Disappointing experience of curb contact with automatic parallel parking

[David29]

I have used automatic parallel parking a dozen times or more. One of the advantages I found for it was that it avoided hitting the curb, which I had managed to do on one or two occasions, with resulting "curb rash."
So I was quite surprised when the right rear wheel struck the curb when the car was auto-parking at the curb one day last week. That wheel had been struck previously so I am not sure if I could tell whether or not the episode actually resulted in wheel damage. But even so, I do not understand why it happened, and am disappointed.
The curb seemed to be of "normal" height and I think the sensor should have detected it. But i can't know for sure.
Now I am not sure I can trust it to be better than I.

 

[jeffro01]

YMMV but I've used it 100+ times for parallel parking and it's been perfect (a slight bit of crookedness here and there but nothing that required me to manually fix it) each and every time. Again, and this is clearly the case, YMMV...

Jeff

 

[zambono]

It's not perfect, things like how far up, how far away, if the road is curved, etc all affect autopark

 

[David29]

It's not perfect, things like how far up, how far away, if the road is curved, etc all affect autopark

Right, I get that. In this particular case, the conditions were about as simple as they could be, I think. Straight, good curb, etc. But clearly my opinion does not match that of the car.

 

[zambono]

Right, I get that. In this particular case, the conditions were about as simple as they could be, I think. Straight, good curb, etc. But clearly my opinion does not match that of the car.

My S will arrive in a month, for good or bad it seems that Tesla offers a lot of features but nothing is 100%, unlike other manufacturers who might offer less but make sure that what is offered is ready for prime time. I have mixed feelings about it, as I am sure many else do.

 

[Max*]

Autopark is far from perfect. I've had it abort mid-park, I've had it park very crooked, I've had it get scared of trees, etc. etc. etc. with that being said, I've never had it curb the wheels.

I don't use it that often though, and I never use perpendicular park (it's just too slow).

 

[David29]

Autopark is far from perfect. I've had it abort mid-park, I've had it park very crooked, I've had it get scared of trees, etc. etc. etc. with that being said, I've never had it curb the wheels.

I don't use it that often though, and I never use perpendicular park (it's just too slow).

I agree that the auto parking can be slow. But it has seemed to me, so far, to be very good at splitting the distance between two cars. So sometimes I use it when I have no choice but to park in a tight spot. (And I do admit to having used it a few times to experiment and/or show off a bit!)

 

[Discoducky]

I have used automatic parallel parking a dozen times or more. One of the advantages I found for it was that it avoided hitting the curb, which I had managed to do on one or two occasions, with resulting "curb rash."
So I was quite surprised when the right rear wheel struck the curb when the car was auto-parking at the curb one day last week. That wheel had been struck previously so I am not sure if I could tell whether or not the episode actually resulted in wheel damage. But even so, I do not understand why it happened, and am disappointed.
The curb seemed to be of "normal" height and I think the sensor should have detected it. But i can't know for sure.
Now I am not sure I can trust it to be better than I.

Take a picture of that curb as well as try to park at the same spot or similar again while watching the sideview mirror to be sure it doesn't strike the curb. As well as taking a video of Autopark hitting the curb then maybe Tesla would pay for the rash repair as well as fix the issue with your system or the algo of all cars. You may have found a really good bug! (or bad bug depending on your perspective)

 

[chillaban]

Take a picture of that curb as well as try to park at the same spot or similar again while watching the sideview mirror to be sure it doesn't strike the curb. As well as taking a video of Autopark hitting the curb then maybe Tesla would pay for the rash repair as well as fix the issue with your system or the algo of all cars. You may have found a really good bug! (or bad bug depending on your perspective)

Of course, remember to be polite during the process. Tesla isn't obligated to do anything since you are responsible for monitoring your car during the AutoPark sequence…. But with that said, Tesla has a lot of goodwill (a ton more than any other automaker), so hopefully if you are nice they will be nice in return.

 

[ken830]

I don't think the sensors are able to sense the curb, right? I believe it simply aligns itself with the other parked cars. Maybe the parked cars are a lot narrower and parked very close to the curb?

 

[jeffro01]

I don't think the sensors are able to sense the curb, right? I believe it simply aligns itself with the other parked cars. Maybe the parked cars are a lot narrower and parked very close to the curb?

Nope, it most definitely uses the ultra sonics to detect the curb.

Jeff

 

[ken830]

I just have a classic car that doesn't even have parking sensors, so I was just guessing. But it boggles my mind to think that a proximity sensor that is set-up to sense tall vehicles several feet away can do a good job sensing an object a few inches from the ground and just a few inches away from the vehicle.

 

[thimel]

I just have a classic car that doesn't even have parking sensors, so I was just guessing. But it boggles my mind to think that a proximity sensor that is set-up to sense tall vehicles several feet away can do a good job sensing an object a few inches from the ground and just a few inches away from the vehicle.

I think it maps it out as you drive past and then just parks in the location it mapped out. I know that as I pull forward into a diagonal parking space that my ultrasonics see the parking curb until I am a few feet from it and then no longer see it.

 

[gerti]

I had the same thing happen to me last weekend. Hit the curb at quite some angle too, it was nowhere near making it or being able to correct by pulling forward. That after some rather odd nav behavior (tried to have me turn onto a light rail track, and went a couple extra blocks where it didn't beed to) left us and the friends we had in the car rather un-impressed.

 

[TaoJones]

There are a surprising number of "features" that tend to kill the word of mouth with passengers who get turned off by, in no particular order:

1. a browser that is unable to get through a simple Design Studio session to configure a car even with a strong LTE signal.
2. inconsistent autopark experiences (see above for just one example).
3. AP inconsistencies, some of which require abrupt driver intervention.
4. odd wear points and UX issues (B-pillar wear, odd armrest/cup holder height, lack of coat hooks in non-pano models).
5. inconsistent service experiences.

I list the above because I have experienced at least one case each with a passenger/prospective buyer who wasn't as much a fan or prospective buyer after one or more of the above occurred.

While I accept my role as a beta tester within an experience that is collectively and inarguably better than average, I've been surprised by prospective buyers who are much less forgiving. I think part of it is an underlying anxiety about the usual stuff (range anxiety, higher cost of entry). However, upgrading the browser chipset, glaring interior design foibles, and not having autopark damage a rim are all low-hanging fruit with high upside.

Word of mouth is important for a company that enjoys a very low traditional advertising budget (not to be confused with Sales/other Marketing). I'd like to believe that the Model 3 will have coat hooks and better B-pillars but I, um, forgot to look. Again, in general, they've already hit another one out of the park (hence what will be close to a half-million reservations by the time the first car rolls off the line). While losing a small percentage of sales to the above may not sound like much, excellence is in the margins. Getting from 99.99% to 99.999% is just as much of an achievement as anything else, and some would say more so, given the team effort required to make that happen.

 

[ecarfan]

@TaoJones, yes some potential customers nit-pick and fail to see the big picture: no gas, a full "tank" every morning, runs on sustainable energy, amazing acceleration, silky smooth driving experience, no oil changes, OTA updates so the car you bought years ago continues to improve, a vast and constantly growing Supercharger network, etc.

The in-car browser is limited but I always have a phone or tablet with me so what do I care, that's not why I bought the car. AP will improve, and has already improved significantly. The interior issues you mention are, in my opinion, tiny, and I've never had anyone I have shown my car to mention them.

Yes there are things about the car that need to improve, obviously. The cars have radically improved since the first year of production, and will continue to do so. No, I'm not a mindless Tesla cheerleader, but when I compare the things that people complain about now compared to all the issues that Tesla has solved over the past four years, the remaining issues are minuscule.

Tesla loses sales to people who are locked in an ICE mindset, and even perfect fixes to the 5 items you list will have no impact on them.

 

[simonog]

While I too am not a mindless cheerleader, I note the deficiencies in the car and divide them into two classes: software and mechanical/hardware.

Of your list, all of which are irritating, only one is mechanical. The others are all software (and people - service centre experience).

Four of the five can be fixed without taking the car to Tesla. That is a marked difference from other cars. Will Tesla devote any staff to creating the fixes? That, for the most part is down to us: the. Ore votes they get through the service centres, the more they are likely to attend to an issue sooner.