Holiday Drop and Go parking

[thetallpaul]

Had the M3 for a couple of months now, and loving it, but am facing a bit of a head-scratcher (for me anyway).

We will be going on our hols soon and it works out best for us to use the Airparks Drop and Go service at Birmingham airport (via HolidayExtras hotel + parking).
The drop and go service entails me driving to a drop-off area, registering and dropping off a key. I assume that Airparks then park the car for me.
A week later they retrieve the car and have it ready for when I arrive.

How do I set the car so that personal info (home address, driving history, etc) is not accessible by AirParks' employees? If I hand a keycard over that is registered to me, they will have my access, as far as I understand it, or can I setup the card beforehand to valet mode? Do I need to disable PIN to drive?

I need to make sure that once parked Sentry mode is off, is it best to do this via the app?

One other thing: If anyone has used this service, was EV charging included with Drop and Go, or is it an addon.

 

[GRiLLA]

You turn on Valet Mode and give them a keycard.

Amazing what you find in the manual.

 

[Medved_77]

Valet Mode should help with most of your concerns:

Instructions to activate are here:

Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

Learn how various adjustments (mirrors, seats, etc.) are saved to a driver's profile so you only need to adjust them once.

www.tesla.com

Sentry can be turned off via the app, you can do this once you see the car has been safely parked. If you have premium connectivity, use the camera view in app to confirm this.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Drop and Go service

I've used those at Gatwick / Heathrow and on occasion the queue was so long I nearly missed my flight.

Latterly I've been very surprised at the price of a pre-booked week in the short stay car park, so I've been using that instead.

Might no longer be the case, nor perhaps my idea of affordable!

 

[WllXM]

I've used those at Gatwick / Heathrow and on occasion the queue was so long I nearly missed my flight.

Latterly I've been very surprised at the price of a pre-booked week in the short stay car park, so I've been using that instead.

Might no longer be the case, nor perhaps my idea of affordable!

+ you don't get greasy hands touching your steering wheel or whatever dodgy business that can also happen (look at the recent headlines about owners complaining they found their cars scratched, dirty and with a thousand more miles on the odo after a 10 day trip because of some unscrupulous Valet Parking employees ..)

I don't park anywhere where I have to leave my keys (well... keycard).

 

[Adopado]

Valet Mode should help with most of your concerns:

View attachment 899956

Instructions to activate are here:

Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

Learn how various adjustments (mirrors, seats, etc.) are saved to a driver's profile so you only need to adjust them once.

www.tesla.com

Sentry can be turned off via the app, you can do this once you see the car has been safely parked. If you have premium connectivity, use the camera view in app to confirm this.

As an extra if OP also uses (for example) Tessie App he can review any drives that have taken place (and also look at the car's location whilst on holiday to check it hasn't moved and without waking the car, unlike using the Tesla app.)

 

[thetallpaul]

Thanks for the replies all.

Amazing what you find in the manual.

I did have a look through the Manual, but was obviously having a brain fart and really don't want to get it wrong. Also I wasn't sure about valet mode over the period of a week.

I've used those at Gatwick / Heathrow and on occasion the queue was so long I nearly missed my flight.

We're dropping off the night before and staying in an airport hotel as the flight is an early one and the kids are a nightmare to mobilise at the best of times . Even going to drop the luggage off the day before.

+ you don't get greasy hands touching your steering wheel or whatever dodgy business that can also happen (look at the recent headlines about owners complaining they found their cars scratched, dirty and with a thousand more miles on the odo after a 10 day trip because of some unscrupulous Valet Parking employees ..)

I'll be taking note of the odometer and checking the car over for certain, and wet wipes already bought .

The service is a bit different as you drop off at the car park, rather than the airport (Meet and greet).

I did ring AirParks and for £15 they will ensure that the car is fully charged before pickup. We should arrive with about 40% battery.

 

[WannabeOwner]

I'll be taking note of the odometer and checking the car over for certain

If you are concerned you could do a trial of TeslaFi, or similar, during the period ... that will log where the car is, how fast it is driven, etc.

I wouldn't want to start a TeslaFi trial whilst having the car "parked" for long period in case the setting were poorly chosen and it kept the car awake / parasitically used power. But if company can charge the car for you that would take care of that (worst case you'd check APP and find that it was low enough to call them to make them aware they needed to intervene ... and dig it out of a field full of cars designated for retrieval "Not until next Tuesday" which should make their day doing Car Tetris )