# Unable to Shift



## Love (Sep 13, 2017)

I had this occur over the weekend, I entered my Model 3 and everything in the car worked as it should except I couldn't shift at all. I didn't see anything posted here after some searches so I wanted to start a thread in case this happens to you.

Solution (that worked for me): Get out of the car and let it lock itself, then get back in and try again. Holding the brake and both scroll wheels until the T appeared on the screen did not do it.

I did find this thread over on TMC:
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/wont-shift-in-to-reverse-or-drive.115523/

Seems this does happen occasionally but with only three pages of posts that are spread out and date back to May 2018, it seems it's sporadic. I failed to use "bug report" so am kicking myself for that. I'll be sure to do that if it happens again, and I hope that if this happens to someone here, you'll know what to try first! 

EDIT: No issues since the one time this weekend. Have had my car since Feb 10th and had this happen exactly once.


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

Lovesword said:


> I had this occur over the weekend, I entered my Model 3 and everything in the car worked as it should except I couldn't shift at all. I didn't see anything posted here after some searches so I wanted to start a thread in case this happens to you.
> 
> Solution (that worked for me): Get out of the car and let it lock itself, then get back in and try again. Holding the brake and both scroll wheels until the T appeared on the screen did not do it.
> 
> ...


Perhaps the same issue as in this thread?
https://teslaownersonline.com/threads/model-3-rolling-away-unattended.8964/


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## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

Lovesword said:


> I had this occur over the weekend, I entered my Model 3 and everything in the car worked as it should except I couldn't shift at all. I didn't see anything posted here after some searches so I wanted to start a thread in case this happens to you.
> 
> Solution (that worked for me): Get out of the car and let it lock itself, then get back in and try again. Holding the brake and both scroll wheels until the T appeared on the screen did not do it.
> 
> ...


That sounds like the car didn't realize that a validated key was available. It's exactly what would happen if you use the cardkey to open the door and then get in and not immediately put your foot on the brake. (I think you have something like 20 seconds)


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## Love (Sep 13, 2017)

Ed Woodrick said:


> That sounds like the car didn't realize that a validated key was available. It's exactly what would happen if you use the cardkey to open the door and then get in and not immediately put your foot on the brake. (I think you have something like 20 seconds)


Possible. Though I did check the Tesla app and phone key said "connected" so I'm not sure. I also made no changes, just got out my phone and did a google search, found the TMC post and decided to try the "get out and let the car lock" tactic. When I re-entered, it shifted as normal.

I wonder if it's a bug in the newest firmware causing issues with the key validation as you mentioned.


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## Dogwhistle (Jul 2, 2017)

Every once in a while I find the car won’t go into drive mode normally. Lifting my butt out of the seat and undoing my seatbelt, then sitting back down and buckling back in seems to fix it.


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## babula (Aug 26, 2018)

This happened to me once (couple of months ago) and I was able to fix the issue by doing a soft reset.


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## JimmT (Aug 1, 2017)

This has happened to me three times in the past week. It also happened to a co-worker as well. The only thing we could find in common was that we had both updated to iOS 12 recently and also received a Tesla update to 36.2.

Getting out of the car and back in fixed it; reseting the car didn't do anything. The 3rd time it happened for me; I fixed it simply by unbuckling and refastening my seat belt. I've had the car for 3 months and this is the first time I've experienced the glitch.


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## Love (Sep 13, 2017)

JimmT said:


> This has happened to me three times in the past week. It also happened to a co-worker as well. The only thing we could find in common was that we had both updated to iOS 12 recently and also received a Tesla update to 36.2.
> 
> Getting out of the car and back in fixed it; reseting the car didn't do anything. The 3rd time it happened for me; I fixed it simply by unbuckling and refastening my seat belt. I've had the car for 3 months and this is the first time I've experienced the glitch.


Can confirm I'm on 36.2 and iOS 12. Thank you for the seat belt trick/information. I'll try that if it happens to me again.


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## porkupan (Jul 24, 2018)

Lovesword said:


> I entered my Model 3 and everything in the car worked as it should except I couldn't shift at all.


So when this happened to me after one of the software updates, the console reset and exiting/entering the vehicle didn't help. I actually called the Tesla Roadside Assistance. They had me repeat all the same steps, exit, walk away and enter, reset the console, do a full poweroff. Nothing seemed to help. Then they asked me to get the keycard, and put it in the NFC spot behind the cupholders. And the car was back in business. I didn't need to use the key card after that - the phone key was working.

The one thing they didn't ask me to do was reboot my phone. Or switch the BT off and on. Although I suspect that might have helped.


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## Love (Sep 13, 2017)

I appreciate all the responses here. I was hopeful to get some good feedback and have something posted on M3OC for others to find via a search so they have options to try and fix it. Thank you all.

I'll be certain to use the bug report feature if I encounter it again.


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## JimmT (Aug 1, 2017)

BTW, I forgot to mention that I reported the bug after the last occurrence.


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## Vidya (Aug 13, 2018)

It happened to me 4 or 5 times last week and I reported the bug using voice command also. And one time I called onroad support guys and told the issue. they simply checked and told that the phone key is not authenticated and simply told me to tap key card on center console if you have it.

But it is a frequent issue nowadays. every time its happening. so what I am doing is simply taking my phone out of pocket and placing it in the cupholder. its working. sometimes car itself not unlocking. same thing. taking the phone out of pocket and unlocking it will authenticate the phone key.


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## Love (Sep 13, 2017)

Vidya said:


> It happened to me 4 or 5 times last week and I reported the bug using voice command also. And one time I called onroad support guys and told the issue. they simply checked and told that the phone key is not authenticated and simply told me to tap key card on center console if you have it.
> 
> But it is a frequent issue nowadays. every time its happening. so what I am doing is simply taking my phone out of pocket and placing it in the cupholder. its working. sometimes car itself not unlocking. same thing. taking the phone out of pocket and unlocking it will authenticate the phone key.


By chance are you on 36.2 and have an iPhone on iOS 12?


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## Vidya (Aug 13, 2018)

Lovesword said:


> By chance are you on 36.2 and have an iPhone on iOS 12?


Yes. My car is on 36.2 and phone iOS 12


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## Maynerd (Mar 17, 2018)

This just happened to me two days ago. I did a soft reset...nothing....got out of the car and locked it using my phone app...nothing...i was finally able to use my phone app to 'start' the car. 

A couple of notes 

I did not do the walk away and let the car lock itself 'trick'
Also, I had been sitting in my car for a few minutes before I attempted to shift into gear.


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## JimmT (Aug 1, 2017)

Maynerd said:


> This just happened to me two days ago. I did a soft reset...nothing....got out of the car and locked it using my phone app...nothing...i was finally able to use my phone app to 'start' the car.
> 
> A couple of notes
> 
> ...


Do you have iOS and 36.2 as well? I suspect that's the problematic combination. I found that I when I went outside and locked/unlocked the car with the phone, the problem was fixed. As I mentioned earlier, the last time I fixed it when I was still inside by unbuckling and refastening the seat belt.


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## Maynerd (Mar 17, 2018)

I have 36.2 but I'm on android.


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