Rolled forward on its own in the garage?

[navels]

I am flummoxed as to how this is even possible . . .

Have been parking my 2022 M3 in the garage for a few weeks now. It's been two days since I last drove and my wife just noticed when parking her own car that mine is smushed up into the garage door. Some points of note:

1. I am the only driver
2. I do not / did not use summon
3. No FSD
4. Drive mode is Hold
5. Car was plugged into mobile connector
6. When placed into neutral, car starts rolling forward immediately.
7. Based on the damage, it is not possible that I did this by closing the garage door on the car
8. I do not have an automatic garage door system

What would have happened on Thursday: I went out to run an errand, when I came home I would have parked in the driveway, gotten out and opened the garage door, reversed into the garage, put the car in park and exited, closed the garage door manually (standing by the front left headlight and staring directly at the front of my car to ensure there was clearance), and then grabbed the mobile charger and used the push button on it to open the charge port door, inserted the charging cable, and then gone into the house via the interior door to the garage. I would not have put my seatbelt back on before reversing into the garage.

It is possible, as it sometimes happens, that when I went to close the garage door I realized I did not have enough clearance, in which case I would have gotten back into the car, put it into reverse, backed up a little bit, and then gotten out to the close the garage door, etc.

There would have been no reason at any time for me to put the car into neutral. I just did some experimentation and when in neutral the car starts rolling forward immediately. I cannot fathom that it would be possible for me to put the car in neutral and get out and make it to the front of the car without noticing the car was rolling forward and in fact by the time I did that I'm pretty sure the car would be partially out of the garage, that's how fast it rolls in my garage in neutral. Even if for some reason that day it wasn't rolling very fast or at all, the charge port door shouldn't have opened with the car in neutral.

Video taken as I reversed off the door:

https://imgur.com/oSz3J6O

Any ideas as to what might have happened here? We are completely bamboozled.

 

[thimel]

To add to the mystery, I believe even if you put it in neutral, it automatically goes into park when you take your weight off the seat.

Here is suggestion that doesn’t address your question. Back your car into the perfect spot. Then have someone look at the rear view camera on the screen while you make a line on the floor with tape so that it is just not visible on the camera because it is hidden by the bumper. Then you will never have to get back in your car to back in a bit further.

 

[navels]

To add to the mystery, I believe even if you put it in neutral, it automatically goes into park when you take your weight off the seat.

Here is suggestion that doesn’t address your question. Back your car into the perfect spot. Then have someone look at the rear view camera on the screen while you make a line on the floor with tape so that it is just not visible on the camera because it is hidden by the bumper. Then you will never have to get back in your car to back in a bit further.

Thanks that's a great idea! I'm about to pull the trigger on a garage door opener so will want to have some kind of system for knowing when I'm in far enough. Space is tight. I usually do the "tennis ball on string" thing but I like your tape idea.

 

[Soul Surfer]

I had a similar issue with my Gen-1 Volt and got into the habit of activating the parking brake.

 

[UncleCreepy]

6. When placed into neutral, car starts rolling forward immediately.

Not that either of these possibilities make any sense to me, but could you clarify if the garage floor is uneven or if the car propelled itself forward while it was in neutral?

When I had something happen that I couldn't explain, I immediately opened a ticket with the exact time and a description what I thought happened. They looked into it the next day amd were able to clarify what really happened. I'm not sure if the data from this event is still available, but it's worth a try.

 

[navels]

Not that either of these possibilities make any sense to me, but could you clarify if the garage floor is uneven or if the car propelled itself forward while it was in neutral?

When I had something happen that I couldn't explain, I immediately opened a ticket with the exact time and a description what I thought happened. They looked into it the next day amd were able to clarify what really happened. I'm not sure if the data from this event is still available, but it's worth a try.

Floor is uneven and the car will roll forward when in neutral by gravity alone.

I was assuming opening a ticket would get me nowhere but I will try that, thanks!

 

[jjrandorin]

I dont have any feedback on what might have happened, but as for parking in the garage, I have park stops on my garage floor, like these:

Amazon.com

Just park normally in the garage once, getting yourself lined up where you want, then put one on the garage floor in front of the tire, with the park stop touching the tire, and mark the location with something. Move the car a bit forward, then pull the double stick tape off the park stop and place it, using the spot you marked.

you only need one per car, because you are going to stop the car when entering the garage when you feel it touch the park stop on one wheel.

Its something most people are used to from parking in regular parking lots, and you can feel it when you are creeping into the garage. Doesnt solve your "what happened" issue, but I find it a better solution than the tennis ball one that was popular back in the day (that I also have used previously).

 

[thimel]

I almost suggested you get a garage door opener. They really are a nice convenience.

They come with a light beam interlock that is supposed to be mounted close to the ground to stop the door from closing if someone is lying on the ground with their neck in the doorway. I have mine mounted a bit higher, at the height where my car sticks out the most. This ensures the garage door won’t hit my car when closing.

 

[Stellavator]

To be clear, you plugged the car in and left it plugged in, correct? If so, there is no scenario in which the car should be able to move. When plugged in, car stayes in park. Cannot be shifted into drive/reverse/neutral. So, if it moved, something went wrong with the car. Pull logs if at all possible.

 

[navels]

To be clear, you plugged the car in and left it plugged in, correct? If so, there is no scenario in which the car should be able to move. When plugged in, car stayes in park. Cannot be shifted into drive/reverse/neutral. So, if it moved, something went wrong with the car. Pull logs if at all possible.

That's correct. I've scheduled a service appointment and have been messaging with them about dates/times so they can check the logs.

 

[GtiMart]

So you confirm that your garage floor is uneven and the car will roll forward if nothing holds it. In park, only the two rear brakes hold the car, the parking brake activates those two calipers electrically. It's probably not your case but let's ask all the questions:
- Have you used tow mode in the car's settings
- Have you worked on the rear calipers, for example to lubricate the brakes, and unplugged the wires to the calipers.
In general, does the car hold its position in park on a hill elsewhere?

 

[navels]

I have never used tow mode or worked on the brakes. Before moving my car into the garage recently I’ve been parking in our driveway which has a noticeable downhill incline and have never had a problem with the car rolling forward (I back in park), except last winter when the driveway was iced over (!)

 

[EVer Hopeful]

I have park stops on my garage floor, like these:

I have something similar under my carport ... this

The downside is that it's not bolted down (yet) and one day someone (who will remain nameless) moved it so that I kissed the wall of my toolshed

Fortunately no damage done

 

[JimShaw]

I also had something strange happen.

My wife was in the hospital in a room on the second floor.

I had parked our M3 in a parking spot directly outside the hospital's front door.

I was with my wife until around 1am. I left her for the night and came out the front door to discover our car had backed straight out of the parking spot about 30 feet into a No Parking zone.

There was a note on the front windshield from a security guard stating I was not to park in a no parking zone. I was able to talk to the guard and he told me it was the strangest thing he has seen. The car just backed out and no one was in the car.

I still haven't a clue as to what happened.

In my case, I was very lucky that it did not get banged up as yours did.

To me that's sad. Hate seeing another Tesla owner's car get damaged.

 

[TornadoTJ]

I had a similar issue with my Gen-1 Volt and got into the habit of activating the parking brake.

There is no extra parking brake. Those videos you might have seen saying that if you hold the P down until you hear it click again are wrong. The parking brake engages automatically.

 

[Soul Surfer]

There is no extra parking brake. Those videos you might have seen saying that if you hold the P down until you hear it click again are wrong. The parking brake engages automatically.

Strange. Mine does “click” and the screen indicates the parking brake is engaged. It was the same with my 2 Volts.

 

[GtiMart]

The statement is only partly true and/or misleading and it has been discussed multiple times. No there is no separate parking brake. Yes long pressing the button does something. The something that it does isn't perfectly described. It seems to press the same park brake a bit harder, or redo it. That is, it uses the electric actuators on the rear brake calipers.

 

[TornadoTJ]

It disengages the brake and reapplies it exactly the same way it was already applied. I got this direct from Tesla.

 

[kimwin]

Strange indeed, I always back my car in, the screen shows the distance between the rear bumper or camera and the work bench behind the car, allways stop at 24 inches. Then I pushed the button on the stalk, the car is in park and the break pedal engages. That's how the car get kept in place even when parking on hill roads (I got to try this).
The car moves itself is dangerous. Could kill small children, even adults. Tesla must revisit their software to detect no one sit in the driver seat and engages the break unless it is in tow mode with the tow bar in place (2 conditions needed).
At mean time, a stop block under the wheel works great.

 

[jjrandorin]

Tesla must revisit their software to detect no one sit in the driver seat and engages the break

It does this already (detect no one in seat and engage the brake). In fact, its so aggressive about it, there are multiple threads here about peoples frustration with the fact that if you even shift in your seat sometimes it will apply the brakes if you are going slowly.