How Can You Turn Off the Sentry Mode in a Tesla Electric Car?

People looking to control their carbon footprint by driving a car that’s better for the environment inevitably turn toward electric vehicles. More specifically, they turn to Tesla.

Investing in a modern Tesla vehicle allows you to experience a futuristic car ride like no other.

However, it will also give you a fantastic opportunity to significantly reduce your daily and annual traveling costs. This is because electricity is far cheaper than gas in the USA.

However, affording a Tesla is not easy for all kinds of consumers unless they buy a used one or choose a means of financing that allows them to afford their Tesla.

If you have purchased a modern Tesla electric car, you need to ensure that it stays safe and secure, especially from thieves and vandals. So how do you do this? By turning on sentry mode.

Sentry mode is a great feature that we’ll discuss in detail, but if you don’t want to keep it on, you’ll need to know how to turn off sentry mode. Here’s what you need to do.

Table of Contents

What Is Sentry Mode?

From designing the first ever commercially available battery-powered automobiles to ensuring that every Tesla electric car is highly consumer-friendly, Tesla has gone above and beyond to get to the position it is in today.

One of the key reasons people across the globe cannot seem to get enough of Tesla is its unique and unmatchable features and the luxury you feel when you drive the company’s vehicles.

From the one-of-the-kind dog mode that helps prevent the death of a pet locked inside a car to the fantastic camping mode, which allows optimal air and lighting conditions in a parked car, Tesla is definitely an innovative genius like no other.

One feature that has accelerated the global demand for Tesla electric cars is its sentry mode. Usually, the more recent and updated Tesla EV models come with this mode.

Sentry mode is basically a highly innovative and technologically advanced built-in security system that is designed to use the vehicle’s external cameras to prevent theft or break-ins.

Sentry mode has three basic states: standby, alert, and alarm. If the Tesla electric car owner has not turned sentry mode off, it is designed to activate automatically, whether or not the car is running.

How Does Sentry Mode Work?

As mentioned above, Tesla’s sentry mode uses the automobile’s external cameras. Anytime a ‘potential threat’ comes near the car, sentry mode turns on automatically.

When this happens, sentry mode shifts from ‘the standby’ state to ‘alert.’ Immediately, a warning sign appears on the Tesla electric car’s display screen to warn the ‘threat’ that they are being recorded.

If the potential threat begins to move or touch the Tesla electric car in any way that is sensed as being dangerous, sentry mode shifts to the ‘alarm’ state. Usually, this happens when someone is trying to steal or break into the Tesla.

Once sentry mode is in the ‘alarm’ state, the car’s audio system turns on automatically and begins playing any music at the highest volume.

Not only does this alert the owner or other people around the Tesla, but it also discourages the thief from continuing with their action.

The best part is that by the time the owner gets to their Tesla electric car, the vehicle’s external cameras have already recorded footage of the entire incident.

All the owner has to do is plug in a USB and download the recorded footage to learn more about what happened. This helps greatly if someone damaged the Tesla and needs to be brought to justice.

How to Turn Off Sentry Mode in a Tesla Electric Car

In today’s world of rising fossil fuel prices and global inflation, owning a Tesla electric car is a luxury like no other.

Its superior automobile technology, electric engine, and unique features make the Tesla seem like a vehicle from the future.

Not only will your Tesla electric car protect you against rising fossil fuel prices, but your reduced dependency on fossil fuels will also allow you to wean yourself off oil and gas.

However, a basic Tesla electric car can be a bit more expensive than a same-sized gasoline-powered car. This is changing, though, and Tesla prices are dropping, making them more affordable.

The limited affordability adds to the modern automobile’s charm and global demand, making it a common and highly attractive target for thieves.

Hence, if you are lucky enough to have the means to afford a Tesla electric car, it is incredibly important to remain vigilant and protect your vehicle.

This is where sentry mode comes in. However, despite the fantastic benefits that the sentry mode offers, people sometimes feel the need to turn it off temporarily or permanently.

Fortunately, Tesla has made this feature simple and consumer-friendly enough that the owner has full authority to turn it off or on whenever they feel the need to.

Continue reading to learn about the Tesla sentry mode and the benefits of turning this mode on.

Moreover, the article talks about how you can turn the sentry mode off in your Tesla electric car and discuss why and when someone has to turn it off.

Finally, the article will list additional safety measures that a Tesla electric car owner can use to ensure their electric automobile’s safety when the sentry mode has been turned off.

Let’s get started!

The Benefits of Using Sentry Mode

It is an excellent and highly unique feature that generally thwarts robbery attempts. It works like a regular alarm system but with the benefit of footage from multiple cameras.
Since not many other EV brands have a system like Sentry mode, this is a major plus in Tesla’s favor.
The purchase of a Tesla electric car is no small investment; therefore, the sentry mode can help protect this massive financial investment.
Since the sentry mode is designed to turn on automatically, the car’s owner does not have to worry about whether they remembered to turn it on.
This is incredibly useful for people in a hurry as they don’t need to worry about their car when they’re at work or at a friend’s place.
If the car does get stolen, the owner can always download the external camera’s recorded footage from the sentry mode’s online mobile application if the live streaming mode has been turned on.
This evidence can help them recover the Tesla electric car and catch the thief.

How to Turn Off Sentry Mode in Your Tesla Electric Car

Although the benefits of the Tesla electric car’s sentry mode are fantastic, people sometimes want to turn it off. Fortunately, this process is super easy in Tesla vehicles in the USA.

To temporarily turn off the Tesla sentry mode for a specific trip, the owner has to do the following:

Turn on the Tesla electric car so that its touchscreen LCD is also turned on
Locate the ‘controls’ button on the LCD, and press it
Once you are in the ‘controls’ tab, locate and press the “Safety and Security” button
In this tab, you need to locate and press the ‘Sentry Mode’ button to turn it off.

Once the sentry mode feature has been turned off successfully, the LCD will notify the driver that the sentry mode has been successfully disabled.

However, since this is temporary, sentry mode will automatically turn on once the driver starts the car for another trip.

To turn sentry mode off permanently, you need to navigate your Tesla’s menu until you reach the Security tab.

In this tab, you need to scroll down to find the ‘turn off permanently option.’ When you choose that option, you will turn sentry mode off permanently.

While this might seem like a good option in the short term, it does compromise the safety and security of your car.

Before heading out again, or if you’re leaving your car unattended, you should turn sentry mode back on. It’s better for your peace of mind.

Why and When Do People Feel the Need to Turn Sentry Mode Off?

Through the invention of sentry mode, Tesla has proven to be a dedicated automobile brand that truly cares for its consumers in the USA and around the world.

However, despite the sentry mode’s obvious benefits, people sometimes want to disable it. Some of the reasons why and when people feel the need to disable the Tesla sentry mode are as follows:

False alarms. Sentry mode is an excellent security feature, but it has been known to trigger false alarms.
For instance, the Tesla electric car’s sentry mode will sometimes shift to the ‘Alert’ state even when someone is simply leaning against the EV.
If the individual makes any ‘unusual’ movement that moves the Tesla, the alarm will go off.
Hence, due to these frequent false alarms, people sometimes feel the need to disable it.
When the EV owner knows that they will be standing around or against their Tesla or meeting a friend near their parked Tesla, they turn sentry mode off to avoid false alarms.
Since the sentry mode’s vision and detection depend on the fixed external camera’s footage, they can’t record everything.
Hence, if a thief knows where the cameras are and how to avoid them, sentry mode won’t be a very useful feature.
Due to this, many Tesla electric car owners find sentry mode useless and prefer to keep it permanently turned off.
Perhaps the most common reason for anyone to disable their Tesla EV’s sentry mode is to conserve battery. However, you must note that sentry mode doesn’t actually use a lot of battery, so you won’t be saving much by disabling this useful safety feature.
If you’re running low on battery and don’t have a nearby charger, turning off sentry mode can help you conserve some of the battery until you can reach a charging spot.
Moreover, although sentry mode allows the owner to download the recorded footage onto a USB drive, the USB must be inserted prior to the incident.
This means that if there was no pre-inserted USB, you won’t be able to download the footage, effectively rendering the footage useless in criminal cases in the USA.
Due to this, some Tesla consumers find sentry mode flawed or useless and prefer to keep it disabled.

Additional Safety Tips to Protect Your Tesla Electric Car When Sentry Mode has Been Turned Off

If you plan to keep your Tesla electric car’s sentry mode disabled, you must adopt other ways to keep your EV safe. Some of these safety tips are as follows:

Keep your Tesla electric car parked inside your gated garage as frequently as possible.
Install CCTV cameras inside your garage if you live in an unsafe neighborhood.
If you do not have the garage space to park your Tesla electric car, install CCTV cameras outside your home to keep an eye on your EV.
Ask your friends and family members to allow you to park your Tesla EV in their garages when you visit them
Always park your Tesla electric car in paid public parking lots. If you spot a CCTV camera in these parking lots, try to park your EV in its line of sight.
Refrain from taking your Tesla EV to unsafe neighborhoods with sentry mode turned off.

How Can You Turn Off the Sentry Mode in a Tesla Electric Car

Final Thoughts

Buying any car is a huge financial investment; buying a Tesla electric vehicle takes that one step further.

Hence, if you made this massive investment, it is incredibly important to keep your EV’s sentry mode on to protect it from theft or break-ins.

However, if you are in a place or situation where your Tesla electric car’s sentry mode will end up giving off false or incorrect alarms and notifications, it is best to turn it off. Moreover, once your Tesla electric car’s sentry mode has been turned off, it is vital that you park it in a garage or a CCTV-monitored parking lot to avoid the risk of theft.