Text messaging on the S & a question about rattles

[Ken7]

I'm enjoying a 1 day trial that my local Tesla dealer gave me in trying to decide between a reserved Model 3 and the S. The S is most certainly an impressive car and I'm leaning towards it. However I do have two questions.

First, I hear an interior rattle coming from the right front side of the car and I haven't yet identified its location. Are rattles common on the S or is this a rarity? The car is new and only has about 200 miles on it. In feeling around, the front dash piece that adjoins the lower right side of the center LCD display, appears to be a bit loose. The left side is snug.

Second, it appears (unless I'm overlooking something) that the car does not receive or transmit text messages via an iPhone. If that's the case, is there any talk about introducing that feature in the future?

 

[steve841]

Rattles happen. Service is pretty good at eliminating... usually once fixed and done.

No text info. It's not out of the realm for a future update, but it seems Tesla coders have more fun adding BS Easter eggs rather than useful add ons.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

Rattles are common.

For myself service hasn't been much help since it was brand new. Partly this is because I won't drive with them to show them the rattle because the car just rattles. There isn't some specific rattle that I can easily point out. The rattles depends on the road surface.

Does the service tech really want to go with my on a journey over different road types?

I love the car, but a luxury car it is not.

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

I had a rattle in the car, service fixed it. No more rattles.
It doesn't do text messages, integration with phone is poor at best. You can do music, and calls.
I use hey siri all the time though.

 

[TexasEV]

Note that Tesla doesn't have dealers. It has stores. One of the best things about buying a Tesla-- you don't go through the auto dealer cartel.

 

[Ken7]

Rattles are common.

For myself service hasn't been much help since it was brand new. Partly this is because I won't drive with them to show them the rattle because the car just rattles. There isn't some specific rattle that I can easily point out. The rattles depends on the road surface.

Does the service tech really want to go with my on a journey over different road types?

I love the car, but a luxury car it is not.

That's the first time I've seen someone refer to the S as a non-luxury car.

 

[Ken7]

I had a rattle in the car, service fixed it. No more rattles.
It doesn't do text messages, integration with phone is poor at best. You can do music, and calls.
I use hey siri all the time though.

It is kind of amazing, for a car with this kind of technology, for the phone integration to be inferior to some $20,000 cars.

Hopefully this will change with a future update.

 

[Nosken]

Using Siri in the car works just fine. Or, I should say, as good as Siri usually works.
There is no activation directly from Tesla, you have to use your normal way to activate Siri.

 

[boaterva]

As I've said elsewhere, I recommend putting the phone as close to you as possible using Proclip or other mount (there are other good ones, I've used Proclip because they have mounts for all cars and you can move the phone part from car to car, only getting the new car part!). This means you can use the better mapping of the phone (Google Maps directly), see texts as they pop up, activate Siri if you want, etc.

Having the phone in either the dock for the S/X or the 3 is useless to me, since all it does is charge it. Why have the phone way down out of sight if there's no integration beyond Bluetooth for calls?

 

[davinci2017]

Rely on the phones voice assistant for texting, it works better than many cars anyway IMO although recently Android Auto seems to be quite good.

I had a sub 20k Chevy recently with Android auto and it is AMAZING. Yes it requires you to connect the phone, but the maps, searching, directions, voice controls, texting, calling, music, streaming everything was so seamless and easy to use with the steering, touch screen and voice, in such a cheap car with a good looking touch screen as well.

I honestly am not sure why Tesla is lagging behind on these things. Frankly at this point I'd rather they just port Android and Apple auto programs into one of the tabs and call it a day.

 

[jelloslug]

That's the first time I've seen someone refer to the S as a non-luxury car.

Tesla does not even refer to is as a luxury car.

 

[JonathanD]

I've found when driven adequately aggressively rattle noises can be covered up by wifey shrieks or kiddo squeals very effectively, but YMMV.

 

[stan23]

It is kind of amazing, for a car with this kind of technology, for the phone integration to be inferior to some $20,000 cars.

Hopefully this will change with a future update.

I wouldn't bank on it. The car has been out for 5 years now. Phone/txt integration is just not something Tesla wants to do.

 

[bnsfengineer]

Would totally agree with Stan23, if they wanted it in the car it would had been in there probably 2 years ago!

 

[PrGrPa]

Though Tesla is a tech company that makes cars I'd prefer that they focus on the motor vehicle and its software improvements rather than audio system tech.

Basic bluetooth integration for routing phone audio is fine for me. If Tesla can stretch to licensing Android's car integration and Apple's CarPlay that'd be great but not necessary. I like the electric drivetrain and the EAP.

 

[NewTMSMan]

I have a minor rattle in the passengers front door, that I am taking in for remedy, but other than that the car is pretty tight.

Regarding phone integration, it bothered me when I first got the car, but to be honest in my cars where I have full integration I barely use it.