pulled up the app on my phone later and it actually shows all the doors and the trunks open. pretty neat. it will also show on the app picture if your car is plugged in or not. these little crazy details. great work TESLA!


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## YAMSA44

Pdadddy said:


> See the attached image.
> 
> Unless it was a ghost, can someone explain why the pedestrian icon was showing up even though no one was there?
> View attachment 20950


I had this very icon appear only once before when I was stopped behind a car at traffic light. There was clearly NO person between my car and the on in front of me.


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## Arktctr

GateFather said:


> Still awaiting my Model 3 but a coworker of mine who has one told me a couple cool little known features. First, apparently the car will sense weight in the back seat and only send heat/cooling through the rear vents if it senses a person in the back. Second, if you have a carseat in the back that uses the carseat hooks, the seatbelt warning indicator will continue to remind you to buckle up. Apparently holding the seatbelt bucket down on the side that the carseat is on will allow you to turn off that alert for the carseat. That's what I understand from what he told me anyways! I'll have one car seat so that info will come in handy for me.


Interesting! I did notice that there didn't seem to be much (or any) air flow from the back vents when my kids aren't back there and I started wondering if it was a problem. Then after a few days I felt again with the kids in the back and sure enough there was plenty of flow. That's pretty cool if its actually designed to work that way!


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## jsanford

We took Eloise to BC, and it was easy to switch the display to km from mph. However, this setting was tied to the driver profile.

I lost a bet—I thought it would change on its own, like my 2006 Garmin does, when we crossed into Canada.

The other thing that happened was my card was declined at the Supercharger (outside my geo fence) but we could charge up anyway, and we were emailed a bill. Kudos to Tesla for not stranding us on a Sunday.


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## pdp1

I realized today the when I turn on the heater in the car, it smells like when I turn on my electric stovetop in my house 🤣. I don’t know why I found that so funny, maybe it’s because I pictured a kitchen appliance under the front dash of the car.


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## GDN

jsanford said:


> We took Eloise to BC, and it was easy to switch the display to km from mph. However, this setting was tied to the driver profile.
> 
> I lost a bet-I thought it would change on its own, like my 2006 Garmin does, when we crossed into Canada.
> 
> The other thing that happened was my card was declined at the Supercharger (outside my geo fence) but we could charge up anyway, and we were emailed a bill. Kudos to Tesla for not stranding us on a Sunday.


Can you explain more about your card being declined because of the geofence? This would be news to me that they would ever care which SC you were. This is all handled internally at Tesla, but the credit card charge should always just come from the corporate location. I wouldn't think it is tied to a sale at the location of the SC, but could be wrong about that. Can you expand on what and how that happened and who mailed you a bill?


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## Eliminason

Biggest unexpected surprise for me is that I no longer carry keys. Used to have a huge janitor style key chain with 15-20 keys, fobs, and other junk on there, but with the phone and homelink (garage attached to house), I don’t take my keys with me anymore. Feels liberating and definitely unexpected.


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## iChris93

GDN said:


> Can you explain more about your card being declined because of the geofence? This would be news to me that they would ever care which SC you were. This is all handled internally at Tesla, but the credit card charge should always just come from the corporate location. I wouldn't think it is tied to a sale at the location of the SC, but could be wrong about that. Can you expand on what and how that happened and who mailed you a bill?


Charging out of country, in Canada. Bill comes from Tesla Canada. https://teslaownersonline.com/threa...ction-fee-when-scing-outside-of-country.8787/


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## SR22pilot

Eliminason said:


> Biggest unexpected surprise for me is that I no longer carry keys. Used to have a huge janitor style key chain with 15-20 keys, fobs, and other junk on there, but with the phone and homelink (garage attached to house), I don't take my keys with me anymore. Feels liberating and definitely unexpected.


I'm a school teacher. On weekends I don't carry keys anymore. One day I got to school and couldn't unlock my room - no keys. Before my Model 3, I wouldn't have been able to start my car without my keys. Lesson learned (I hope).


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## Sumiguchi

iChris93 said:


> Maybe once you got moving, the air force cleaned it up!


I think the Air Force has better things to do that running around cleaning up model 3 backup cams.


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## jsanford

GDN said:


> Can you explain more about your card being declined because of the geofence? This would be news to me that they would ever care which SC you were. This is all handled internally at Tesla, but the credit card charge should always just come from the corporate location. I wouldn't think it is tied to a sale at the location of the SC, but could be wrong about that. Can you expand on what and how that happened and who mailed you a bill?


Certainly. I think the geofence triggered as the Supercharger ran the charge in Canadian dollars.

Edited to add-Tesla emailed the bill. I was able to pay it by deleting and re-adding the card within my Tesla account, where it re-ran the charge in US dollars.


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## chaunceyg1

One of the features that I've noticed lately that at first I thought was a data issue is how the radio handles playing the next track when you mute the audio (or even just turn it down manually). When you lower the volume to zero, say, at a drive through to order, the radio will finish playing the current song, then pause before playing the next song. When you drive away and turn your volume back up, just press Next to play the next track.


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## FRC

A couple of things surprised me on a recent road trip. 
On winding downhill mountain roads, regen was completely sufficient as a brake. On one particular 5 mile/2500' descent, I never needed to touch the brake. In my wife's Lexus the brakes are always hot enough to smell after that descent. I don't think this car will EVER need a brake job.
After a long days drive sightseeing in the mountains(one SC stop), I stopped at a Tennessee campground for the night. I was surprised that I couldn't use climate control until I charged beyond 20% SOC, even with the car plugged in and charging. Also, once I recharged beyond 20% and turned heater on(63F while 36F outside), 30a charger only produced a net 1.5%/hr charge. Barely enough to get to the next SC.


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## Rajat Bhatia

Had an unexpected surprise last weekend. Woke up on Sunday and the Tesla app showed 0% battery! Checked in car and yes, I had no charge. On Friday evening I remember seeing nearly 200 miles of range, so this was a shocker.

This also meant I was grounded as I only have trickle charger (120v) at my rental place. Put the trickle charger on and for good 5 hours or so the battery showed 0%. I must have opened the app 100s of time to check. Maybe all energy was being used to heat up the battery. Maybe it was filling reserve as in ICE cars. I do not know.

Tracing back my steps, I realized the issue. I turned keep climate on on Friday evening and forgot to turn it off. It became cold on Saturday and my car was literally contributing to global warming all night and all day running down to 20% at some point of time, and the rest was used by the car to heat up the battery during Saturday night.

Lesson learned, use climate on cautiously. The safety cut off of 20% might not be enough.


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## PNWmisty

The weather in the Pacific Northwest was colder than average most of the winter. A couple of weeks ago, the weather flip-flopped and now it's been unseasonably warm and dry for this time of year. I'm pleasantly surprised how easy it is to beat the rated efficiency, even when on the freeway cruising at 65 mph. Actually, I knew this from my good experiences last year when the weather was warm or mild but it's made me fall in love with our Model 3's all over again, not that I ever fell out of love with these wonderful cars, LOL!


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## Burnchar

I found out this winter that the Model 3 is better at climbing than at staying put.
I went up a friend's steep, snow-packed driveway. Traction control engaged and did its job.
I put the car in PARK, opened the door, got out, and the car started sliding backwards down the hill, towards cars parked below and a country road just beyond. Both kids were still in their car seats.
I quickly sat in the driver's seat and hit the brakes, stopping the car almost immediately.

This is not a failure of Tesla's PARK mode, but of my own assumption that if it can drive up a hill, it can park on that same hill safely. Tesla cars may use a cheap, simple open differential (not a fancy Torsen differential or torque vectoring), but that doesn't mean the traction control is ineffective. The car's tires were locked as it slid down, so as far as it knew, it was doing the right thing.


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## JML

Burnchar said:


> I found out this winter that the Model 3 is better at climbing than at staying put.
> I went up a friend's steep, snow-packed driveway. Traction control engaged and did its job.
> I put the car in PARK, opened the door, got out, and the car started sliding backwards down the hill, towards cars parked below and a country road just beyond. Both kids were still in their car seats.
> I quickly sat in the driver's seat and hit the brakes, stopping the car almost immediately.
> 
> This is not a failure of Tesla's PARK mode, but of my own assumption that if it can drive up a hill, it can park on that same hill safely. Tesla cars may use a cheap, simple open differential (not a fancy Torsen differential or torque vectoring), but that doesn't mean the traction control is ineffective. The car's tires were locked as it slid down, so as far as it knew, it was doing the right thing.


I had the same thing happen. At my in-law's I usually park on the street, but the roads were slick with fresh snow, so I pulled into the driveway. Came out a few hours later to find the car had slid down so that back tires were on the street. This isn't the first car I've had that happen to, so I think it is just a static friction thing, and not anything special about the Model 3.


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## ADK46

In a front-wheel-drive ICE car, you can get all four wheels to lock by putting it in park and applying the parking/emergency brake. In Tesla's, I believe, you can only lock the rear wheels even in a dual motor car - there is no real "Park", just rear parking brakes. So you are pulling into a steep driveway, applying four brakes, then getting out leaving only two brakes.

I've needed all four wheels locked up on many occasions. Can't be done with a RWD ICE car, either, so we can't really cry fowl on Tesla for this.

===============

A case in point: I pulled up my long, steep, tree-lined driveway as far as I could one icy day. I knew holding it there would be tenuous. Manual shift, so I put it in first gear and pulled the hand brake. Took out the key (locking the steering wheel - see where this is going?) and only then released the foot brake. There was just enough free play in the gearbox that the car lurched back a few inches, but that's all it took to start a four-wheel slide. Down the driveway I went, between the trees, steering wheel locked. Got the key back in in the nick of time to steer away from a tree. Now what? I steered into the snowbank on the uphill side. Didn't catch it right, steered around the next tree, then tried again. Caught real good, but swung the car around 90 degrees, putting the front wheels off the edge of the driveway. Made a quick decision to use the slight forward momentum to keep going, drive down the hillside and try to make it down through the snow to where I could get back on the driveway. Success!


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## rbnvince

I was surprised to see how misleading/dangerous the blind spot monitor feature is on the model 3. Most modern luxury cars have a blind spot warning on the mirror. In the model three you have to check a screen that is usually blocked by your right hand. The indication in the screen is a car is almost in your blind spot. Not true. If a car is indicated in an adjacent lane. It is not approaching. It is right there next to you. I would rather have something actually useful done with that screen.


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## GDN

rbnvince said:


> I was surprised to see how misleading/dangerous the blind spot monitor feature is on the model 3. Most modern luxury cars have a blind spot warning on the mirror. In the model three you have to check a screen that is usually blocked by your right hand. The indication in the screen is a car is almost in your blind spot. Not true. If a car is indicated in an adjacent lane. It is not approaching. It is right there next to you. I would rather have something actually useful done with that screen.


And what is misleading about it? Remember Blind Spot detection is an aid. It was and always will/should be your job to look over your shoulder and look in that blind spot for yourself.

I'm quite certain the car knows what is there. It has to know for EAP and FSD that is coming. This is also still beta software. It is being changed and tweaked.

Please drive responsibly and use the aides the car gives you as that, supplemental to your own driving skills and responsibilities.


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## ADK46

"Blind Spot Monitoring" has come to mean a warning light on the mirror; Tesla is the only exception as far as I know. Many will not agree that it counts as "Blind Spot Monitoring", and I mostly agree. I have a car with genuine BSM to compare it to. 

The new audible alert might change my mind, but I won't admit it until vehicles stop darting madly about in the display.


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## rbnvince

GDN said:


> And what is misleading about it? Remember Blind Spot detection is an aid. It was and always will/should be your job to look over your shoulder and look in that blind spot for yourself.
> 
> I'm quite certain the car knows what is there. It has to know for EAP and FSD that is coming. This is also still beta software. It is being changed and tweaked.
> 
> Please drive responsibly and use the aides the car gives you as that, supplemental to your own driving skills and responsibilities.


Since there are such a large blind spots due to small mirrors and large window frames, I need to depend more on glancing over my shoulder just like I did in 1973. This is not the driving experience I expect in 2019. We bought a Tesla 3 because it promises to eventually have self driving capability. Location information about the surrounding cars detected by sensors and cameras should be conveyed to the driver in a useful, timely and convenient manner. The current screen does not meet any of those objectives.


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## FRC

GDN said:


> And what is misleading about it? Remember Blind Spot detection is an aid. It was and always will/should be your job to look over your shoulder and look in that blind spot for yourself.
> 
> I'm quite certain the car knows what is there. It has to know for EAP and FSD that is coming. This is also still beta software. It is being changed and tweaked.
> 
> Please drive responsibly and use the aides the car gives you as that, supplemental to your own driving skills and responsibilities.


Perhaps I'm the only one who is trying hard to re-train myself when changing lanes to look down and right at the screen first to see if I'm clear. This car certainly has a significantly larger blind spot than any other I've ever driven. I believe that the safest course is to first check computer screen, then side mirror, then center mirror, then blinker, side mirror, glance over shoulder, lane change. But it's so hard to retrain myself to look first at the computer screen. After 45 years of trusting mirrors and eyes, looking first at the computer is really tough.


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## Bokonon

FRC said:


> After 45 years of trusting mirrors and eyes, looking first at the computer is really tough.


Same here, and I only have about half the driving experience. 

I don't see myself changing my habits anytime soon... That's why I'm glad they've added a warning chime, though it sounds like the conditions that trigger it could use a little tweak. Until then... Mirror, blinker, glance over the shoulder, move over.


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## FRC

Bokonon said:


> Same here, and I only have about half the driving experience.


WOW, let's pile on the old guy!!


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## Jim Brown

FRC said:


> Perhaps I'm the only one who is trying hard to re-train myself when changing lanes to look down and right at the screen first to see if I'm clear. This car certainly has a significantly larger blind spot than any other I've ever driven. I believe that the safest course is to first check computer screen, then side mirror, then center mirror, then blinker, side mirror, glance over shoulder, lane change. But it's so hard to retrain myself to look first at the computer screen. After 45 years of trusting mirrors and eyes, looking first at the computer is really tough.


I still physically look before I change lanes. Probably always will. I hope I do anyway. Even on Autopilot changing lanes, which I think is just SO COOL. It's even been hard to watch the backup camera when pulling out of the driveway or a parking space. I never had a backup camera before. And this one on the Tesla is BEAUTIFUL! It's hard to train your brain to do something different after you've been doing it the same way for so long. Nothing wrong with an extra look over your shoulder, just to be sure anyway.


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