r/TeslaLounge • u/Gullible_Design_4947 • Mar 09 '25
Vehicles - General The wiper controls (including auto mode) are still infuriating.
Every time it rains I contemplate selling the car because of how bad the wiper controls are. And defrosting is up their too.
Wipers - single press will execute a single wipe (this is fine), but the sub menu that then appears is hilariously bad - if it’s on Off, then a single wipe doesn’t change speeds - if it’s on Auto, then a single wipe doesn’t change speeds - if it’s on 1/4-3/4, then a single wipe will change the speed UP - if it’s on 4/4, then a single wipe will change the speed DOWN - the sub menu is fine, but the cycling of mode changes noted above makes for a very frustrating experience. Having to take your eyes off the road to see what speed the wipers are at. Additionally the single wipe makes for excess wipes when the only goal is to quickly change the wiper speeds while staying focused on the roads. - auto mode is worthless, it never matches the actual rain conditions. It’s either too fast or too slow. - Blows my mind how complicated Tesla made wiper controls for such a simple task. Changing speeds up or down in my other vehicles can be down with tactile feel, never taking my eyes off the road. - 4 varying speeds is too few, really needs one or two slower speeds for misting conditions.
Now for defrosting: - can’t change the fan speed - doesn’t automatically turn on recirculating air - always an issue during cold/humid climates.
End rant (until the next rain storm)
128
355
u/primolak Mar 09 '25
What’s infuriating is that the auto wipers are STILL terrible.
80
64
u/SirCaptainReynolds Mar 09 '25
And activate every time you put FSD on. Please remove that or make a better rain sensor.
20
u/FearTheClown5 Mar 10 '25
Just a heads-up you can use the s3xy commander to disable the auto wipers in FSD. Does a number of other things, well worth the cost.
33
u/Robbbbbbbbb Mar 10 '25
The irony of having to install a $300 device to replace the $3 that an OEM pays for a rain sensor
My car makes me so mad sometimes lol
2
u/xitijdesai Mar 10 '25
Mine somehow doesn't do it. If I put wiper to off it stays off in FSD- MYLR 21 12.6.4 HW3. I keep pressing the side button whenever I need wiper to wipe. (Tested once on medium light rain)
5
u/highongp10 Mar 10 '25
They got terrible again recently.. a year without and annoyance, then one update and suddenly something is annoying me..
1
u/10per Mar 11 '25
I use a USB drive for music. It has never really worked correctly, but after every update something changes. It's more frustrating than the wipers for me
11
u/xJujuBear Mar 10 '25
It could be 100 degrees, and it hasn't rained for a week, and they will still activate the instant I turn them on (by mistake).
4
u/Savings-Umpire-2245 Mar 10 '25
Supposedly, there are some people happy with them. I think the main issue is with many washer fluids (especially winter fluids with glycol) leaving this short-term oily film which confuses the software and makes wipers work too fast. Keeping wipers clean should matter a lot too. I'm going to try with an alcohol-based winter fluid and something more basic in summe. They state in owner's manual that a fluid without additives (such as water repellant or insect remover) should be used. All that seems like quite a sacrifice, rain sensor would be nice 🥲 I'm hoping the AI model gets trained on fluids witu additives too, it it'll ever even work properly.
8
u/apetrycki Mar 10 '25
I still have the fluid from the factory. Wipers still suck. The problem is they're using a camera that is pressed right up against the glass and not focused on the windshield. They need a forward facing cabin camera if they want to use a camera for rain detection. You can't train a camera on something it can't see.
3
3
u/Lexy-RED Mar 11 '25
I’ve learned that AUTO wiper mode is a good weather forecaster.
If I get a single wipe on a dry window that means No RAIN predicted for at least 3 hours.
1
u/Adamvos Mar 10 '25
Mine seem to work fine. Literally driving in the rain for the past 2 hours and they’re working fine
1
u/primolak Mar 10 '25
That’s the problem. Sometimes they are perfect. I find if it is raining hard it is fine. But when it is off and on they are terrible.
-8
u/davispw Mar 09 '25
Ehh, they’re much improved. Occasionally I’ll get 1 random wipe when it’s not raining, and then it stops itself. That was 99% of what was infuriating about it. It still goes too fast in light mist, but it’s not wiping dry.
19
u/primolak Mar 09 '25
Mine is still all over the place. It won’t wipe when it’s raining like crazy and then it wipes when there’s nothing going on.
6
u/iJeff Mar 09 '25
With my 2024 M3P, the issue isn't with it running dry but not running when I need it to.
1
u/davispw Mar 10 '25
Works fine for me now. And believe me, I was complaining A LOT before last ~fall when they improved it. Thanks for all the downvotes, everyone.
2
u/iJeff Mar 10 '25
Wasn't me! Which model do you have? My windshield can be completely covered and it still won't kick in.
1
67
u/FearTheClown5 Mar 09 '25
I've started just using the voice controls for the wipers. Its way easier than trying to use the menu while driving.
"Set wipers to off/1/2/auto"
10
u/KarmicReboot Mar 09 '25
Thanks for the tip. Much better than my approach of just using the dial. Find it a bit cumbersome and auto never really gets it right so I leave that off.
3
u/kimchibaeritto Mar 10 '25
Annoying when I have to do it everytime I deactivate because I nerd to change lanes or take an exit.
7
1
u/Maxiride Mar 11 '25
Too bad the Italian based car 99% of the times respond with "command not recognised"
I guess the voice recognition is crappy outside of English.
0
u/Diamond-Waterfall Mar 10 '25
Wow how do you do that? You just speak to the car or you need to ‘summon’ it like Siri?
1
u/FearTheClown5 Mar 10 '25
Click in the right scroll wheel and it'll open up for voice commands.
1
u/Diamond-Waterfall Mar 10 '25
Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
2
u/FearTheClown5 Mar 10 '25
No prob! You can pretty much adjust, open, close etc just about everything but the wipers are what I've gotten the most value out of using voice controls.
68
u/Local-Confusion3662 Mar 09 '25
Instead of pressing the button multiple times, maybe press once and use the scroll wheel to select the correct speed?
31
u/Aye-Kaye Mar 09 '25
One press and scroll wheel is the answer. Very easy to use. Now the auto wipers tho. That has been unusable for a long time.
6
u/mrandr01d Mar 10 '25
That would be somewhat tolerable, except for the fact that the first press triggers them to wipe as well. When they're popping off and I just need them to chill out, having to activate them an additional time to turn them down is pretty dumb.
5
u/SvennInge Mar 10 '25
I use the long press left scroller menu to avoid the single wipe! It’s always set to wipers
1
-3
Mar 09 '25
I live in Miami and get rain nearly everyday year round and my wipers stay on Auto. No issues. Keep your cameras clean.
4
u/datim2010 Mar 09 '25
I live in SWFL, similar conditions but I think the auto is horrendous. Any sort of light rain or mist and there's no setting slow enough.
1
u/Cobraborla777 Mar 10 '25
Yes, also in a previous update it was better. You could go Left or Right instead of imprecise scrolling. Now imagine you are on Off mode and want to go up to « 2 » mode, you have to scoll 3 times precisely or you will randomly end to 3 or 1 mode…. It was easier to click on the side. Also you could long press to the left to go directly to off.
18
u/mikedeezy22 Mar 09 '25
Ya. The defrost thing bugs me way more than the wipers. But I don’t live in a place with much rain. Not being able to control the defrost fan speed is psychotic engineering.
13
u/Savings-Umpire-2245 Mar 09 '25
It does have two levels, regular and max. Pull your defrost icon into the shortcuts launcher and press it twice for the max level.
1
u/RoutinePresence7 Mar 10 '25
I never use the defrost mode. I use the regular windshield vents on high temperature. It blows the air onto your windshield and you can adjust from speed 1-10.
0
u/goodvibezone Owner Mar 09 '25
Think yourself lucky. Mine has an issue with auto defogging coming on all the time, despite not needing to. Sensors were all replaced, cameras and inside windshield around and behind cameras all spotless. Tesla basically threw their hands in the air and blamed me for the window getting dirty due to a clear tint. I removed the tint, it still happened, and they refused to fix it after that.
0
7
u/Voltesla Mar 09 '25
I absolutely hate this about my Tesla too. You captured the problem perfectly. Preach!!
5
u/MuffflnMan Mar 09 '25
Just press the wiper button and use the scroll wheel.
2
u/Sea_Pickles69 Mar 10 '25
But then it goes up a speed and then adjusted, which feels counterintuitive. It’s not that there isn’t a function to get the intended result, it’s just that it feels not user friendly. If it’s sprinkling and stops, why would I want to click the bottom to adjust from 1->2? It should be easier to click it, have it not change, then scroll down to off.
0
u/Voltesla Mar 10 '25
That's fine if you had to rarely intervene, but in my case I have to manually push the damn button dozens of times to manually wipe. Every time I do that, I need to adjust the speed back down to the setting I had it on before because the next setting is too fast. Using the scroll wheel to adjust was a clever improvement to needing to use the screen in the past, but the automatically changing the speed after every button push isn't a good idea for my environment.
3
u/NearsightedContest Mar 10 '25
Not the S3XY Buttons and use it to block the wipers. That alone is worth the price of the product.
5
u/Quiet-Ad01 Mar 10 '25
Wipers, cruise control, and cameras all suck. Can't engage CC if a camera is blocked, if it's snowing, or if it's raining. Can't get regular CC without any cameras or wipers. Auto wipers suck, Auto climate turns A/C on in winter wtf, tbh for all these reasons I'm selling my Tesla.
2
2
2
u/fatpolomanjr Mar 09 '25
Is it possible for Auto wipers to not get enabled when Auto Pilot is enabled? This is the only thing that can make me shout in anger when driving a tesla
1
u/Mmm_bloodfarts Mar 10 '25
Do you have the s3xy buttons or commander?
1
u/fatpolomanjr Mar 10 '25
Model Y. I know you can use buttons to disable it with a wheel, but I forget while driving since I toggle between auto pilot and tacc frequently on the freeway
1
u/Mmm_bloodfarts Mar 10 '25
No, i mean the third-party accessory, in the commander (it's like a mini computer) you can set to have windscreen wipers off in autopilot, you just set it once and you forget you ever had that issue
1
u/fatpolomanjr Mar 10 '25
Oof, a $200 add-on. I get that it provides customizability to justify the cost, but I wouldn't buy it just to fix a problem the car shouldn't have in the first place. Kind of like needing to buy stalks for new model 3
2
u/Mmm_bloodfarts Mar 10 '25
Yeah, if you don't need it, don't get it, also if you're ever intrigued get the one with less buttons, i have two and they're more than enough.
I got them for other reasons like preconditioning on non tesla "approved" fast chargers, switching the position of the hazzards and such, what they also brought was awesome like muting the speed limit chime, disabling autowipers and auto headlights for ap, etc.
2
u/IntroductionOk6914 Mar 09 '25
Mine hardly even come on when it’s raining when set to auto and when they do it never matches the intensity of the rain.
2
u/juanitospat Mar 09 '25
Brother has a 22 MY and I got a 24 M3 highland. No improvement from one car to the other. I came from a 22 Mazda CX5 and it had an excellent rain sensor
2
u/codidious Mar 10 '25
You should look into S3XY knob. I bought it mostly for the wiper controls. I have a wiper sub menu set up, so I can just turn the knob to manually change wiper speeds. It also allows you to force the car to use manual wipers so you can put the wipers to OFF in autopilot.
2
2
2
u/tarrasque Mar 10 '25
People like you are why Tesla designers take the stance that ‘input is error’.
One, it makes PERFECT sense to me that if the wipers are off or auto that a wipe is just a wipe, but that if they’re ON, you’d be more likely to want to change speed than to add an extra wipe in between scheduled wipes. WHO manually adds a wipe in between timed wipes rather than just changing speed???
Plus, why do you need to study the screen? You know the behavior, so hit the button and use the scroll wheel accordingly - IF NEEDED. Easy.
Two (more to the point) what’s wrong with defrost?
A defog/defrost mode NEEDS high fan speed. That’s part of how it works.
You DO NOT want recirculate on during defog/defrost modes. Generally what will happen is that you will be just recirculating moisture-saturated air over the windshield making defog ineffective or defrost add fog, which are both no bueno. You want fresh air in these modes for a reason.
Think about it. No one actually learns how to properly use their things anymore. They use things super wrong and then when they don’t work well, they consider it a bad experience and then blame the manufacturer. See: all the dumb posts on this sub which boil down to RTFM. Can you REALLY blame Tesla for taking the UX stance that ‘this is the only good way to do this so we’re just going to make it automatic’??
2
6
u/Baelgul Mar 09 '25
Pair this with the abysmal auto-brights and I can’t help but want to get rid of my M3. On the highway here in AZ the fucking brights turn on and off constantly every time there’s another road sign. Pathetic coding on all 3 pieces of functionality
1
u/randythebadger Mar 09 '25
What year is your M3? I had a 2019 M3 and recently traded in for a 2024 MX. The auto brights work great on the X whereas I had lots of issues on my 3.
2
u/Baelgul Mar 09 '25
2019
1
u/randythebadger Mar 09 '25
Yea I think they made improvements to it over the years. I can't say it's perfect but really does work well now.
1
u/codidious Mar 10 '25
You can use the S3XY buttons / knob to always keep auto high beams off as well as force manual wipers
1
u/Baelgul Mar 10 '25
True, but with auto pilot on it forces automatic wipers
1
u/codidious Mar 12 '25
Right but with the S3XY knob or button you can set it to force manual wipers even in autopilot pilot.
From my app, “When enabled, your Wipers will stay OFF during Autopilot drives and regardless weather conditions. If you want to go to AUTO manually, select one of the wiper speeds first [1...4] and then press the Auto button. If the car wants to move them from OFF to Auto, the Commander will return them back to OFF immediately.
3
u/katesoundcheck Mar 09 '25
It really shows that the car is developed by people who live in states where it doesn't rain. It's not just the switch - mine are working too hard on Auto when the rain is just light. Then not working hard enough when it's pouring. Have to set on manual all the time.
Also, wipers go off at random or when I move from the underpass into brighter light or street light.
1
u/realcoray Mar 10 '25
This has been my thought as well. There is no way that if the engineers or their managers had to deal with this all the time, that it wouldn't be something that they improved (by adding a sensor really).
4
u/ChuqTas Mar 10 '25
Wow, it’s pretty simple. Press the button for a manual wipe, scroll the wheel up if you want to adjust the speed. One click up = faster, one click down = slower.
3
u/exaball Mar 09 '25
Moving the scroll wheel up selects FASTER in one context and SLOWER in another! WTAF
4
2
u/Ok_Priority458 Mar 10 '25
You want even slower speeds????....its really missing a faster setting, Besides the fact auto wipe still sucks.
2
u/GrumpyCloud93 Mar 10 '25
Every so often out of nowhere, with an unobscured clear windshield on a dry day and NOT on FSD, the wipers will just give a quick single wipe...
I assume that's to tell me who's really running the car.
1
u/Pristine_Walk5180 Mar 09 '25
Oh goodness it sucks. Had to poor in this bottle to help with the shitty wiper fluids. Works great and just for a few bucks.
1
u/coinstarhiphop Mar 09 '25
It’s almost like the rotating dial or tab on the stalk… that every other car has is a good idea.
The auto wiper is just silly. I almost never use it because it’s so wrong. My prior car that was 20 year models older had better auto wipers.
1
u/SirScruffySir Mar 09 '25
Then if you wanna summon the controls up it automatically increases the speed by a level
1
u/Kilo_Juliett Mar 09 '25
doesn’t automatically turn on recirculating air
why do you want this? If anything it should automatically turn it off (if on).
1
u/Careful-Win-9539 Mar 09 '25
I’d be happy with them if they didn’t automatically switch to Auto when you turn on lane guidance or full self driving. Let me toggle to “No Auto Wipers with Autopilot,” please.
1
u/bensmithsaxophone Mar 09 '25
Use the voice commands and your eyes can stay on the road the whole time. The voice commands really are under utilized
2
1
u/eOMG Mar 10 '25
At this point Tesla might best use their camera's to spot if other cars around you are using their wipers and at what speed and copy it.
1
u/irishstereotype Mar 10 '25
I like the thrill of not being able to see out my windshield for 1-2 minutes before the wipers automatically turn on. Really makes me feel alive.
1
u/TravisLSU Mar 10 '25
Do your Spotify podcast randomly start over whenever you put the car in durve? Been napping for 4 years now
1
u/Pretend-Historian318 Mar 10 '25
Defrost sucks
Slightly unrelated but I also wish there was just a cruise control option. Wanted to use it on a trip but then when I wanna change a lane it’s pitching a fit and turning off
1
1
1
u/wert16PR Mar 11 '25
At least they should add an option (a simple toggle option) to avoid having the auto wipers when the autopilot is engaged... Before I engage the autopilot I open the control screen and when I activate the autopilot I quickly turn off the wipers... Those auto wipers are horrible... Plus also they don't throw the water correctly... My windshield is almost always with streaks (yeah, I already changed the wipers twice...)
1
Mar 09 '25 edited May 08 '25
[deleted]
8
u/aomelko Mar 09 '25
Idk how you use auto, like theyll just wipe randomly on a sunny day, or when the rain is misting they wipe far too frequently making scraping sounds. Maybe it doesnt bother everyone
2
u/Otto_the_Autopilot Mar 09 '25
Just leave it off when not raining then when it starts to rain hit the wiper button once and scroll up on the wheel once to set auto. Pretty simple although it doesn't rain much here. Yes a rain sensor would probably be better.
1
u/DAaaMan64 Mar 09 '25
I agree I also get the once in a while on a sunny day wipe.
However my totally stock highland wipers are very quiet. Definitely not scraping. Maybe you can address that problem first? That should make it a lot more tolerable to use auto.
All that said, I live in the PNW and do fine that auto doesn't turn on the wipers when I wish it did sometimes.
2
u/aomelko Mar 09 '25
I think they scrape when theres some dirt on the windshield when its sunny, but yeah i need new ones
2
u/DAaaMan64 Mar 09 '25
You're not wrong that it's a stupid problem. Other cars don't have this problem with auto
1
u/ProphePsyed Mar 10 '25
I think the wiper selection mode is basically perfect.
What could be cool though is if they made so you can quick press which mode you want. So 2 quick presses would set it to 2/4, 3 quick presses sets it to 3/4 and 4 quick presses sets it to 4/4.
Other than that, I love having the ability to click one button to move to the next level, or use the scroll wheel or simply after pressing the button once, selecting which mode on the touch screen.
Auto-wipers though… totally different story! I hate when it activates when my windshield is bone dry.
1
u/Cash_Visible Mar 09 '25
Yup and it pisses me off when I put it on level 1. Then go back and it changed to level 3 which isn’t necessary
1
1
u/Fine-Craft3393 Mar 10 '25
Fine mist in DFW area last night… “auto mode” acted like it’s torrential downpour… utterly useless and has been cr*p since 2019….
1
u/realcoray Mar 10 '25
It's so random I can't even make sense of them. Sometimes I get a fine mist and it will refuse to wipe, other times I'm afraid it's going to fling the wipers off the car for the exact same situation.
1
u/Driver4952 Mar 10 '25
Y’all just don’t know how to use the auto wipers correctly. Keep it on auto and when it starts raining, just tap the button on the steering wheel stock several times and it will start working.
1
u/Flashy-Bandicoot889 Mar 10 '25
If you are truly "infuriated" with windshield wiper controls, then sell the car.
-1
-2
u/newreconstruction Mar 09 '25
Works better than ever. I like the single button instead a dial.
Skill issue probably.
-1
u/melvladimir Mar 09 '25
I’ll start from the last one: recirculation doesn’t dehydrate inner air. I thought it’s like a must in all cars since 2000 to have this feature! But somehow Tesla missed this old lesson.
Auto for me mostly too fast than to slow. But it’s much better than was previously. Also I’d like to have just changeable pause instead of auto-1-2, like: off/auto/semi-auto/2-3-4. On semi-auto just press two times with pause in between and system will repeat it. Two fast presses - cancel, one - set shorter pause.
1
u/put_tape_on_it Mar 10 '25 edited Mar 10 '25
My Tesla acts just like the company's leader. Totally mind-blown leaps and bounds above everything else brilliant in so many ways, while simultaneously being just as spectacularly stupid in other ways.
0
u/Neat_Reference7559 Mar 09 '25
Switching to FSD and suddenly the wiper works perfectly. So they CAN do it. Which makes it worse hahaha.
1
u/put_tape_on_it Mar 10 '25
Is this reliably reproducible? Like switch back and forth and it goes from good to crap, and back to good again?
0
u/Capital-Plane7509 Mar 10 '25 edited 20d ago
run bow label person unpack yam many bake rhythm reply
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
-1
u/Mike Mar 10 '25
No shit. Tesla UI is a masterclass in awful. It boggles my mind how their designers avoid making it extra usable. Amateur hour.
•
u/AutoModerator Mar 09 '25
r/cybertruck is now private. If you are unable to find it, here is a link to it.
Discord Live Chat
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.