To "Sentry" or not to "Sentry"....that is the question

[ThunderBay3Y]

My sentry is always on. Never had an extended stay at the Airport,might have to turn it off then but otherwise it's on.

 

[STS-134]

My sentry is always on. Never had an extended stay at the Airport,might have to turn it off then but otherwise it's on.

That's going to eventually cause BMS estimation issues because your BMS won't ever be able to get an open circuit voltage on the pack because the HV battery contactors never open.

 

[tivoboy]

One thing I WOULD really like to see for Sentry mode is SOME sort of SCHEDULING.. While always activated (and being turned on always other than possibly at favorites, work, home by choice) is easy to use and makes is easy NOT to forget to turn it on, what I would like to see is the ability to make a FOURTH type of selection which is temporal clock based. Say 20:00-07:00 ON, then off.

There are often places where I park, hotels, possibly airports, possibly areas of town where the break in risk is LOWER at least during daylight hours when there are more cars/pedestrians/activity etc, but during dark, night time hours etc the risk is much higher. For me, I set reminders to turn it on at say 20:00, then another reminder to turn it OFF in the AM at 07:00 when I’m awake again.

Something like that might allow for better use at parked locations - like the airport - but when the break in risk is lower, saving possibly over 65% of wasted Sentry battery usage for relatively low increase in risk.

 

[ThunderBay3Y]

That's going to eventually cause BMS estimation issues because your BMS won't ever be able to get an open circuit voltage on the pack because the HV battery contactors never open.

Hmmm interesting never really thought about that. Issue is I park outside at my house and I park outside at work so I dont have a "safe" or "secure" place that I would exclude Sentry from...

 

[STS-134]

Hmmm interesting never really thought about that. Issue is I park outside at my house and I park outside at work so I dont have a "safe" or "secure" place that I would exclude Sentry from...

For what it's worth, I never use Sentry at work because there's not a high turnover of vehicles. It's parking lots where cars are always coming and going and there's shopping carts being pushed around that the potential for damage is high. When you're parked in an office garage (people enter and leave only once per day) or at home, the potential for damage is a lot lower.

 

[ThunderBay3Y]

For what it's worth, I never use Sentry at work because there's not a high turnover of vehicles. It's parking lots where cars are always coming and going and there's shopping carts being pushed around that the potential for damage is high. When you're parked in an office garage (people enter and leave only once per day) or at home, the potential for damage is a lot lower.

Yeah I park in a parkade at work so lots of traffic coming and going all day, people parking beside you, etc. At home its mostly just for the idiots trying to get into cars in driveways. They never really damage them just try the handles so in reality sentry doesn't do much but get a recording that's relatively useless - but I like to know when they're out in the neighbor trying it. Probably can turn it off at home then.

 

[Chrisrac]

I used to keep Sentry activated whenever I was parked but for quite some time now, I have switched it off due to battery drain (particularly on longer trips away where I'm trying to avoid recharging away from home as the drain can reallly affect the range). As an aside, I also feel the flashing of the headlights each time Sentry is activated could attract some unwarranted attention and actually make the vehicle more at risk....I know there have been a few comments from others about this in the forum although who knows whether it really makes things worse.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, Sentry was off while I was parked for 4 days in a car park as I didn't want to come back to a low battery state. On return, I found was a deep scratch which I initially thought was malicious damage but on closer inspection, looks like it could have been from someone opening a car door (high type 4x4 or crossover's rear door) while the vehicle was parking/moving next to me. Whether that's the case of not, it doesn't really matter as it's likely to cost me £900 to fix according to a couple of body shops due to the difficulties in respraying the pearlescent finish.

It's more than likely that Sentry would have caught this if it was from another vehicle so in hindsight, my decision to leave it switched off has been somewhat of a false economy. There was no CCTV covering the area I parked in and the local Police have quite understandably closed the case due to lack of resources to investigate so I'll either need to claim on insurance (£250 excess and increased premiums for xx years) or pay out of my own pocket (any thoughts on this would be appreciated as it's a work lease car).

Plenty of "life lessons" here but I'm wondering how many people also switch off Sentry for the same reasons as me? I wish the drain could be optimized so that it didn't affect the battery as much but as you may have guessed, Sentry is going to be switched on from now onwards.


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Sorry about what has happened to your car. I keep Sentry mode off as well, as my wife thought it would attract vandalism since we have had a few breaking in where we live. I find that it drains the battery faster if there’s a lot of activity going on around it, so I tried to find parking spots in low traffic areas. Also, I normally park turned on sentry mode when I’m at shopping centres etc because of the traffic that comes and go. I’m willing to sacrifice a bit of phantom drainage than having to repair damages.

 

[pdk42]

£900 sounds way OTT for repairing that.

 

[RCHume]

I used to keep Sentry activated whenever I was parked but for quite some time now, I have switched it off due to battery drain (particularly on longer trips away where I'm trying to avoid recharging away from home as the drain can reallly affect the range). As an aside, I also feel the flashing of the headlights each time Sentry is activated could attract some unwarranted attention and actually make the vehicle more at risk....I know there have been a few comments from others about this in the forum although who knows whether it really makes things worse.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, Sentry was off while I was parked for 4 days in a car park as I didn't want to come back to a low battery state. On return, I found was a deep scratch which I initially thought was malicious damage but on closer inspection, looks like it could have been from someone opening a car door (high type 4x4 or crossover's rear door) while the vehicle was parking/moving next to me. Whether that's the case of not, it doesn't really matter as it's likely to cost me £900 to fix according to a couple of body shops due to the difficulties in respraying the pearlescent finish.

It's more than likely that Sentry would have caught this if it was from another vehicle so in hindsight, my decision to leave it switched off has been somewhat of a false economy. There was no CCTV covering the area I parked in and the local Police have quite understandably closed the case due to lack of resources to investigate so I'll either need to claim on insurance (£250 excess and increased premiums for xx years) or pay out of my own pocket (any thoughts on this would be appreciated as it's a work lease car).

Plenty of "life lessons" here but I'm wondering how many people also switch off Sentry for the same reasons as me? I wish the drain could be optimised so that it didn't affect the battery as much but as you may have guessed, Sentry is going to be switched on from now onwards.


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I am wondering how enforceable it would be do you have a video recording of somebody opening their door and dinging your car. So sentry gets the license number, are the police really going to help you out with that?

 

[MikeeUK]

I am wondering how enforceable it would be do you have a video recording of somebody opening their door and dinging your car. So sentry gets the license number, are the police really going to help you out with that?

I believe so. There's a number of reports of people submitting their footage to their insurance company/local Police and successful claims/actions as a result.

Sentry works - £1200 costs against person that keyed parked Tesla

 

[mspohr]

I am wondering how enforceable it would be do you have a video recording of somebody opening their door and dinging your car. So sentry gets the license number, are the police really going to help you out with that?

File a police report. They may or may not help but it will definitely help with your insurance company.

 

[MikeeUK]

£900 sounds way OTT for repairing that.

I've had two quotes now and they are both similar - £900 and £840. The scratch is deep and they both said the pearlescent paint is a real pain to work with and it takes time to get it properly blended to the rest of the car. Both paintshops also deal with a lot of Teslas so I'm pretty confident the price is reasonable so I just need ot decide whether to pay or go through insurance.

 

[Mr. Celerity]

Ahh man, that's a nightmare. Good luck in getting it sorted. What's the sentry battery drain like over say a 12hr period?

I'm in the northwestern US. My 2022 M3P loses about 3% over 11 hrs. I bought this car new in June of 2022 and I am dreading what my phantom drain will be this coming winter! Especially because my apartment complex does not have any EV charging but luckily I live just around the corner from a supercharger. I have discontinued scheduling the preconditioning time and just use the defrost button in my Tesla app approximately 10 minutes before my departure. I am very surprised but this practice is saving a lot of the battery's energy!

 

[ThunderBay3Y]

I'm in the northwestern US. My 2022 M3P loses about 3% over 11 hrs. I bought this car new in June of 2022 and I am dreading what my phantom drain will be this coming winter! Especially because my apartment complex does not have any EV charging but luckily I live just around the corner from a supercharger. I have discontinued scheduling the preconditioning time and just use the defrost button in my Tesla app approximately 10 minutes before my departure. I am very surprised but this practice is saving a lot of the battery's energy!

If you're activating sentry and preconditioning your vehicle I wouldn't call that phantom drain. You are using cameras, sensors, heaters, - power so of course it'll use battery.

 

[Manbutter]

This is painful. Whoever did it will have karma revisiting them shortly. Or probably already has - lowlife loser.

When I open my doors, I try my hardest to never touch adjacent cars. Treat others as you want yourself to be treated. I have no tolerance or forgiveness for gutter trash who do this intentionally or even unintentionally to others.

 

[Mr. Celerity]

If you're activating sentry and preconditioning your vehicle I wouldn't call that phantom drain. You are using cameras, sensors, heaters, - power so of course it'll use battery.

I agree. There are many functions being utilized that consume power. I guess I was meaning drain that takes place when not actively driving so my terminology was incorrect. According to my energy consumption log, the biggest kw hogs are the preconditioning and Sentry. I can minimize the preconditioning but as I work in a hospital and live in an apartment complex, I'm fearful of disabling Sentry mode as I don't want to experience the same situation as the OP. . . which is an awful gut punch to the soul . (and car)

 

[STS-134]

I agree. There are many functions being utilized that consume power. I guess I was meaning drain that takes place when not actively driving so my terminology was incorrect. According to my energy consumption log, the biggest kw hogs are the preconditioning and Sentry. I can minimize the preconditioning but as I work in a hospital and live in an apartment complex, I'm fearful of disabling Sentry mode as I don't want to experience the same situation as the OP. . . which is an awful gut punch to the soul . (and car)

Sentry Mode isn't going to stop someone from giving you a door ding. It's not a forcefield.

 

[kaimanson]

Always keeping mine on for peace of mind.

 

[rowedav]

It's not a forcefield.

That's coming in an update

 

[BillN]

I use it whenever parked at supermarkets etc, and for overnight hotel stays.

Regularly see people in car parks react to the screen notification when they walk up to their car and then take obvious extreme care when opening their door.

At home I use scheduling via Tessie to only automatically activate it in the small hours when anyone setting it off is much more likely to be up to no good, rather than just someone passing by. This has made it useable for me at home, otherwise it would be going off all evening with innocent people just walking past.

Already caught a guy trying everyone’s door handles.