Car wash drives model 3 nuts

[SabrToothSqrl]

My system is:

Well Pump --> Pressure Tank --> 5 micron filter --> softener --> 1 micron filter. all at 60-80 PSI.

Still have horrid water issues. Softener is now 7 years old... (ish?) how long should this thing last?

 

[Beagle]

I haven't read "The Manual" yet, (no car) but isn't there anything there?

 

[Devanish]

You wash your Teslas at commercial car washes? That’s what driveways are for. You should be stripped of your S key fobs and your 3 key cards.

So... got the Model 3.
Went to the local car wash I use for my S.

It's an automatic touchless where a spray bar circles the car.

While in Park, the Model 3 must think something is going to hit it, because it beeps every time the bar gets close. Which, is great when NOT in park... but... annoying AF when you're going to the car wash.

this happen to everyone? I press the mute button and still no luck. Car still goes nuts.

thanks

from reading the manual it sounds like you should be in Neutral, not Park. If the car is being pulled through the car wash (wheels are spinning) the electric motor can get damaged if it is in Park.Same scenario of you are getting it towed.
Page 146 owners manual - This is described in the Transport Mode section.
To prevent damage and overheating of the rear motor when rolling or winching Model 3 onto a flatbed truck, you must either enable Transport Mode.

Transport mode exists so that the car can stay in neutral when there isn't a person in the drivers seat while it's being winched. So if you are going through a car wash and you are inside, you definitely want to be in Neutral and not Park.

 

[iwannam3]

My system is:

Well Pump --> Pressure Tank --> 5 micron filter --> softener --> 1 micron filter. all at 60-80 PSI.

Still have horrid water issues. Softener is now 7 years old... (ish?) how long should this thing last?

Water softeners grab magnesium and calcium and release sodium in exchange. (from all the salt you put in it) Your water spots will now be sodium, not calcium. Calcium reacts with soap to bind 2 soap molecules together and create scum and reduce the amount of soap available to clean. RO puts calcium, magnesium and sodium in the reject stream and produces a second smaller stream of low dissolved solids water. Your system ( and all softeners) replaces 1 calcium (+2 charge) with 2 sodiums (+1 ea).

 

[slipnslider]

You wash your Teslas at commercial car washes? That’s what driveways are for. You should be stripped of your S key fobs and your 3 key cards.

YOU have a driveway that means EVERYONE has a driveway, right?

 

[iwannam3]

YOU have a driveway that means EVERYONE has a driveway, right?

Everyone should wash on the lawn to keep soapy water out of storm drains that lead to streams and to water the lawn. OK some people don't have lawns either....

 

[towndrunk]

We each have an unlimited car wash pass. I just need the beeping to stop.

That's the position I'll be in. A fine auto needs to be kept clean. My wife's Buick Encore often beeps like crazy in a car wash, where my Volt likes to pop open the charge port if soft-touch brushes are involved.

 

[LSE47]

how about a screen button for cashwash that disables all the warnings, auto wipers, etc.

Sure would be nice to have the luxury of handwashing, building a rainwater system and all the other creative ways people wash these cars. Some of us just don't have the time or space to wash the cars in such loving caring ways and just go to the neighborhood carwash with the brushes.

 

[daniel]

I go to a place where you put quarters in and there's a spray wand and a brush wand. Spots? Who cares? It's a car, not a Rembrandt painting. But FWIW, I can't see any spots after I dry the car with a lint-free cloth or a synthetic chamois. Ah, the benefit of mediocre eyesight.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Thats my Tahoe. And that's after a first pass at cleaning.

My well water DESTROYS cars. Hence the car wash pass, which after 3 years and HUNDREDS of washes has left ZERO spots on my S.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

after some more cleaning.

getting really tired of photos being jacked on this site..

 

[towndrunk]

how about a screen button for cashwash that disables all the warnings, auto wipers, etc.

Last time my wife's Encore was beeping and I was pushing a couple of buttons, one on the wheel, the other in the console and it didn't help. At least I know how to turn off the auto wipers, but it's a few more steps in a M3.

 

[timk225]

I'm not looking forward to next winter. I've been hand washing my 3 with a micro fiber cloth and my city water at 50 psi through a hose. But when it gets too cold for that, local car washes will have to do. There is no way a touchless can get a car clean, the surface needs to be rubbed to break the dirt loose, but for winter and the miserable road salt, it will probably suffice.

 

[ToddB]

A different Car Wash Problem with Model 3:
I thought I had car washes mastered: Turn wipers from Auto to Manual. Put car in neutral and allow car wash to take over. I did this two days ago, at a car wash that requires you to stay in the car (but hands off the wheel, foot off the brake). Two-thirds of the way through the car wash, the center console flashes some message about automatically going into park to prevent car roll-away. It then refused to go into neutral (while still being pulled by the car wash machinery. I quickly settled on putting in drive and letting the car wash pull the car while in drive (I had no other choice). The car behind men almost hit my car during this escapade. I will not go back to a car wash until Tesla releases an update with a car wash setting. But c lean Tesla's are good advertisements for TESLA. They need to fix this.