Neutral Shifting - Car Wash or Other

[Michael Kelly]

I've been having a hell of a time at my local car wash....I get the truck setup in "car wash" mode & upon approach to the wash (waiting to shift to neutral on the screen), the sensors often go off & take me off the page. There is a short window of time between braking when the attendant directs me to do so & get it into neutral. With the screen changing I miss that window & it screws up the whole wash, happens often enough to be a major annoyance to everyone. In car wash mode should all the sensors be shuttered, & why can't I simply shift into neutral whenever I want?

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[KBabione]

I had a similar issue...I play guitar and sometimes it takes many taps before the touch screen recognizes my finger - often long enough that they have to shut down the car wash line.

I've found it's much easier to put my foot on the brake pedal and then gently push up on the drive stalk.

 

[Beanejar]

Holding the shift stick up to go into Neutral is most reliable for me. The screen always seemed to pop to cameras just as I was about to push the neutral button. Practiced a couple of times before I tried it for the first time at the car wash.

 

[COdogman]

I have been turning off that camera setting before I go in the car wash, then I turn on car wash mode and it works fine…

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

You don’t need the screen prompt and virtual button to shift to N. Read your Owner Guide.

 

[madhat]

I've been having a hell of a time at my local car wash....I get the truck setup in "car wash" mode & upon approach to the wash (waiting to shift to neutral on the screen), the sensors often go off & take me off the page. There is a short window of time between braking when the attendant directs me to do so & get it into neutral. With the screen changing I miss that window & it screws up the whole wash, happens often enough to be a major annoyance to everyone. In car wash mode should all the sensors be shuttered, & why can't I simply shift into neutral whenever I want?

Had the same problem initially, though I'm very confused what the infotainment screen showing the cameras causing you problems is about. Nothing over there is needed for neutral. Once the cameras do turn on, you can open up the menu again to fold in your mirrors at the precise time as I mention below.

Put it into car wash mode at the pay station. Once you're in the wash and supposed to go into neutral, pull up on the stalk, but not all the way up (there's a detent of sorts that you hit rather than maxing it out and shifting into reverse), hold for a second and it'll reliably shift into neutral WITHOUT initiating hold. If you do the same pulling down it'll engage hold (both actions are in the manual). Once the initial spray is through i fold in my mirrors and before the mirror spray i fold them out again.

Practice in your driveway to make sure you can reliably hit that detent.

Pro Tip: Don't try to change ride height on the track! I intended to drop to low midway through so the mirror spray would hit better... it bound up... very quickly threw it into drive so it wouldn't trip the car wash's sensor.

 

[CANCERDOC]

I got confused reading this post as I didn't even know there was a screen option to shift into neutral. I've always just pushed up to the first "detent" on the shift stalk.

 

[Seano]

I completely get it - have found with a little practice and confidence, shifting to N via the stalk is easiest for me.

I’ve used the screen button press, but the auto camera on has messed up my timing, too.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I didn't know you could use the screen to shift to neutral. I've always just used the drive stalk on the rare occasions I need to.

 

[RivAW]

I've been having a hell of a time at my local car wash....I get the truck setup in "car wash" mode & upon approach to the wash (waiting to shift to neutral on the screen), the sensors often go off & take me off the page. There is a short window of time between braking when the attendant directs me to do so & get it into neutral. With the screen changing I miss that window & it screws up the whole wash, happens often enough to be a major annoyance to everyone. In car wash mode should all the sensors be shuttered, & why can't I simply shift into neutral whenever I want?

The screen has nothing do to with shifting to neutral so it is unclear what your issues is. Activate car was mode as you pull up, and shift to neutral when you roll onto the guided track….its really not difficult (or screen dependent)

 

[KBabione]

I didn't know you could use the screen to shift to neutral. I've always just used the drive stalk on the rare occasions I need to.

When you've put the vehicle into Car Wash mode you have a button on the infotainment screen to put it in neutral...You'll see it the next time

 

[mkhuffman]

How do you handle a car wash where the kids take the car and they run it through? Do you put the card key on the pad and then tell the kids how to put it in neutral?

 

[KBabione]

How do you handle a car wash where the kids take the car and they run it through? Do you put the card key on the pad and then tell the kids how to put it in neutral?

I'd treat it like handing my ride over to a valet and leave them the fob. It's unlikely that the car wash kid, unless they've done a bunch of Rivians, will be able to make the key card work AND get it properly into neutral. Just not worth risking it IMO - I'm not even sure then that I'd do it because getting the vehicle into neutral is simply not intuitive.

 

[Indy avocado]

I've been through the car wash a handful of times over the past few years. Shifting to neutral was reasonably easy via the stalk.

Then one day I noticed they added the option to shift to neutral via the screen and in my latest visit I decided to try that, as it seemed easier....

I completely get it - have found with a little practice and confidence, shifting to N via the stalk is easiest for me.

I’ve used the screen button press, but the auto camera on has messed up my timing, too.

This must have been my issue - I was in a bit of a panic when I tried... the screen locked me out and I was unable to get it in neutral before the car wash had to be stopped. Felt like a real dunce.

I thought this was a good option, as holding the stalk to neutral feels unnatural IMO, but they didn't do enough testing with this feature.

I got confused reading this post as I didn't even know there was a screen option to shift into neutral. I've always just pushed up to the first "detent" on the shift stalk.

The screen has nothing do to with shifting to neutral so it is unclear what your issues is. Activate car was mode as you pull up, and shift to neutral when you roll onto the guided track….its really not difficult (or screen dependent)

See above. This was added in a software update as part of the car wash mode. Obviously it's not easy/intuitive as this thread has numerous people who have presumably used car washes without issue in the past that had issues here.

 

[pickupman2022]

The original setup was way better, when we had the full vehicle screen, ever since they removed that screen and added the pop up panel they completely ruined accessibly to carwash mode, shift to neutral button and mirror fold. Used to all be convenient on one screen. Now I have to open the pop up (at the gate) put in carwash mode, switch to the other tab of the popup to fold mirrors and then use the shifter to put in neutral when entering the wash. I've gotten used to it but still prefer the old vehicle screen. I actually wish they would bering the vehicle page back, I don't like anything about the new popup thing.

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