I only have problems when it rains.
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MASTER THREAD: Auto Wiper issues
- Thread starter merlin337
- Start date
I only have problems when it rains.
WilliamG
Hinge Fanatic
I don’t know if they vary in quality from car to car, but the test-drive model’s auto wipers experience I had overnight was awful. The car I actually bought has been essentially flawless with the auto wipers. Night and day difference. Both cars driven during the day and at night with rain.
Kilotango74
Active Member
Probably a good thing right? I mean if people post this after every release then it stands to reason that it is actually getting better. Is’t that what you want?
They don't vary in quality, all of the HW2+ vehicles are using a neural network and the visible light cameras to detect rain and engage wipers. Night time performance is dreadful unless there's light illuminating the windscreen (vehicle tail lights, street lights, etc.). There have been improvements, but they're slight, and they came earlier this year.
No, it means people can't tell the difference between placebo and real world. It means people perceive a difference at first, but nobody's doing rigid repeatable testing.
WilliamG
Hinge Fanatic
I understand what you’re saying. However, based on my experience with the auto wipers back in April of a demo Model 3 Performance built late last year - I almost didn’t buy the car. They were bad. Awful, even. Even during the day they didn’t come on soon enough.
I got my 3 in May (April build) and have had zero issues. Absolutely zero. They work perfectly.
It’s very possible these very in quality. Could be a newer part number over the time the 3 has been built. Could be a slightly skewed installation etc. Could be any number of reasons why one car can do better than another.
Kilotango74
Active Member
I see what you mean but for the most part the effectiveness of the auto wipers is highly subjective anyway.
Kilotango74
Active Member
You almost didn’t buy the car based on the auto wipers? Lol. Talk about first world problems.
WilliamG
Hinge Fanatic
Yes, actually. Because the wiper controls if you’re not using automatic - are quite difficult to access at all times. If they were on a stalk it would be fine. But this car was clearly designed around using auto wipers.
I live in Seattle. Rain is a real thing. So it’s a major part of driving here.
Kilotango74
Active Member
Ok so I lived in pacnorwest for 20 years. Still would not base my purchase of a car on effectiveness of auto wipers. And it’s not hard to get to wiper menu. Hit the stalk for a single and the wiper menu automatically pops into the screen. Oh the humanity!!!! Besides Seattle rain is usually light and overrated. Try living in a place where rainstorms are like dropping a 55 gal drum of water on your windshield at once. Seattle is like walking through thick fog most of the time. But I have to say I miss it. Getting dehydrated down here in CA.
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WilliamG
Hinge Fanatic
I'll have to disagree. The rain quality/quantity is so changeable here that automatic wipers are a godsend. Sometimes it's misty, sometimes it's more misty, - it can change from second to second, and it's super annoying to do it manually.
This is the definition of an anecdote.
Well, based on wider user experience, that's not the case. While I know the plural of anecdote isn't data, we do know that they fail in multiple situations that traditional sensors do not.
There is no variance in quality with a neural network running on these cars. The only time that will be the case is when HW3 begins running a different network, which hasn't happened yet.
It's not a part. It doesn't work like traditional rain detectors.
This is why actual regimented testing is needed.
WilliamG
Hinge Fanatic
A few things:
1.) Every individual's experience is anecdotal.
2.) Based on wider experience, - the wipers work fine. We know this because people will only tend to post on forums to complain about something rather than praise. So I guess I reached a different conclusion to you.
3.) There IS variance in quality. You see that in every single product out there. That's why hard drives have an MTBF - even though they're all the same, there's still a law of averages at play.
4.) It's not a "part." Eh? So magic powers are determining whether the wipers work? As far as I've been aware - it's one of the cameras + software. And every camera sensor is slightly different. Every lens will be slightly different.
Bottom line is - I've had two VERY different experiences with two Model 3s. This was my experience - and living in Seattle I've a pretty good idea of how important automatic wipers are. Not only that, I had a VW Golf with automatic wipers, and I've actually found the Model 3 to have BETTER performance with the automatic wipers than the Golf, which used an IR beam dedicated to the wipers. The Golf would wait far too long to wipe. No such problem with my particular Model 3. I can't speak for all of them, but I've now seen both good and bad Model 3 automatic wiper behavior.
I wonder how how Rain-X affects how the camera sees the water droplets. Part of me thinks it would be an improvement because the water beads up more. Of course, if the Rain-X was recently applied & you're driving fast enough then you usually don't need wipers.
Anyway, another anecdote... I haven't driven in the rain for several weeks until a couple of days ago and the auto wipers worked great. Exactly how I would have done it manually. Rain-X applied about 2 weeks & 2 washes ago. It was daytime so maybe optimal conditions.
+1 for a quick tap of the end of the left stalk to bring up the wiper menu. Makes it quick & easy set them manually. Strange that such a trivial issue would be the deciding factor about buying such an excellent car.
Anyway, another anecdote... I haven't driven in the rain for several weeks until a couple of days ago and the auto wipers worked great. Exactly how I would have done it manually. Rain-X applied about 2 weeks & 2 washes ago. It was daytime so maybe optimal conditions.
+1 for a quick tap of the end of the left stalk to bring up the wiper menu. Makes it quick & easy set them manually. Strange that such a trivial issue would be the deciding factor about buying such an excellent car.
It's literally in the manual not to use Rain-X. That stuff is garbage, and I can't believe people still use it.
WilliamG
Hinge Fanatic
It's not garbage at all. I used it a ton on my STI, and it was pretty incredible how I could drive on the highway with the rain rolling off, and never even need to have the wipers on a lot of the time.
srs5694
Active Member
My experience is that the quality of the auto wipers varies from one rainfall to another. It tends to work OK with moderate rain. When the rain is light, or especially when it's a mist, the system tends to wait way too long between wipes. It's at least practical to hit the single-wipe button on the left stalk in this situation, though, at least for a while, until you can move the wipers off automatic mode to manual mode. When rainfall picks up from moderate to heavy, the system is also slow to respond, and there's a range of moderately heavy rainfall when it's not wiping fast enough. This one's harder to correct, since it's going fast enough that manual presses of the single-wipe button won't do anything, and with the reduced visibility, it's risky to take one's eyes off the road for long enough to adjust the wipers. At least if this happens when driving in the city, it's practical to wait until reaching a red light to adjust the wipers.
FWIW, my car updated to 2019.32.1 a couple days ago, but I haven't driven in the rain since that update, so I can't comment on whether that version has improved things.
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