Door Pillar Cameras Blinded. Customer Service Problem.

[Adrian777]

I am continually getting warning messages on my M3 that my door pillar cameras are blocked or blinded. It happens several times on every journey, despite them being clean and no condensation or fog appearing to be present. The warnings come and go several times on each trip.
As a last resort I booked a service appointment but Tesla have since phoned me asking for specifics of a journey where it happened. It has to be a journey of more than 40 mins, so they can check humidity etc. They say without this information they can’t do anything under warranty so they won’t attend until I can provide this info. The car is 2 months old.
They say this fault is common in recent U.K. weather conditions and they doubt there is a problem, which makes me wonder if they are suggesting the car doesn’t work properly in the UK late Autumn / Winter. What is beyond doubt is that if what they are saying is true, the car certainly doesn’t work properly on journeys of less than 40 mins in the U.K. at this time of year.
TBH this has really shaken my confidence in the brand and their customer service which I was under the impression was fantastic. An earlier issue with the car from new where a repeater camera was faulty was sorted immediately (well, 2 or 3 weeks after I reported it). Now I am beginning to think the car hasn’t actually been right from new and now they are being reticent about fixing it.
I am really sorry to say this has soured the whole experience for me.
I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this issue with the pillar cameras and how Tesla handled it. I would also welcome any advice from more longstanding Tesla owners on what, if anything, I should do.

 

[tsh2]

Generally this warning seems to occur when the road is dark and the left hand camera in particular just sees nothing. I've not noticed any feature degradation as a result.

 

[GRiLLA]

I'm pretty sure everyone sees these warnings, in my experience it's either when it's very dark or there is very low sun, both of which make the camera think it can't see. It's a warning, like limited regen, not a fault, but I agree it's a bit over sensitive and it would be better if it tolerated it for longer before warning you.

Other than seeing a message on the screen, how is it effecting you?

 

[browellm]

their customer service which I was under the impression was fantastic.

 

[MrBadger]

Alas, it is very common this time of year. Low sun is another significant factor.

It does have an impact with NoA and lane change.

Its been said several times, once direct to me, that an engineering solution is in hand. Not seen any benefit reported anywhere if that is already released.

 

[Adopado]

This is indeed the very worst time of the year for camera blinding due to low angle sun. I can understand that because you have had an actual camera fault previously that you are going to feel this must be a fault too. It most likely isn't... especially if you are not seeing evidence of regular condensation issues. In this instance the Telsa service team are giving you a reasonable response as far as I can see. I've not noticed camera blinding causing any actual driving problems.

I'm not sure where you heard that Tesla customer service was normally fantastic! I've been dealt with very well to date but customer service and communication is definitely not one of the areas that Tesla scores highly with!

 

[Adrian777]

This is indeed the very worst time of the year for camera blinding due to low angle sun. I can understand that because you have had an actual camera fault previously that you are going to feel this must be a fault too. It most likely isn't... especially if you are not seeing evidence of regular condensation issues. In this instance the Telsa service team are giving you a reasonable response as far as I can see. I've not noticed camera blinding causing any actual driving problems.

I'm not sure where you heard that Tesla customer service was normally fantastic! I've been dealt with very well to date but customer service and communication is definitely not one of the areas that Tesla scores highly with!

Thanks for your reply.
In regard to customer service expectations I was going off my first experience and I guess the general impression most seem to have about Tesla. Following the telephone conversation I have very much come down to earth with a bump.
I disagree about the response from Tesla though. They didn’t mention low sunlight. They said it was likely due to recent weather and that it probably won’t happen on journeys of more than 40 mins. I can’t think of another product where it’s acceptable for it to work only part of the time at particular times of year. I don’t recall this being mentioned before they took my £56k.
As I understand it, it will affect lane changing, but if it doesn’t affect anything then why have the continual warnings flashing up? At the very least it’s not a great look and Tesla should expect a lot of “unwarranted” service calls as a result.
Basically, I have bought an expensive item that is telling me itself it isn’t working properly. The seller is fobbing me off. I guess that’s why I am concerned. I expected better, but maybe that’s just me.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Sometimes they simply do not have an approved fix for issues like this. That is why they do not want to set you up for a service visit.
Often they can design around it with software updates, other times they need to replace or repair a component.

They will wait to get you in until they have an approved repair. If it can be adjusted by software, then they usually will upload the solution without you needing to come into the service center.

Sometimes these are known issues, but they do not yet know the solution. No need for you to come in if they do not have an approved solution for your issue.

 

[Adopado]

In regard to customer service expectations I was going off my first experience and I guess the general impression most seem to have about Tesla.

Not on this forum! I would say it's ... mixed!

You are quite right to highlight features that are not working, especially suspected hardware faults. I'm not excusing Tesla on this. (I can only speak for my own experience and this particular issue, though real, does not cause problems for me ... I don't have FSD so automatic lane changes are not on the cards.) I presume Tesla are trying to rule out the condensation issue first because if it's bad enough that is something they can actually address. The low angle sun aspect is going to be beyond their direct control but hopefully future software may help with that.

A good (and a bad?) thing is that the technology in a Tesla is constantly being developed ... and the improvements are passed on to existing customers through software updates. In that respect it's very different to a car where everything on day 1 is as good as it's ever going to be. It's a bit like getting a brand new computer before you have all the software to make the most of its capabilities. My car has several useful features and capabilities that it didn't have when I bought it. It also has some existing features that needed improving that have indeed been improved... and that's the good side of the way they work.

 

[Adrian777]

Sometimes they simply do not have an approved fix for issues like this. That is why they do not want to set you up for a service visit.
Often they can design around it with software updates, other times they need to replace or repair a component.

They will wait to get you in until they have an approved repair. If it can be adjusted by software, then they usually will upload the solution without you needing to come into the service center.

Sometimes these are known issues, but they do not yet know the solution. No need for you to come in if they do not have an approved solution for your issue.

Thanks for your reply.
Their refusal to attend the service appointment was purely due to them not being able to claim under warranty if it worked on longer journeys. They said it was likely it wouldn’t work on journeys of under 40 mins. That tells me it’s a known issue as you say. But we can’t get away from the fact they are selling something they know doesn’t work properly all the time. I can’t think of another product where this is the case or would indeed be deemed acceptable.
I guess I just have to hope they can come up with a solution, but it doesn’t fill you with confidence.
IMO it would be better if you could just turn the warnings off. It’s not like you can do anything about it.

 

[Chrisgillett]

I have had these warnings too. Its always short lived and often on the same piece of road. I took it to mean the camera couldn’t see anything but figured that was reasonable as I’m driving in the countryside past bushes with no clear white line/Kiev demarcating the edge of the road.
Couldn’t really find it in me to blame the car for this one.

 

[Adopado]

But we can’t get away from the fact they are selling something they know doesn’t work properly all the time. I can’t think of another product where this is the case or would indeed be deemed acceptable.

Every computer that's been sold since the year dot.

 

[Adrian777]

Every computer that's been sold since the year dot.

But not every car and I have never paid £56k for a computer. And if you do get a faulty computer they will generally fix it for you. Probably because that is actually the law.

 

[Adrian777]

I have had these warnings too. Its always short lived and often on the same piece of road. I took it to mean the camera couldn’t see anything but figured that was reasonable as I’m driving in the countryside past bushes with no clear white line/Kiev demarcating the edge of the road.
Couldn’t really find it in me to blame the car for this one.

Now that is interesting and not something I had considered or was mentioned in my conversation with Tesla.
As the car is telling me the camera is blinded or blocked when it wasn’t, I assumed it was a camera fault. I did not know the camera had to have something clear to see.
I will check this when I go on my Tesla prescribed 40+ minute journey. It’s a shame Tesla didn’t mention it.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

It's a design flaw. Blinded by winter sun and fogging in the camera due to condensation. The service centre can't help - it really needs a proper fix that would be hardware and that has to come from the US (where, apparently, it doesn't happen).

Maybe they could fix the blinding in software, but there has been no signs that they can yet.

 

[Adopado]

But not every car and I have never paid £56k for a computer. And if you do get a faulty computer they will generally fix it for you. Probably because that is actually the law.

Notwithstanding that some people have indeed spent £56,000+ on a computer (not a PC!) my point alludes to the hardware/software interface that makes some modern cars closer to the computer experience than to the "simple" mechanical nuts and bolts of cars through the years. If it was that easy all the features of Windows or MacOs or Unix or Linux would work without a hitch ... no bugs ... no updates needed ... but we don't send those computers back to the shop because we acknowledge that it is the nature of the beast. My hope is that the camera blinding may be helped by software updates. Of course you may have a specific hardware problem with your car, I don't know, so good luck with that.

 

[GRiLLA]

Thanks for your reply.
That tells me it’s a known issue as you say. But we can’t get away from the fact they are selling something they know doesn’t work properly all the time. I can’t think of another product where this is the case or would indeed be deemed acceptable.

When it's really really sunny I can't see my iPhone screen clearly. When it's winter my solar panels don't seem to generate the same power. My drone struggles to maintain position when it's windy. My Sony dSLR takes poor pictures if the sun is in the wrong position. My broadband is much slower in the evening compared to the day.

 

[Adrian777]

When it's really really sunny I can't see my iPhone screen clearly. When it's winter my solar panels don't seem to generate the same power. My drone struggles to maintain position when it's windy. My Sony dSLR takes poor pictures if the sun is in the wrong position. My broadband is much slower in the evening compared to the day.

agreed, but you know that when you buy them. What I thought I knew when I bought my car was the cameras would work, all the time, not at different times of the year or only after a long drive. Now, I agree, if I had known that the pillar cameras didn’t work and I still bought the car, then that would be fine, but I didn’t, because this is a fault . For example, if your broadband didn’t work because of condensation in your phone line box, would that be OK or would you want BT to fix it?

 

[Dilly]

Yep. I’ve had it too. Once from muddy lorry spray, but mostly low bright sunshine. The latter is short lived the former needed a wipe.

 

[hcdavis3]

I am continually getting warning messages on my M3 that my door pillar cameras are blocked or blinded. It happens several times on every journey, despite them being clean and no condensation or fog appearing to be present. The warnings come and go several times on each trip.
As a last resort I booked a service appointment but Tesla have since phoned me asking for specifics of a journey where it happened. It has to be a journey of more than 40 mins, so they can check humidity etc. They say without this information they can’t do anything under warranty so they won’t attend until I can provide this info. The car is 2 months old.
They say this fault is common in recent U.K. weather conditions and they doubt there is a problem, which makes me wonder if they are suggesting the car doesn’t work properly in the UK late Autumn / Winter. What is beyond doubt is that if what they are saying is true, the car certainly doesn’t work properly on journeys of less than 40 mins in the U.K. at this time of year.
TBH this has really shaken my confidence in the brand and their customer service which I was under the impression was fantastic. An earlier issue with the car from new where a repeater camera was faulty was sorted immediately (well, 2 or 3 weeks after I reported it). Now I am beginning to think the car hasn’t actually been right from new and now they are being reticent about fixing it.
I am really sorry to say this has soured the whole experience for me.
I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this issue with the pillar cameras and how Tesla handled it. I would also welcome any advice from more longstanding Tesla owners on what, if anything, I should do.

My car does this all the time, no rhyme or reason. I have a service appointment, but I’m sure I won’t be able to replicate the problem when I’m there. Very annoying.