Tesla has ne'er precisely been the astir reliable car brand. Parts fail, batteries spell dead, and the touchscreen displays person a wont of blacking out. Small wonderment past that values of utilized Tesla Cybertrucks are plummeting, though the behaviour of Tesla CEO Elon Musk may person thing to bash with that arsenic well. Worse, you whitethorn person heard a communicative oregon 2 about a Tesla getting afloat bricked aft undertaking a task arsenic daring, arsenic dangerous, arsenic utmost arsenic ... a car wash?
Fear not: For the astir part, washing your Tesla should beryllium fine, truthful agelong arsenic you retrieve to activate Car Wash Mode from the touchscreen display. Simply spell to the "Controls" tab, prime "Service," and past take "Car Wash Mode." Really, this mode conscionable does a fewer basal things astatine once, specified arsenic rotation up the windows, crook disconnected the rain-sensing wipers, and deactivate the collision radars. The biggest information diagnostic is that the mode locks the complaint port, truthful it doesn't unfastened erstwhile h2o and soap are spraying around.
You should besides marque definite to enactment the car into escaped rotation (what an internal-combustion car would telephone "neutral," though it's a spot antithetic connected an EV) if you're going done an automatic car wash. This volition fto the car beryllium pulled done safely, without the rollers straining against the conveyance successful parkland oregon thrust modes. To bash that, conscionable measurement on the brakes and prime "Enable Free Roll" or, alternatively, displacement into Neutral.
Read more: The Least Reliable Cars, Trucks And SUVs You Can Buy In 2025, According To Consumer Reports
How Teslas Handle Being Washed
A achromatic Tesla soaped up for a lavation - Arina P Habich/Shutterstock
For non-Cybertruck models, Teslas are fundamentally washed similar immoderate different car. The happening you'll astir privation to ticker retired for is the charging port, wherever you plug it successful to capable up the battery. It's evidently meant to behaviour electricity, which isn't large for h2o and soap. That said, Teslas (and each EVs) tightly weatherproof it, capable truthful that you tin complaint them safely adjacent successful dense rain. So portion it's a bully thought to fastener the larboard erstwhile you're washing, it astir apt isn't the extremity of the satellite if you forget.
Cybertrucks, though, are a antithetic (cyber)beast. The Cybertruck Owner's Manual doesn't urge that you usage an automatic car lavation astatine all, adjacent with Car Wash Mode enabled. While the Cybertruck whitethorn not get bricked, it's susceptible to corrosives (such arsenic sap, dormant insects, and roadworthy salt). Plus, since its stainless alloy exterior is unpainted, mean car cleaners and shampoos whitethorn harm it. And this is atrocious news, due to the fact that the warranty explicitly does not screen this, oregon immoderate different harm caused by washing. So portion you're not precise apt to ceramic your car, it's decidedly a astute thought to lavation it carefully.
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