Ready to make some noise with your Tesla Model Y? Whether you're alerting other drivers, playfully expressing yourself, or just trying to locate your car in a busy parking lot, knowing how to honk is an essential part of your Tesla experience. Let's dive in!
Step 1: Discovering the Horn's Location – Where's the Honk Button? ️♀️
The Tesla Model Y, like many modern cars, doesn't have a traditional, large circular horn pad in the center of the steering wheel. Instead, it features a more integrated design.
Finding the Steering Wheel Horn
The Steering Wheel: The primary way to honk your Tesla Model Y while driving is by pressing the right side of the steering wheel. You'll notice a touch-sensitive area that activates the horn. It's designed for quick access, ensuring you can signal attention when necessary.
A Note on Modern Teslas: It's worth noting that newer Model 3 and Model Y vehicles manufactured after 2022 might use the external pedestrian warning speaker to play a horn sound effect instead of a traditional mechanical horn. While it's just as loud, some drivers feel the traditional horn sounds more natural.
Step 2: Honking with the Touchscreen – The Digital Approach
Your Tesla's large touchscreen isn't just for navigation and entertainment; it also offers another way to activate the horn.
Using the On-Screen Controls
Access Controls: On your Tesla's touchscreen, navigate to the "Controls" section.
Locate the Horn Icon: Within the "Controls" menu, you'll typically find a "Sound" or "Horn" option. Tapping this icon will cause your Tesla to honk.
Customizing for Quick Access: Many Tesla owners prefer to have the honk icon readily available on their main screen. You can often drag and drop icons to customize your quick access bar. Just press and hold one of the existing icons at the bottom of the screen and then swap it with the honk icon.
Step 3: Honking with the Tesla App – The Remote Honk
Did you know you can honk your Tesla from your phone? This is incredibly useful for finding your car in a crowded parking lot or simply showing off a cool feature!
Remote Honking through the App
Open the Tesla App: Launch the Tesla mobile app on your smartphone.
Select Your Vehicle: Ensure you have your Model Y selected in the app.
Find the "Honk" Option: Look for a "Honk" or "Flash Lights & Honk" button within the app's controls. Tapping this will activate your Tesla's horn remotely.
Beyond the Honk: This feature can also be part of a larger "Find My Car" function, often flashing the lights along with the horn to make your vehicle even easier to spot.
Step 4: Personalizing Your Honk – The Boombox Feature
One of the most unique and fun aspects of owning a Tesla, particularly newer models equipped with a Pedestrian Warning System (PWS) and an external speaker, is the ability to customize your horn sound using the "Boombox" feature.
Getting Creative with Boombox
4.1. Preparing Your USB Drive
Format the USB: First, you'll need a USB drive. On your computer, format the USB drive to exFAT, MS-DOS FAT (for Mac), ext3, or ext4. NTFS is generally not supported.
Create a "Boombox" Folder: Create a new folder on the formatted USB drive and name it "Boombox".
Add Your Sounds: Now for the fun part! Add your desired horn sounds to this "Boombox" folder. Tesla supports .wav and .mp3 audio files. You can add as many as the USB's capacity allows, but when selecting a sound in your Tesla, you can only choose from the first five files listed alphabetically.
Important Note: The USB drive can typically only contain one main folder for Tesla functions. For example, you usually can't have both a "Dashcam" and "Boombox" folder on the same drive.
4.2. Plugging in the USB
Locate the USB Port: In your Model Y, plug the prepared USB drive into the USB port located inside the glove box.
4.3. Activating Boombox in Your Tesla
Access Toybox: On your Tesla's touchscreen, tap the "Toybox" icon.
Select Boombox: Within the Toybox, find and select "Boombox".
Choose Your Custom Sound: You'll see a dropdown menu that allows you to select one of the custom audio files you uploaded to your USB drive.
Test It Out! Once selected, press your steering wheel horn, and the first five seconds of your chosen sound will play outside instead of the traditional horn.
Important Safety Information for Boombox: The Boombox feature can only be used when the car is in Park. Using these features while driving is illegal and can be quite dangerous, potentially leading to collisions. Always be mindful of local laws and regulations regarding the use of custom horn sounds in public areas.
10 Related FAQ Questions About Tesla Model Y Honking
How to Honk in Tesla Model Y?
You can honk by pressing the right side of the steering wheel, tapping the horn icon on the touchscreen, or using the Tesla mobile app.
How to Change Horn Sound on Tesla Model Y?
You can change the horn sound using the "Boombox" feature in the "Toybox" section of your Tesla's touchscreen, by uploading custom .wav or .mp3 files via a USB drive.
How to Make Tesla Model Y Horn Louder?
Check if "Joe Mode" is active in your vehicle's settings (Controls > Safety). Deactivating it might increase the volume of various vehicle sounds, including the horn.
How to Use Tesla Model Y Horn in a Parking Lot to Find the Car?
Use the Tesla mobile app's "Honk" or "Flash Lights & Honk" feature to remotely activate the horn and lights, helping you locate your vehicle.
How to Troubleshoot a Quiet Tesla Model Y Horn?
First, check "Joe Mode." If the issue persists, especially in 2022+ models with a speaker-based horn, it might be related to the hardware or moisture; contact Tesla service for a diagnosis.
How to Access Horn Settings on Tesla Model Y?
Horn settings, particularly for customizing the sound, are typically found within the "Toybox" section under "Boombox" on your Tesla's touchscreen.
How to Upload Custom Horn Sounds to Tesla Model Y?
Format a USB drive (exFAT, MS-DOS FAT, ext3, or ext4), create a folder named "Boombox," add .wav or .mp3 audio files to it, and then plug the USB into the glove box port.
How to Revert Tesla Model Y Horn to Default Sound?
Within the Boombox settings on your Tesla's touchscreen, you should be able to select a default or original horn sound option from the list.
How to Know if My Tesla Model Y Has a Physical Horn or Speaker Horn?
Newer Model 3 and Model Y vehicles (generally those manufactured after 2022) utilize the external pedestrian warning speaker for the horn sound effect, rather than a traditional mechanical horn.
How to Disable Tesla Model Y Horn?
There is no direct "disable horn" feature for safety reasons. However, adjusting settings like "Joe Mode" might affect its perceived volume.
This video shows how to honk using the Tesla app and highlights other methods.
