I need parking cameras

[TurnFast]

I haven’t gotten a feel for this cars dimensions yet and I'm now supremely paranoid when parking it that I'm going to either crunch the front or get the dreaded curb rash on the sides.

Has anyone looked at installing a simple wifi camera to the front that you could just view on your phone? I was looking at this and it seems like as long as I can find a reasonable power source the install wouldn't be too painful?
RVS-020813 | WiFi Backup Camera System

 

[peebrayne]

You dont need additional parking cameras. Just listen to the loud beeps your car makes when you are close to an object.

 

[240W]

The sensors only senses up to a certain distance like 12 or 16 inches before it disappears?

Don’t put rearview cameras for the front, the image is reversed unless you don’t care.

 

[ecarfan]

The sensors only senses up to a certain distance like 12 or 16 inches before it disappears?

My experience with the S, X, and now 3, is that the parking sensors are very accurate and detect almost everything but will miss very narrow objects (like a fraction of an inch) or very soft objects. At a distance of 12” from something the sensor alarms go off and they don’t stop if you get closer.

@TurnFast : practice with the parking sensors, get used to them, and learn to trust them while keeping in mind their limitations as I described above. In my opinion they are far superior to cameras because they give you a very accurate distance readout. Cameras can’t do that. My first experience with Tesla’s parking sensors was in my 2013 Model S. At that time they were a new feature. I soon grew to rely and depend on them. I’ve never hit anything while parking after 100K+ miles on my Teslas.

 

[TurnFast]

You dont need additional parking cameras. Just listen to the loud beeps your car makes when you are close to an object.

I guess I'm having a hard time trusting the sensors because I'll be pulling into a spot and I see the poll right next to my front side fender, but the sensors show nothing.

You don’t need cameras. Just lean how to drive or when they give you an ICE rental as loaner you don’t know how to park.

Yeah I just don't think that's going to help.

Love the car so far but I have a wee bit of jealousy when I'm in my wife's SUV with its 360 camera view. The sonic sensors are nice but they just don't give you the same confidence that there's really nothing there. I already observed them not "seeing" curbs multiple times.

 

[voip-ninja]

My experience with the S, X, and now 3, is that the parking sensors are very accurate and detect almost everything but will miss very narrow objects (like a fraction of an inch) or very soft objects. At a distance of 12” from something the sensor alarms go off and they don’t stop if you get closer.

@TurnFast : practice with the parking sensors, get used to them, and learn to trust them while keeping in mind their limitations as I described above. In my opinion they are far superior to cameras because they give you a very accurate distance readout. Cameras can’t do that. My first experience with Tesla’s parking sensors was in my 2013 Model S. At that time they were a new feature. I soon grew to rely and depend on them. I’ve never hit anything while parking after 100K+ miles on my Teslas.

I've gone directly from a car that had 360' surround view parking to the Model 3 which only has sensors and a rearview camera. 360 surround view is far easier to use for accurate parking, especially parallel parking than what Tesla provides.

The sensors in the Tesla work pretty well but can't do a whole lot for you about low parking blocks and other objects they don't read well that you could scrape the car's bumper or wheels on when parking.

Also in the latest Tesla FW the backup camera flickers constantly and turns magenta in certain lighting conditions, which is also a distraction when trying to park.

I wish my Model 3 had surround view parking but since that is, I believe, a patented feature that manufacturers pay royalties for the chance we will see it on a Tesla anytime soon are pretty low.

 

[ℬête Noire]

I guess I'm having a hard time trusting the sensors because I'll be pulling into a spot and I see the poll right next to my front side fender, but the sensors show nothing.

What diameter? As mentioned above it's not good with skinny things. So far I've found it very trustworthy with curbs and tire stops. No nosing into concrete yet, for me.

 

[insaneoctane]

The cameras on Tesla's simply weren't positioned to create 360 degree view, they are positioned for EAP and FSD. Now having said that, I wish Tesla would use their ingenuity and give us the best solution they can with the cameras that they have to work with to further supplement the ultrasonic display they currently offer. If I had never seen a vehicle with 360 assist, I might be more impressed with the ultrasonic solution.... But I feel like Tesla could definitely offer the driver more parking assistance!

 

[devilmountain]

I am shocked how many people hit curbs; now I probably jinxed myself. I don't even recall the last time I hit a curb it has been so long. Just be careful. I have taken low-speed driving tests, which essentially is parking in extremely tight areas or turning around in tight areas. I remember one of the tests was parallel parking a 19 foot vehicle in a 22 foot spot. The other tests are a bit hard to explain because they are much more involved. The cars I used in the test were over 20 years old and didn't have cameras. You need to trust your mirrors and really pay attention.

When I park any of my cars, especially the 3. I always take my time, don't let others rush me, and I am not overly aggressive. If I parallel park and I am to far from the curb, I work my way closer. If I park in a parking lot and I am not centered in the spot or I am not close enough to a curb I will get back in the car and fix my park job.

My goal in a parking lot is to minimize my chance of door dings. I see others pull into spots at the store or at work and they hugging a line. If I always look how I park and correct if needed. Back to the topic, take your time, pay attention.

 

[ℬête Noire]

I am shocked how many people hit curbs;

It might be partially a factor of the streets a person is parking on. Some streets, that also tend to have the old squared curbs, are very narrow and you really need to hug in very close to the curb.

If you live/park in a much newer area the streets tend to give you more room to park and if the sidewalk is away from the road or no sidewalk at all the curbs are near impossible to rub unless you manage to find the storm drain that'll normally have a squared curb around it.

 

[BrandonLive]

One of my regrets with the 3 is not having the 360 / bird’s eye camera view. Our driveway is very narrow with curbs on both sides (about 2-3” of clearance on each side if I center it perfectly) at the base of tall concrete walls (and on a hill). It’s very hard to every day keep the car just perfectly lined up so that the tires never rub, and entering the driveway your view of the curbs is non-existent.

Both mirrors tilting down when reversing helps quite a lot (my old car would only tilt the right side mirror), but turning on the backup camera won’t tilt them down when going forward which is unfortunate. In my Audi, pushing the parking assist button did this regardless of forward or reverse. I’m hoping Tesla adds that ability at least.

 

[insaneoctane]

For me, like @devilmountain, I am always trying to minimize door dings. That usually means that one side of the car will be against the curb so that I am only susceptible to one evil vehicle. That also means that I want to maximize my distance from said evil vehicle. That means that I want to park my Tesla as close as possible to the curb... On a vehicle that will get rim rash if I so much as look at the rims wrong...


GIVE ME SOME CAMERAS!

 

[240W]

Now I’m looking at front cameras on amazon, thanks forum, lol

Even if you know how to drive and park before hitting curb, preventing side curb rash on wheels, there’s also the issue of others driving the car, like your family, friends, and especially your significant other (good luck telling them on how to drive, haha)

 

[ecarfan]

The sensors in the Tesla work pretty well but can't do a whole lot for you about low parking blocks and other objects they don't read well that you could scrape the car's bumper or wheels on when parking.

That is true, and in the owners manual it specifically states that objects below about 8” high will not be detected when you get close to them. So you do need to notice them before you attempt to manuveur near them.

I can see how a 360 camera view could be helpful. But so far I have not scraped my X or 3 wheels. Years ago I did scrape my S wheels more than once while getting used to driving such a large car.

Also in the latest Tesla FW the backup camera flickers constantly and turns magenta in certain lighting conditions, which is also a distraction when trying to park.

I have the latest firmware on both my Teslas and do not have that issue.

 

[Trevor B]

I haven’t gotten a feel for this cars dimensions yet and I'm now supremely paranoid when parking it that I'm going to either crunch the front or get the dreaded curb rash on the sides.

Has anyone looked at installing a simple wifi camera to the front that you could just view on your phone? I was looking at this and it seems like as long as I can find a reasonable power source the install wouldn't be too painful?
RVS-020813 | WiFi Backup Camera System

The car has all the sensors/cameras you need ... get your eyes tested.

 

[TurnFast]

The car has all the sensors/cameras you need ... get your eyes tested.

I get them tested every year as an eye glasses wearer .

Though joking aside if I did have a medical depth perception issue, I'm not sure there is a whole lot medicine can do about it, so even then your suggestion seems unhelpful?

So to bring this back to the original point of the thread: has anyone tried mounting a front bumper camera to their model 3?

 

[TurnFast]

Below is an image of my front wheel. The red line is where the sensor is, the green line is about where a curb comes to.

I don’t see how you're supposed to trust those sonic sensors mounted so high for detecting low curbs when you need to get close.

 

[jsmay311]

This is the first car I've ever driven where the rim extends out past the tire. Parallel parking was always a breeze in my previous cars since I could just go slowly when a tire was near a curb and stop if it started to rub. No such luxury with the Model 3. One false move and your rim paint is all jacked up. And I haven't observed the sensors picking up curbs on the side of the car.

 

[WileyTheMan]

I think after my autopark scraped a rim, I got over being worried about it. Maybe you should go scrape a rim and get it over with.

 

[insaneoctane]

I am sickened to report that my wife curbed my right rear rim just a few short hours after my last post in this thread .... Sigh.