Automatic Carwash - Neutral vs. Roll

[bjcseven]

Model Y owners who have taken their Tesla through a touchless car wash report that the process leaves a brown stain or sometimes a rainbow pattern on the blackout trim parts; perhaps you have not had the issue. The stain is supposedly caused by the high pH detergents used in the touchless wash and can be easy or difficult to remove, based on reports.

I have had this problem. Even using a reliable car wash that we have previously used on our Model X, and previously a Model 3 and S. It’s pretty disappointing to not be able to get it looking just right yet. Hoping to get it restored to it’s original look ASAP.

 

[HeyEph]

So, I tried the "roll mode" today. Two probs:

1) The proximity sensors were going crazy and were very annoying
2) The mirrors did not unfold when I went back to my profile. I guess this one can be fixed with the gps-based folding that someone mentioned above.

 

[Ldub22]

I don’t have my Y yet, so I am following this carefully. People seem quite stressed!

I read the owners manual, and it seems to be exactly like my Model S: one second of the stalk in the first position (half press) puts it into neutral. Go to a parking lot and try it several times. It’s easy after you get past the nerves. DON’T use the brake to shift to neutral, and don’t do it out of park. Both of those actions only make it unnecessarily complicated.
So drive in, hold shifter down gently to shift into neutral, fold mirrors and turn off wipers, wash, unfold mirrors and reset wipers, light tap of brakes and full pull of shifter on exit to go to drive.
You can do it!

 

[Electric > Gas]

I had the latest update installed this morning and on my way to work I noticed I can shift from neutral to drive without pressing the break. I don’t know if the update did it or not but that is a huge improvement for using a car wash. Anybody else want to verify that it works for them?

 

[Impaler]

I have researched this a lot and have watched several videos on this. Almost all advise points to doing things like:

1. folding in mirrors
2. put wipers in manual mode
3. put car into neutral
4. DO NOT lift butt from seat or unbuckle or the car could (depends who you ask) go into Park which would be awful for obvious reasons.
5. When done, light touch brake, shift to Drive, and drive away.

I've done this three times and it's pretty intimidating because the car isn't always easy to get into neutral.

I do all the above and it's easy. Although technically I change the wipers to OFF.

 

[DaveORD]

I had the latest update installed this morning and on my way to work I noticed I can shift from neutral to drive without pressing the break. I don’t know if the update did it or not but that is a huge improvement for using a car wash. Anybody else want to verify that it works for them?

I think you could always do that, as long as the speed was less than 5 MPH. I switch from R to D and D to R all the time without using the brake or coming to a full stop first. One of the advantages of software controlled drive, and not mechanical.

 

[Electric > Gas]

I think you could always do that, as long as the speed was less than 5 MPH. I switch from R to D and D to R all the time without using the brake or coming to a full stop first. One of the advantages of software controlled drive, and not mechanical.

You are correct, but I am not talking about going from drive to reverse or vice versa. I am talking about going from neutral to drive without the need to tap the break. I am almost positive that is a new development.

 

[jsmay311]

Getting into neutral is easy, but remembering how to do it is hard:
...With foot on break, and while in Park, partially press down the right stalk and hold for 2 seconds.

That's mostly not right.

It's not necessary to be in park or to have your foot on the brake, and you can push the stalk up or down for >1 second.

From the Model Y owner's manual:
"Push the drive stalk up or down to the first position and hold it there for more than 1 second to shift into Neutral. Neutral allows Model Y to roll freely when you are not pressing the brake pedal.
NOTE: You must press the brake pedal to shift out of Neutral if driving slower than approximately 5 mph (8 km/h)."

​

 

[jsmay311]

I had the latest update installed this morning and on my way to work I noticed I can shift from neutral to drive without pressing the break. I don’t know if the update did it or not but that is a huge improvement for using a car wash. Anybody else want to verify that it works for them?

I think you could always do that, as long as the speed was less than 5 MPH. I switch from R to D and D to R all the time without using the brake or coming to a full stop first. One of the advantages of software controlled drive, and not mechanical.

You are correct, but I am not talking about going from drive to reverse or vice versa. I am talking about going from neutral to drive without the need to tap the break. I am almost positive that is a new development.

It's always been possible to shift from Neutral to Drive without pressing the brake pedal when moving faster than 5 mph.

From the manual:

"Push the drive stalk up or down to the first position and hold it there for more than 1 second to shift into Neutral. Neutral allows Model Y to roll freely when you are not pressing the brake pedal.

NOTE: You must press the brake pedal to shift out of Neutral if driving slower than approximately 5 mph (8 km/h)." (emphasis added)

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

It's always been possible to shift from Neutral to Drive without pressing the brake pedal when moving faster than 5 mph.

From the manual:

"Push the drive stalk up or down to the first position and hold it there for more than 1 second to shift into Neutral. Neutral allows Model Y to roll freely when you are not pressing the brake pedal.

NOTE: You must press the brake pedal to shift out of Neutral if driving slower than approximately 5 mph (8 km/h)." (emphasis added)

That may well be true, but messing around with Park and Neutral is probably best done when stationary with your foot on the break.

 

[DaveORD]

Pet peeve but break and brake are not interchangeable... It is a brake pedal, and if you press the brake pedal too hard you may break it.

 

[Electric > Gas]

Pet peeve but break and brake are not interchangeable... It is a brake pedal, and if you press the brake pedal too hard you may break it.

My bad - I did voice to text and didn’t even notice.

 

[Electric > Gas]

It's always been possible to shift from Neutral to Drive without pressing the brake pedal when moving faster than 5 mph.

From the manual:

"Push the drive stalk up or down to the first position and hold it there for more than 1 second to shift into Neutral. Neutral allows Model Y to roll freely when you are not pressing the brake pedal.

NOTE: You must press the brake pedal to shift out of Neutral if driving slower than approximately 5 mph (8 km/h)." (emphasis added)

Interesting - I wonder why they do it that way. Thanks for the information!

 

[RengieMendoza]

Have you guys had any issues with the 21 Uberturbine Wheels? This is the only thing I'm worried about since the wheels are really sticking out an the tires seem to be folded in...

 

[Marty2020]

While I haven’t need to use a car wash, I wish Tesla would include a CAR WASH mode in the Service section.

Of course that means they have to revise their "No Automatic Carwash" policy first! Does Elon hand wash his car?

 

[webbah]

That may well be true, but messing around with Park and Neutral is probably best done when stationary with your foot on the break.

No need to worry about going from Neutral to Drive, etc, while driving or doing this at a car wash. In fact I was doing a test drive with a technician to debug some noise we thought was coming from the axle or something. So I suggested we switch to neutral while traveling 120Km/h. He agreed and held the stalk down for 1 second, car switched to neutral and we then listened to any noise without the motors engaged to the drivetrain. We then put it back in Drive and carried on. The car is smart enough to not let you go into Park while moving too fast (above 5 mph or 8 Km/h)

 

[2101Guy]

In another thread there is a discussion regarding the Tesla wipers. It appears that when the Tesla vehicle is not in Drive the wipers will stop, this would apply to Neutral. This is easy to confirm; the next time it is raining shift to Park or Neutral and confirm that the wipers have stopped. So one less thing to have to remember if you take the Tesla vehicle through an automatic car wash.

Since taking delivery of my Model Y this past June I have been washing my Tesla by hand using a soap foam cannon, 1600 PSI power washer, wash mitt and the two bucket method with a grit guard. Now that it is getting too cold to wash by hand I have switched to using Optimum No Rinse (ONR) Wash and Shine, once a week. Using ONR I can wash the Model Y, parked inside my garage, in about a half an hour. If I need to wash off road salt, when it is too cold to turn on the water to the hose bib, I plan to use the high pressure wand at the local car wash and then use ONR to finish.

Shortly after receiving my Model Y, I asked a Model 3 owner whose vehicle looked very clean how they washed their Tesla. They said they washed their Model 3 at home or at the nearby automatic car wash. They said it was their second Model 3, they never had an issue with damaging the paint, wheels etc. at the automatic car wash. I have used this automatic car wash with other vehicles I have owned, it is not a touch less wash.

My Tesla Vehicle Washing Protocol
1st year; new car - no way I would ever use an automated car wash; hand wash only
After 1st year - thinking about using an automated car wash, continuing to wash car at home
After 2nd year - might use an automated car wash in winter, otherwise continue to wash car at home
After 3rd year - would use an automated car wash, sometimes wash car at home
After 4th year - meh, who cares; do whatever is most convenient

Great post!

Im feeling this way about spending thousands for PPF wrap. Especially after just selling a vehicle that I had for 8 years with no wrap, minimal small stone chips on the front, no other issues on any other panels, and still got top dollar for it via private sale...

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

Great post!

Im feeling this way about spending thousands for PPF wrap. Especially after just selling a vehicle that I had for 8 years with no wrap, minimal small stone chips on the front, no other issues on any other panels, and still got top dollar for it via private sale...

We just wrapped the front of the car

No reason to wrap all of it

 

[roach_779]

Anybody have issue with touchless carwash adding film on the windshield that shows up when using wipers in the rain? I get these big blob of spots that shows up on wiper's return cycle, but not on the initial cycle.

 

[escape pod]

Here’s the service request text I submitted regarding my fun car wash experience:

When vehicle is in an automatic car wash the screen alerts that a door is open and the passenger side rear window lowers two inches letting water and soap into the vehicle. The vehicle had to be rebooted after the wash for the window to go back up. A couple hours later while parked outside I noticed the app said a window was open but when I went out to check all windows were closed.