We tried Tesla's Halloween Mode: the car turns into a haunted house
Tesla update 2026.38.3 brings Halloween Mode, with a ghost costume, Trick or Treat and a light show. We tried it on a Model 3, at night, in a parking lot.
Tesla added Halloween Mode with software update 2026.38.3, announced on October 6 as "a haunted house on wheels". In the video on the "Mașina Timpului" channel, Andrei tries it at night on his Tesla Model 3 in a residential parking lot. The verdict: one of the most fun features he has seen on any car.
What Halloween Mode includes
It lives in the Toybox, next to Santa Mode. According to the official release notes, it brings:
- a ghost costume for the on-screen car, with a graveyard scene while parked;
- Trick or Treat, which plays spooky sounds and flickers the lights when someone approaches the parked car;
- a schedulable Halloween light show;
- themed wraps, a lock sound and a Halloween Photobooth.
Screenshot from the Mașina Timpului video
Trick or Treat in the parking lot
The highlight is Trick or Treat. Switched on before you walk away, it makes the parked car play sounds nonstop and react as you come closer, with interior and exterior lights joining in. Andrei waited for neighbours with small children to leave before showing it from outside. On October 31 it will likely be the star of the car park.
Screenshot from the Mașina Timpului video
On the road, too
While driving, pedestrians on the visualization turn into skeletons. Small touches like this show Tesla doesn't take everything too seriously.
Screenshot from the Mașina Timpului video
What it means for drivers
- It arrives as a free over-the-air update.
- Trick or Treat disables Sentry Mode, the alarm and walk-away lock while active, so use it only when you are nearby.
- It uses a bit of extra energy to keep the cameras awake, and turns off when you shift out of Park or enter Low Power Mode.
- The full experience is confirmed for cars with AMD Ryzen infotainment; some effects may be missing on Intel-based cars.
