Crazy Carwash fail!!! Has this happened to anyone else?

[jacksdavim]

I've had a really alarming issue in my local Cleanfreak car wash on 2 separate occasions. I have a 2015 P85D and when I take it to the carwash the following happens. About 3/4 of the way through the carwash the car goes into park and gives me a "check charge port" warning. From what I can tell, the brush from the carwash hits the charge port and signals it to open, to which the car responds by immediately shifting into park and stopping in the middle of the wash. I can't put it in neutral or drive until I actually get out and close the charge port, which, if you've never gotten out of your car in the middle of a car wash, really stinks.

I couldn't find any other descriptions of this issue, so I thought it was a freak thing, and tried the car wash again. Same exact thing happened (the second time I had it in tow mode, made no difference).

Has this happened to anyone else?
Does anyone know of a way to disable the charge port from opening?
I know that tesla recommends against automatic carwashes. Could this be why?

 

[dark cloud]

Charge port open and high pressure water spraying at it? Yowsers.

 

[jorobsand]

The main reasoning behind recommending against automatic carwashes is that they will leave scratches in your paint job.

The car can automatically shift from neutral to park when it thinks the driver is no longer in the car. Maybe you are shifting around in your seat and it thinks you are no longer there?

I think the easiest fix is to not use an automatic car wash, but if you must, try using tow mode instead. This should do a better job of leaving the car in neutral. I believe that is what the manual recommends.

 

[Revdcaptdick]

I thought the owner's manual recommended using ONLY brushless carwashes. I could be wrong.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

None of our cars have ever been through a car wash - so I wouldn't know..

 

[KyleDay]

Put it in tow mode and ride with it

 

[jacksdavim]

Charge port open and high pressure water spraying at it? Yowsers.

Yeah, I taped it open and let it dry overnight before plugging it back in. No issues

Put it in tow mode and ride with it

Used Tow Mode the second time, same issue

 

[Bebop]

Never use an automatic car wash.

Instead use a touchless automatic wash or manual wand wash.

 

[ThisIsTrue]

Gee: if I want to screw with a passing Tesla, or stop someone wanting to escape from my robbery attempt, all I have to do is tap their charge point so it opens, and that disables their car? COOL! Now where did I put that gun...?

 

[kutkuzak]

Never use an automatic car wash.

Instead use a touchless automatic wash or manual wand wash.

Tell that to my local Tesla service center - which takes it to a (nice) automatic car wash. It's a car - it can handle it.

 

[P85_DA]

Get PPF and or ceramic ..:avoid car washes

 

[HankLloydRight]

I've never heard of a charge port door opening by just tapping it. It needs the radio singnal from the charging handle to open or I think a triple click of the key fob ( or maybe click and hold).

Your 2015 should also have a motorized door... just tap the main screen button to close it from inside the car.

I've also never heard of a car forcing park just because the port is open, just a warning message.

The car will force park if you lift up out of the seat. Is your key fob getting pressed?

I've taken both my cars through lots of automatic car washes and have never had this happen.

 

[P85_DA]

Newer ports like on ur P85D u can push it open

 

[Dborn]

Occasionally I have pulled out of our local supercharger and have the charge port dooropen. Other than the warning message on the dashboard, this has not stopped me from driving. I don’t see the connection between open charge port and gear shift.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Newer ports like on ur P85D u can push it open

Huh.. I didn't know that.. will check it out tomorrow. But I think everything else I suggested is accurate.

 

[ricebucket]

Can't you close the port from inside the car via the big screen? Also in the past, after charging, I've left the port open and it closed itself after I shifted to D.

 

[Shock-On-T]

I bet you moved out of your driver's seat, or shift enough to de-trigger the weight sensor.
That does all sorts of weird things to the car.

 

[boaterva]

Yeah, all new ones open ‘by hand’. I vote for the ‘lifted the butt’ issue. We’ve seen that many times here about car washes. Tow mode is the way to go.

 

[whitex]

I've never heard of a charge port door opening by just tapping it. It needs the radio singnal from the charging handle to open or I think a triple click of the key fob ( or maybe click and hold).

Your 2015 should also have a motorized door... just tap the main screen button to close it from inside the car.

I've also never heard of a car forcing park just because the port is open, just a warning message.

The car will force park if you lift up out of the seat. Is your key fob getting pressed?

I've taken both my cars through lots of automobile car washes and have never had this happen.

If you have automatic close, you can just tap the charge port, but I think the car has to be unlocked (need to check that to be sure). Also, the car goes into park when you lift your butt off the seat, but the seat-belt needs to be unlatched too.

 

[Ken7]

I’ve used automatic car washes multiple times with my S and never had an issue...I shouldn’t have said that.