Automatically shifted into park in car wash!!

[Siciliano]

I don't think I'll ever go to a car wash again... I've been traumatized. This morning I went to the car wash (as I've done a dozen other times since getting the car), but this time the car put itself into park to "prevent rollaway" right in the middle of the f'n carwash! This has actually happened before, but ALWAYS on an incline, which makes sense...

There was a very large Dodge Ram behind me, and I nearly sh*t myself as I saw it getting closer and closer as I panicked like an idiot, fumbling to get back into neutral from park. The carwash attendant came to my window and said he was literally 2 inches from ramming into me. I don't know how they detect these incidents, but I'm glad the detection system was working today! As per his instructions I had to accelerate over a few rollers to catch up to the car in front of me, and they then started the wash back up.

After I got out and parked I talked to him and he said he keeps an extra eye out when Teslas go through because his wife has one and this has happened to her before... he said apparently if you shift enough body weight around in your seat while it's in neutral, it'll go into park. I had actually dropped my sunglasses and was reaching to get them.

Is this true? I wish I knew about this before today! lol I can't think of any other reason or would have done that, apart from an outright malfunction of course. Has this happened to anyone else??

 

[jjrandorin]

If you remove weight from the seat, the car shifts into park.. Depending on how you were reaching around, that is likely what happened.

 

[‘Merica]

Yeah. Don’t move. I make an effort to be completely still while in the wash tunnel

 

[GtiMart]

I'd say keep your seatbelt on, and don't remove weight from the seat. automatic shifting into park seems to happen more for me when I don't buckle up, like when I just get the car out of the garage for example.

 

[gearchruncher]

Read the manual. It literally says that it will shift into park in various situations based on seatbelt, weight on seat, and door open. Basically any 2 of the 3. So yes, seatbelt is a good backup.

It's kinda worthless though. It also says it will do it at other times too as needed

 

[GtiMart]

Right. I hate it that it decides weight on the seat changed when I am just turning my head to look backwards as I reverse... It's very sensitive.

 

[Siciliano]

Thanks guys for the feedback - I figured this was a RTFM moment, but I kinda wanted to share my funny story

 

[SSonnentag]

From my experimenting, as long as your seatbelt is fastened, you can shift as much of your weight around as you want or can without causing the car to go into park.

 

[Gasaraki]

I don't think I'll ever go to a car wash again... I've been traumatized. This morning I went to the car wash (as I've done a dozen other times since getting the car), but this time the car put itself into park to "prevent rollaway" right in the middle of the f'n carwash! This has actually happened before, but ALWAYS on an incline, which makes sense...

There was a very large Dodge Ram behind me, and I nearly sh*t myself as I saw it getting closer and closer as I panicked like an idiot, fumbling to get back into neutral from park. The carwash attendant came to my window and said he was literally 2 inches from ramming into me. I don't know how they detect these incidents, but I'm glad the detection system was working today! As per his instructions I had to accelerate over a few rollers to catch up to the car in front of me, and they then started the wash back up.

After I got out and parked I talked to him and he said he keeps an extra eye out when Teslas go through because his wife has one and this has happened to her before... he said apparently if you shift enough body weight around in your seat while it's in neutral, it'll go into park. I had actually dropped my sunglasses and was reaching to get them.

Is this true? I wish I knew about this before today! lol I can't think of any other reason or would have done that, apart from an outright malfunction of course. Has this happened to anyone else??

Yes, if it detects that you have left your seat, the car will go in to Park if it's in N or maybe even Hold. Don't take off your seat belt.

 

[IraB]

Why not just put the car in tow mode to avoid any risk of going into park?

 

[SSonnentag]

Why not just put the car in tow mode to avoid any risk of going into park?

Tow mode automatically exits to park mode after 30 feet.

 

[CyberGus]

I'm sure Consumer Reports will figure something out.

 

[Candleflame]

who goes in an automatic carwash anyway.

 

[SSonnentag]

who goes in an automatic carwash anyway.

Looks like over 45,000 people per day do. I've used them for years as well, with no ill effects.

21 Car Wash Industry Statistics and Trends

Car Wash Industry Statistics The car wash industry is very fragmented with no one company controlling a large portion of the industry. According to the United States Census Bureau, over 100,000 car wash facilities in

brandongaille.com

 

[MikeyC]

I have yet to go to the car wash but I'm a member. Never had any issues with my prior cars as it's a Tommy Wash that is well maintained and uses soft brushes. Anyway, my plan was to use "Roll" mode and never put it in neutral. Why not do that? If your foot isn't on the pedals, it's basically neutral without ever having to change out of D. If it works, I may make a car wash profile that has Roll mode set, wipers off, HVAC off, etc.

The only thing I don't know is if the car will do anything funky when you enter or exit the belts: when that happens, either the front wheels will be stationary while the backs are rolling, or vice versa. Has anyone tried roll mode in this situation to see if it causes a problem?

Mike

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

You could try tweeting Elon to ask for a car wash mode.

 

[GtiMart]

I'm not saying you shouldn't go to car washes but I cannot understand why you don't have touchless car washes. The car washes here have you park in the middle and the water jets go around the car. There's a mechanical arm that moves around. There is no need to stay in neutral, nothing moves the car for you. At the end it's your job to slowly advance towards the air jet to dry the car, and there's a timer that tells you how much time you have left to leave. Absolutely no risk. Don't you have any of those??

 

[MikeyC]

Personally, I've done the touchless car washes and they just don't get the car clean. I'd never take my car to a "typical" carwash. The Tommy Wash near me uses a double belt where wheel damage isn't really a worry and soft cloth brushes. Of course, it's always better to hand wash and I have the stuff to do that but in the summer when it rains literally every day, my car would be dirty more than it is clean if I had to do it myself every time. It just reduces the enjoyment of the car when I spend 30-45 minutes cleaning it myself only to have it dirty again the first time I drive it due to a thunderstorm.

Mike

 

[TarmacSurfer]

Personally I don’t trust the chemical cleaners that the commercial car washes use. Big 55-gallon drums of differently-colored glop to be sprayed on... I’m gonna stick with old fashioned bucket washing but that’s just me.

 

[dmurphy]

I'm not saying you shouldn't go to car washes but I cannot understand why you don't have touchless car washes. The car washes here have you park in the middle and the water jets go around the car. There's a mechanical arm that moves around. There is no need to stay in neutral, nothing moves the car for you. At the end it's your job to slowly advance towards the air jet to dry the car, and there's a timer that tells you how much time you have left to leave. Absolutely no risk. Don't you have any of those??

The closest one is about 40 minutes away.

I take mine to a hand car wash that uses a conveyor system - put it in Tow Mode, works just fine. Never an issue.

Tow Mode stays engaged for 20 minutes or until someone presses the brake. No problem.