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To "Sentry" or not to "Sentry"....that is the question
- Thread starter MikeeUK
- Start date
ThunderBay3Y
Member
Probably not the right place to post this but I've often wonderered...if you use tessie, teslafi,etc does it override the tesla app? Do they get into conflict? Or do you have to have all depart schedules, exclude sentry at home, etc all turned off in tesla app?
To sentry or not really depends on how often sentry will be used in a week, where you park - is it a busy car park and will activate recording more times and just how long the vehicle is parked there. I have sentry activated but not at home location - I don't tend to do a great mileage as I'm retired - so the small drain occasionally doesn't make a difference to me - but it would If I was still working and leaving the car every day for 8 plus hours in a busy car park.
Prior to the Tesla I had two Blackview cameras on my Focus RS - one to the rear and one to the front - they were much better in every respect to Teslas offering, Better picture quality, never failed to capture something, they also have knock sensors (sensitivity adjustable) - so if someone opens a door onto your car it starts recording and of course when they drive off you get their plate. If there is movement in the field of view - they started recording and they only drew a few watts - cant remember exactly what they were in idle and recording modes but I also fitted a "Power Magic" box - this monitors the battery voltage - again settable to either 12.5 volts or 11volts at which point it would disable the cameras - I always left them switched on, 24 hours a day and they never ever drained the 12v car battery. I believe Blackview also do a backup battery - which is charged by the car and when you switch off and park up it will power the cameras for weeks without taking a single watt from the car battery.
If I wasn't retired, I would definitely fit them to my Tesla and switch off sentry, they also recorded sound - not cheap mind you - about £300 each, I used two separate Blackview's but they do make a unit that has two cameras as an all-in-one package, and all are HD or super HD 4K. I actually regret leaving them in my RS when i sold it as I overestimated the functionality of Telsa's system.
As for those people that damage other's cars and drive away I'm afraid that's human nature - we are inherently dishonest as a species, makes my blood boil, and if you catch them, they always say - they didn't know - even when you review camera footage and you see them look at the damage to theirs and your car - bloody liars.
As your car is a lease you may as well just touch the scratch in with a Chipex kit and leave it until the lease is up and you have to have other work done - It will be cheaper in the long run.
Prior to the Tesla I had two Blackview cameras on my Focus RS - one to the rear and one to the front - they were much better in every respect to Teslas offering, Better picture quality, never failed to capture something, they also have knock sensors (sensitivity adjustable) - so if someone opens a door onto your car it starts recording and of course when they drive off you get their plate. If there is movement in the field of view - they started recording and they only drew a few watts - cant remember exactly what they were in idle and recording modes but I also fitted a "Power Magic" box - this monitors the battery voltage - again settable to either 12.5 volts or 11volts at which point it would disable the cameras - I always left them switched on, 24 hours a day and they never ever drained the 12v car battery. I believe Blackview also do a backup battery - which is charged by the car and when you switch off and park up it will power the cameras for weeks without taking a single watt from the car battery.
If I wasn't retired, I would definitely fit them to my Tesla and switch off sentry, they also recorded sound - not cheap mind you - about £300 each, I used two separate Blackview's but they do make a unit that has two cameras as an all-in-one package, and all are HD or super HD 4K. I actually regret leaving them in my RS when i sold it as I overestimated the functionality of Telsa's system.
As for those people that damage other's cars and drive away I'm afraid that's human nature - we are inherently dishonest as a species, makes my blood boil, and if you catch them, they always say - they didn't know - even when you review camera footage and you see them look at the damage to theirs and your car - bloody liars.
As your car is a lease you may as well just touch the scratch in with a Chipex kit and leave it until the lease is up and you have to have other work done - It will be cheaper in the long run.
We go to the airport the day before our trip to pick up a rental. Then the next morning we will drive it to airport to turn it in and catch our flight. Generally costs less than $50 for the peace of mind of not having our car screwed with. Plus no long term parking fees. Then another rental or Uber going back home. We dont do the Uber going to the airport because the last thing we need is someone knowing where we live and that we will be away for a while.
This has happened to me too! Mine was not as egregious, but it did scratch the car. I didn't notice it until washing and didn't even attempt to go back and look through sentry clips to find it...nothing can be done even if I find the person that did it. Sentry, good, but not for this type of stuff.
I tried using Sentry for the first time today and it seems pretty useless unless I'm missing something as it totally missed the car being damaged.
It recorded a couple of people walking past my car in the car park, missed someone slowly backing their car down the side of mine by accident (scraping the paint and denting one door) then recorded me looking at the doors 10 minutes later!
Luckily the person who backed into my car came and told me so hopefully insurance will sort it but I thought that this was the sort of thing Sentry was meant to catch?
It recorded a couple of people walking past my car in the car park, missed someone slowly backing their car down the side of mine by accident (scraping the paint and denting one door) then recorded me looking at the doors 10 minutes later!
Luckily the person who backed into my car came and told me so hopefully insurance will sort it but I thought that this was the sort of thing Sentry was meant to catch?
Undecided_2
Member
Mine is on by default. I control it using the phone. I doubt it will catch anyone as knowing my luck the USB stick will fail or corrupt.
The answer is:
The insurance companies has these guys called "actuaries" who carefully price the insurance so as just to make it painful enough for you to claim, that you avoid claims whenever you can. The calculation also gets their money back, on average, by the premium increase.
So for average damage that you think probably happens to a lot of cars (I think this would be an example) I would assume the premium increase is going to essentially cause you to pay out of pocket either way.
But more importantly, just do the numbers - you'll have an initial increase that will fade over time, plus your deductibles and whatnot, and just see what it adds up to. Simply put, will you be paying the extra 115 for more than 11 months ? (probably) so... pay for it yourself. Plus you don't have to do the paperwork.
The insurance company always wins the bet on small stuff.
I keep Sentry on with exceptions for "Home" and "Work", where I already have 24/7 camera coverage
. So far I haven't felt the need to disable it due to range concerns, but by chance (and a bit of planning) my travels have involved fast and frequent charging infrastructure.More to the point, my luck seems to be poor as I returned home from the gym one morning to find a decent scrape on the passenger side rear quarter of the bumper. I thought this would be a sure catch but Sentry only returned a few harmless passers-by, no culprit. I went back a few days in the captures in case I had somehow managed to go that long without noticing such damage and no contact with the car was captured by the cameras. I was extremely disappointed as I've been a regular at that gym for about a year and would likely be able to recognize whoever hit my car given how sparsely populated it is when I go.
Naturally the gym didn't have any of their own cameras pointed in that direction so now I have to live with the frustration of knowing that the responsible party is likely lifting weights only meters away from me on a daily basis and I'll never know who. To make matters worse, I'm the only blue Model 3 owner that I've personally seen there, so there's a chance they know exactly who I am and still haven't owned up.
Turns out Murphy's law applies to me as well, except in my case damage will only occur when Sentry doesn't wake up. If someone hits your car, and no Sentry is around to see it, did it make a sound?
Jonnymack74
Member
That's been keyed or perhaps a nosey kid losing balance on his bike
Looks a pain to fix as well
Have you looked into if it can be fixed by a mobile repair?
Have not looked at mobile repair as the two bodyshops I've been to so far have both said the same....it's a deep scratch and they only way it will look like new is with a respray...and the pearlescent paint is the complication as it takes time to get it matched/blended properly.
I've decided to pay for the repair myself rather than go via insurance due to the excess and the x-years of increased premiums.
Sentry mode requires an update to fix its constant incident alert that is just me walking back to the car. Seriously? It’s a simple programming so that no incident alert is created if, within 30 seconds or so, the car is unlocked by its owner. Then, it is clearly the owner and not a notable incident.
I hate scrolling to that little red dot only to find myself walking to the car.
Also, when I play the video, why do they start 20 min before the red dot incident? Just show me 15 seconds before the red dot. Sheesh this isn’t hard people!
I hate scrolling to that little red dot only to find myself walking to the car.
Also, when I play the video, why do they start 20 min before the red dot incident? Just show me 15 seconds before the red dot. Sheesh this isn’t hard people!
Drew57
Active ember
I've always wondered if similar applies to my marriage
Whenever I speak but my wife isn't around to hear me, am I still wrong?
That's a really smart tip - Thank you! If I set Tessie automations to enable Sentry Mode at say 0700 and then disable it again at 0900 do you know if it works even if I drive the car (school run!) During that time - i.e. does it re-enable after the drive as long as it is before 0900?
Cheers.
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