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Just bought a new Model 3. These AP/Sentry Mode videos were a major selling point
- Thread starter green48
- Start date
StealthP3D
Well-Known Member
Congratulations on your new Model 3!
The best thing about Sentry Mode is that as more and more of these videos get uploaded to YouTube people will increasingly understand you don't mess with a Tesla, even if no one's around. Especially not road rage because you're on camera. This will make the safest cars in the world even safer.
It's already getting to the point where you would have to be living under a rock or in a cave to not know better than to mess with a Tesla. So I predict those who are caught will be increasingly ignorant. Embarrassingly so.
StealthP3D
Well-Known Member
So how long have you had your Model 3 and were there any good or bad surprises or had you done plenty of homework pre-purchase? Just to fill you in on where I'm coming from, my wife reserved a Model 3 during the web reveal back in 2016. I thought she was crazy for ordering a car that didn't even exist, had no reliability record and that we had never driven or even sat in or seen in person. But the $1000 deposit was refundable so, what the heck, right?
FF to May 2018, we had done our homework and new owners seemed pretty pleased (although there was plenty of noise about build quality, panel gaps, paint, etc). But we decided to "risk" it and accepted delivery. My wife was too excited to drive the hour 1 plus home in such a different and new machine so she asked me if I would do it. It took me less than 1/2 an hour to realize what a special machine I was driving. This was a LR RWD w/ AP and I knew it would be fast, smooth, quiet, efficient, comfortable and handle nicely but it literally blew me away in every single category! It was like a spaceship! As we familiarized ourselves with it over the following few weeks it continued to impress us with its convenience, better than expected efficiency and amazing Autopilot capabilities. Also, the panel gaps were almost perfectly uniform and the Pearl White paint was close to flawless and had a beautiful depth to it. I knew I had to have one too.
To make a long story short, I took delivery of a stealth P3D in September 2018 and it was just as perfect as the first one (and a heck of a lot faster). So I'm always interested in the experiences and flaws (or lack thereof) of other new owners.
I actually just put my order in. Counting down the days until delivery - but once it arrives, I'll be doing lots more YouTube content to share my experience with delivery/first impressions
StealthP3D
Well-Known Member
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
Note: The TeslaCam's videos are great but the images still blurry and there is no rearview recording.
Getting a real dashcam with HD quality recording, and front and rear view on a large angle
is certainly the FIRST accessory to get. It costs less than 1% of the price of the car.
Similar situation using my BlackVue dashcam
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We had a Blackvue camera in our MS when it was parked at a restaurant and window smashed to look in cargo area. This was a 650 version but the main reason we couldn’t get a license plate of the perp’s car which was parked directly across from us was due to the low afternoon sun pouring into our camera, not unlike the image above which rear was in deep shade. Cameras can have yield good low light images at night but when bright sun is hitting the lens I don’t think it can adjust for just that shaded area well. There will be times lighting conditions I believe will still prevent a clear image. TeslaCam is far from perfect but it did help this guy in getting the perp’s vehicle IDd and him arrested.
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What kind of setup is required to get the blackvue cam all synced up and ready to use? Any additional equipment required?
I can't say as the Blackvue is in my husband's MS, which can be hardwired in. I don't think that's a possibility with a Model 3 since they change the wiring and the battery's protection system would kick in. I think you have to use an external battery pack that Blackvue sells as a companion accessory. Seem to recall initially people wired it similarly to the MS but then after a period of time their 12v batteries were dying and Tesla replaced a few for people in the beginning but stopped since it was due to people modifying the car. Should be threads on how people ended up setting up their car if you are interested.
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
I use the auxiliary 12 V plug, which stays on when sentry is on, so I don't think there is a need to have a 12 V battery pack?
Bingo. Thank you for the visuals to make the point.
If you want the greatest confidence of capturing a licence plate, get the Blackvue DR900S 4K dashcam
Correct. You don’t need internal battery power supply, because when Sentry Mode is enabled, constant power is supplied to the USB ports & 12v sockets. It actually allows you to plug in a 4G dongle to one of the USB ports, so you can stream or upload events to the cloud
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
There are tons of dashcam reviews on YouTube so users can evaluate various models.
However I have both the 750 and the 900 Blackvue and it's a very good product.
I noticed the following comparison of those, see detail below at 3:40 .
Blackvue DR900S 2CH 4K UHD H.265 Wifi GPS Cloud
Blackvue DR900S 4K UHD vs DR750S 1080p Day & Night Dashcam
JPP
Active Member
I have used Blackvue dual dashcams in all of our Teslas, now with a 650 in my wife's 2015 S70D and a 900 in my Model 3. Both are hardwired into the headliner power at the microphone grille. On the S it is patched into the connector there for the optional security system (always on 12V). On the 3 it is patched into the dome light wiring harness. Note that on the 3 the power drops from 12 to 9V when the car is off, but the Blackvue does not seem to mind. I did this when the 3 was still killing the 12V in the center console. And, yes, not advisable to tap into the 12V battery on the 3...major grief due to the modern fuseless system.
Are you saying that F150 driver got arrested? Hopefully so. Have a link to more info?
My Tesla Cam helped prove accident fault when the guy that hit me denied knowing anything about it.
And once the other guy is proven to be 100% at fault, that means all costs of repair automatically come from his insurance company? This is my first car so I'm new to this whole accident/insurance thing
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
I'm not a lawyer, but looking at the above video,And once the other guy is proven to be 100% at fault, that means all costs of repair automatically come from his insurance company?
This is my first car so I'm new to this whole accident/insurance thing
it doesn't seems to be an accident as a result of careless driving but a voluntary act of reckless driving.
This could have been really worse. I don't know how violently the driver of the truck hit the other car,
but the car who has been hit could have been push severely on the right, especially if it has been a smaller car,
and who know, could had hit a tree or even felt in a ravine....
It's great that the driver get arrested. This type a inappropriate behavior behind the wheel need to be judged.
Passing on a double yellow line can be considered as negligent driving, which is typically a civil traffic offense,
but reckless driving, with intention to hurt, may be considered as a misdemeanor,
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