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Car would not unlock

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The car would not unlock at one point. I could see on the console that there was a Sentry event. Is that why it wouldn't open? I had to use the mobile app to unlock the car. The sentry event turns out to be just me and a friend talking in front of the car. Is this normal behavior?

TIA,
David

Here's a shot of the situation from outside the car (it was raining obviously).

IMG_6879.jpg
 
So I should address this with service?
You can but be aware that if it's an intermittent issue, you need to pray that it would happen when they diagnose it.

If they cannot duplicate the problem, you'll have to pay the diagnosis fee without any benefits of fixing it. I think it's about $175 or so. They would warn you after you book an appointment.
 
I could see on the console that there was a Sentry event. Is that why it wouldn't open?

@drschwartz to this question: it's actually the other way around. Sentry mode kicked in because the car isn't unlocked and you pulled on the handle. If anyone else walked up, you'd want that recorded, right? :)

I've noticed this happen more often recently, after the phone app (Android in my case) updated to version 4.x. When this happens, try these things:
- if your phone's bluetooth signal might be blocked (e.g. in your back pants pocket or a full bag), try moving the phone and pull the handle again
- if that doesn't work: is the Tesla app still running in the background? I'm not sure about iOS, but on Android, you should see a persistent notification (the "T" logo should be in your notification area of the status bar) if the app is running. It's possible your OS killed the app due to inactivity. Launch it again and try the door handle, it should open
- you could toggle bluetooth off and back on again on your phone and try the handle
- you could force-kill the Tesla app and relaunch it and try the handle
- you could reboot your phone if all else fails, but this may take longer than you want to stand there waiting, especially in the rain.

However, in this situation, the one thing that should definitely work is to pull the keycard (you do carry it with you as a back up as instructed in the manual, right?) out of your wallet and tap it against the driver's side door pillar. You can then troubleshoot what happened with your phone later when you're dry and safe.
 
It's been happening for me intermittently. I do think my phone's Bluetooth signal is a bit weak because the phone got damaged and I suspect the antenna is wonky. The car often chooses my wife's phone key instead of mine even when she's in the passenger seat (or outside the car). Getting a new phone soon, should be able to confirm if that's the cause. I frequently trigger Sentry recording if phone is in my back pocket when I try to open the door. Usually if I turn around or take the phone out, the car will recognize it. In one case, recording went on for quite a long time before I was able to unlock. In a couple of cases I had to resort to using the app to remotely unlock. I agree it is aggravating, hoping for improvement.
 
We had this happen to us a couple times. We ended up deleting it from our bluetooth list, re-synced the key card to our phones, and haven't had a major problem since. Every once in a while it takes a while for my phone to wake up, but once I open the app, it's all good. Both my wife and I have Android phones.
 
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What pocket do you use to carry your phone? I always use the front pants pocket or my the pocket of my jacket to carry my phone. Maybe once or twice every 100 times my phone is not recognized by my Model Y. Sometimes if I toggle the phone's BT off and back on then the phone BT key will unlock the Model Y. Other times I just use the Tesla key card (I always carry the key card in my wallet as a backup.)
 
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Phone operating systems have a tendency to want to stop applications or prevent them from using bluetooth, gps or anything that consumes battery. You need to configure your phone to disable all those optimizations at least for the Tesla app. The Tesla app must run and have access to all of that to perform its "phone as key" job. This has been the culprit for countless people.
Once you are certain that this has been addressed, the phone must be in your front pocket or in your hands, close to the car without obstacle. The app must run, so in case you just installed an update to it you might need to start it manually.
 
I have seen the response, but I will throw in my 2 cents. If you carry in your back pocket the water in your body blocks the signal. When I first got my MYP I used to carry phone in back pocket and had tons of problems. I moved my phone to my front pocket and have not had any issues.

Before anyone argues...I am very familiar with signals and how they work. Water is the biggest affecter of good signals as scintillation from the water (e.g. rain, snow, your body) will affect signal directionality or strength.
 
I've had this happen a time or two. Usually unlocks after about 5 seconds. It happened yesterday, and when I got in the car I noticed there was a sentry alert.... I watched it 2 or 3 times before I realized it was me pulling the door handle!
 
What pocket do you use to carry your phone? I always use the front pants pocket or my the pocket of my jacket to carry my phone. Maybe once or twice every 100 times my phone is not recognized by my Model Y. Sometimes if I toggle the phone's BT off and back on then the phone BT key will unlock the Model Y. Other times I just use the Tesla key card (I always carry the key card in my wallet as a backup.)
I don't think it's that the car doesn't 'see' my phone. I mean, once I take the phone out to 'manually' open the car, it should be seen, right?
 
Phone operating systems have a tendency to want to stop applications or prevent them from using bluetooth, gps or anything that consumes battery. You need to configure your phone to disable all those optimizations at least for the Tesla app. The Tesla app must run and have access to all of that to perform its "phone as key" job. This has been the culprit for countless people.
Once you are certain that this has been addressed, the phone must be in your front pocket or in your hands, close to the car without obstacle. The app must run, so in case you just installed an update to it you might need to start it manually.
This sounds more like an issue for Android devices which are far more configurable than iPhones which Apple keeps pretty well locked down in terms of app configuration. Once I've given the Tesla app its required permissions, it should be good to go, right?
 
I don't think it's that the car doesn't 'see' my phone. I mean, once I take the phone out to 'manually' open the car, it should be seen, right?
There are two different BT connections plus the 4G LTE connection between your phone and the Tesla vehicle (not counting the WiFi connection.)

One BT is for the phone key (the other BT is for audio streaming and phone/text message.) The BT connection only works over a relatively short range.

The LTE connection will connect you to the Tesla vehicle as long as the vehicle can receive the cell signal. When you issue the command to remotely unlock the Tesla vehicle using the app this is done using the LTE connection.