If your Tesla Summon doesn’t work, take a deep breath and follow our guide to getting your Tesla Summon feature right back in action.
Since the introduction of Summon back in 2016, a lot of Tesla owners have reported that they were having an unpleasant experience with the innovation.
The autonomous parking feature made some of the vehicles ram into garages, while other owners couldn’t even give Summon a go as it simply wasn’t working.
Key Takeaways:
Tesla Summon is not operating correctly because of a software bug. Users agree that rebooting the car and the phone, turning off Sentry Mode, and opening and closing the app a few times can help.
Some decide to reload one of the previous versions of the application that didn’t have such issues.
Tesla states that the feature might not operate exactly as described in the instructions.
But making the vehicle come to you is definitely something that a lot of owners would be happy to take advantage of. So, what exactly should you do to make Summon work?
Tesla Summon Doesn’t Work and How to Fix It
In a nutshell, Summon is a software release. And, of course, just like with any other releases of this kind comes the risk of various flaws and bugs.
The feature works from the Tesla app and that is one of the reasons why there are so many issues with it.
The company states that the coding is going to improve over time, but until then, the lucky owners of the smart car would have to try and figure out how to make the feature work on their own.
Below you will find the most common problems with the Summon feature and a few tips that helped Tesla drivers make it work again.
Tesla Summon Not Working After Upgrade
If the autonomous parking feature stopped working the way it should right after you’ve upgraded the app or the car to a new version, then you can give the following steps a go:
- Stand very close to the car and in different locations (not only on the driver but also on the passenger side)
- Reboot the car
- Clean all the cameras
- Test Summon with a different phone
- Try different apps (both Dashboard and Tessie support Summon)
- You can also try reloading the previous version of the application if Summon was working perfectly fine with it.
The Tesla App Is Giving a Summon Error Message
Some users complain about having the ‘vision system temporarily degraded’ or ‘cannot use in current location’ error messages appear over and over again when they’re trying to use the Summon feature.
- Try turning off Sentry Mode before going into the Summon screen
- Close and open the Summon screen on the application
- Get closer to the car (about 10 feet) and see if the feature works
- The button might become enabled for a split second between the error messages. During this time, you can attempt to tap and hold ‘come to me’
Only the Forward and Reverse Arrows Come On
When you tap Summon, you want to see not only the arrow buttons but also the ‘come to me’ button and the radius circle. But some users are complaining that they have only the arrows come on.
- Open and close the app a few times – sometimes the application will load the radius circle on one of the tries
- Restart your smartphone
- Push the forward arrow for a second and then do the same with the reverse arrow
- Revert back to the last app version when everything worked for you
- You can try operating the vehicle by using a key fob accessory (in such a case, you wouldn’t have to worry about issues with the mobile app); bear in mind that Smart Summon does not operate with the key fob accessory
Tesla Summon Unable to Connect
A lot of users report that they have been experiencing terrible connection issues when trying to activate the Summon feature.
- Check the Wi-Fi connection in your garage and right outside – if it’s weak the feature might not work, and you would have to add a Wi-Fi extender to the space
- ‘Forget’ your home Wi-Fi in the car (it has to stay on LTE) and make sure that the smartphone is on LTE as well
- Use the key fob accessory, if you have Summon (not Smart Summon)
Why Is My Tesla Summon Disabled?
To actually make Summon work, you would have to ensure that quite a few criteria are met. So, before attempting any kind of troubleshooting, make sure that:
- All the sensors and cameras are clean (that’s 8 cameras and 12 ultrasonic sensors).
- The weather is nice (the Autopilot feature might not work if it’s raining).
- The lane markings are not faded.
- You are using the feature on parking lots or driveways on private property.
- All the settings are right. For example, before using the feature, you would have to set the distance from a detected object when the vehicle should stop, the maximum distance that the Tesla can travel when exiting a parking space, and so on (this applies only to Summon, not Smart Summon).
- You are continuously holding the button on the application (the feature can be disabled, but it is not advised due to safety concerns).
Final Thoughts
Summon is definitely the next step towards autonomous driving. But the truth is that we’re not quite there yet – the feature still has plenty of flaws and, in some cases, using it is simply not safe.
There certainly are situations in which you’d be able to take advantage of the software (it’s a cool party trick, by the way), but only as long as you are able to make it work, of course.
So, if Tesla Summon doesn’t work, how can you fix it?
Before using the feature, make sure that the criteria mentioned above are met (there are a few).
If Summon is not working, then you would usually have to ensure that the connection is good, open and close the app a few times, restart the car and phone, and turn off Sentry Mode.
In a lot of cases, these steps should help; if not – you can always reload the previous version of the app.
