Windshield wipers are horrible, and arguably dangerous

[roblab]

so one tap of the left stalk button activates them for one swipe - this comes in handy with light rain. It's an easy fix Tesla: most cars have a sensitivity even for the auto - more or less sensitive. Just give us an option for this and those who want more sensitivity can choose just that. I'll take that feature for the S too.

The S already has two choices of sensitivity; Low speed with sensor, low speed more sensitive, and the same for high speed.

 

[roblab]

Perhaps we can agree they don't work well for most? I'm sure you've owned other cars with this feature so you know where the performance bar is. Model 3 just seems pretty far from there.

No, we won't agree they don't work well for most. Many, many think they're fine. As we don't have a list of all Teslas sold, we can't even try to get a poll by mail, and even that would be biased.

 

[Msjulie]

but it ain't hard to learn.

It's not about learning it's about being a pita Seriously, my morning commute is generally (at least right now) in pre-dawn light and the wipers haven't a clue. And in the lovely bay area, rain seems to enjoy being very changeable so set-and-forget isn't an option

I mentioned a quick fix; in manual, if the little card would just stay up until back in auto, the eyes off road bit would be hugely reduced

Other than this, it is indeed a great car

 

[jrwaters1]

Thanks. Can you please provide a link to the product you used?

Rejex. You can get it at Amazon and lots of other places. I use it for most of the car. This was recommended by a classic car owner/dealer In Florida when I was searching for the perfect ceramic coating and he told me that he and all his friends uses this. It is very easy to use. Gives a great shine with good protection. It stratches a lot easier than ceramic, but they are easily rubbed out and it is not a major operation. This is an inexpensive do it yourself way to keep your car looking as good as it can. (Old men always tell you more than you want to know.)

 

[Rebeats]

I don't have a problem with the wipers, but clearly the windshield defrost was not designed with Michigan winters in mind. Forget trying to drive the Model Three in a freezing rain which requires a constant blast of hot air on the windshield.

 

[Snow Drift]

Has anyone figured out how to keep the blades up and off the glass?

For snow and freezing rain it’s customary to put the blades up and off the glass to prevent the rubber from freezing to the glass. I know how to put them into service mode, but the arms are prevented from staying up without user intervention.

This is also useful for changing the blades.

 

[chronopc]

Has anyone figured out how to keep the blades up and off the glass?

For snow and freezing rain it’s customary to put the blades up and off the glass to prevent the rubber from freezing to the glass. I know how to put them into service mode, but the arms are prevented from staying up without user intervention.

This is also useful for changing the blades.

Have you tried wiper clean mode?

 

[Snow Drift]

Have you tried wiper clean mode?

Service Mode? Yes, but the arms don’t stay extended. They flop back to the glass.

In an ICE the blade arms would stay up and away from the glass until something moves them.

Actually the OM literally says they won’t lock in place. I think the problem is that due to the fluid hose the arms are designed to lower.

 

[stayfocus18]

They really need to fix this... I just got back this weekend from Saint Louis to NYC. It was awful and I constantly had to adjust it manually.

 

[sreams]

It's not about learning it's about being a pita Seriously, my morning commute is generally (at least right now) in pre-dawn light and the wipers haven't a clue. And in the lovely bay area, rain seems to enjoy being very changeable so set-and-forget isn't an option

I mentioned a quick fix; in manual, if the little card would just stay up until back in auto, the eyes off road bit would be hugely reduced

Other than this, it is indeed a great car

The card effectively does stay up. Tap the button on the left stalk and there it is. No hunting around on the screen.

 

[Msjulie]

The card effectively does stay up. Tap the button on the left stalk and there it is. No hunting around on the screen.

Hmm not for me, it's only there for a short time when I am the manual intermittent.. not a great solution either way I think

 

[sreams]

Hmm not for me, it's only there for a short time when I am the manual intermittent.. not a great solution either way I think

Yes, it is only there for a short time. My point was that, effectively, it may as well be there all the time. because it requires pretty much no effort to press the button on the stalk. All I'm saying is, in order to change wiper speeds at any time, you only have to tap once on the screen.

 

[Msjulie]

you only have to tap once on the screen.

Fair enough. I wish I had a regular old-school stalk though given this seems to be a tough problem for Tesla to solve

 

[sreams]

Fair enough. I wish I had a regular old-school stalk though given this seems to be a tough problem for Tesla to solve

One thing I think Tesla could easily improve with a software update is how it handles turning the wipers on for the first time. If the wipers are completely off, and you tap the button on the left stalk, the wiper card comes up with only an on-off button. So currently, you have to press the stalk button, press the on-screen on/off button, and then press a button to choose wiper speed. I'd like to see all of the buttons appear right when the stalk button is pressed, and then be able to simply choose a speed (one press) to turn the wipers on.

 

[Daniel in SD]

I'd like to see all of the buttons appear right when the stalk button is pressed, and then be able to simply choose a speed (one press) to turn the wipers on.

That's what they do on mine. Press the stalk and select speed. The auto wipers are crap though.

 

[Vines]

Its completely ridiculous that the auto wipers are this bad, really! Apparently, the camera cant see water on the windshield?
Tapping the button with one hand, then tapping with the right hand works, but its not ideal.
Ideally, the auto rain sensor just didn't suck, but as a backup maybe some smart learning based on number of button presses? Its silly that I'm having to push the button a dozen times in on and off rain. If the sensitivity of the auto-system could be increased that would be really great, and probably good enough for most people.

Why is this a problem a bad ass technology company is having?
Reinvent the electric drive train - Check
Automatic wipers that work - Maybe in a future update

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Its completely ridiculous that the auto wipers are this bad, really! Apparently, the camera cant see water on the windshield?
Tapping the button with one hand, then tapping with the right hand works, but its not ideal.
Ideally, the auto rain sensor just didn't suck, but as a backup maybe some smart learning based on number of button presses? Its silly that I'm having to push the button a dozen times in on and off rain. If the sensitivity of the auto-system could be increased that would be really great, and probably good enough for most people.

Why is this a problem a bad ass technology company is having?
Reinvent the electric drive train - Check
Automatic wipers that work - Maybe in a future update

Everyone is so impatient. Give it a couple years.

 

[ShinyPebble]

The auto wipers on my car are essentially useless. They don't turn on until the windshield is completely covered in rain to the point that you can't see anything. So just use the manual wipers, right? Well there's no control. You have to fish around on the touch screen to find the setting.

Crappy auto-mode + terrible ergonomics on manual mode = seriously unfortunate combination.

Has anyone tried working with service to get their auto-wiper functionality working better? Or do they tell you there's nothing that can be done?

I love the car, but the wipers are garbage, making it annoying driving this car in the rain.

I felt the same way. It took me a long time to find the button on the end of the stalk that wipes the windshield once. Once you use that, the auto-operation is actually pretty nice. But yea, without it, is sucks.

 

[Knightshade]

Ideally, the auto rain sensor just didn't suck

Ideally it would have a rain sensor- like literally every other car in the world whose auto wipers work perfectly.

It doesn't though- just the camera.

 

[Daniel in SD]

Everyone is so impatient. Give it a couple years.

I think they have an AI that can recognize rain but it is far too advanced to release to the public. It probably gained self awareness and there are ethical issues with releasing it in an OTA update.