Advice on Purchase Timing (HW2.5 v 3 with AP only)

[Bender]

Hello, I’m looking for feedback to guide the timing of a purchase of a Model 3.

HW3 is freshly out but a lot of existing Model 3 inventory will still have HW2.5. I’m trying to decide if I should wait for a month to increase the odds of getting HW3 or if I should just commit now and probably end up with HW2. I do not plan to buy FSD so the hardware upgrade program does not apply.

I’ve searched these forums, reddit, and teslarati for info on HW3 and AP but not found anything substantial to help my decision. I spoke to the local Tesla sales rep who told me I don’t need HW3 and that HW3 wont ship on new cars for quite a while (which seems contradictory to Elon’s autonomy day statements, and possibly reflecting incentives of sales staff to sell existing inventory with HW2.5, as well as statements from users who report receiving HW3 already).

I do not plan to purchase FSD and, according to Elon’s tweets, HW3 (aka FSD computer) is not needed for AP. However, I hesitate to buy a really high tech car knowing that the brains are last gen when I don’t *need* to rush to buy. HW3’s chip seems much faster and with better on-board redundancy. The autonomy day overview of HW3 did a great job explaining how marvelously advanced that technology is. Those hardware features may not ever be taken advantage of for AP though (and I suspect no one outside of tesla engineering knows). I suspect, over time, cars with HW3 will have features work better than with HW2 but that’s based on general observations on technology obsolescence and not Tesla specifically.

It seems clear that if I bought FSD feature the computer will be upgraded at some point, and this would be a non-issue. Since I don’t plan to buy FSD, but do plan to have this car for quite a few years, looking for thoughts from others.

Thanks,
- Guy anxiously waiting to buy a model 3.

 

[drj3]

The most sure fire way to make sure you get HW3 if you want it is to go look at an inventory car and check the build date. They started putting HW3 in cars in mid-April. April 19 builds may or may not have it depending on the production date. May builds definitely will, but may take a while to make their way to Illinois. If you just put in an order now or even in the next few months you may or may not get HW3 depending on if they match an inventory car or get a new build. Some people with the HW3 have reported some glitches in the software and Elon Musk said on Twitter recently that currently having HW3 is a slight negative in performance of the system. So short term HW3 may be a negative, long term it may be better. Inventory cars can be viewed on tesla.com now so you can at least see if they have the configuration you want, but the website does not tell you if it has HW3 or the build date. You could call the store and ask about build date and HW3 if you see a car you are interested in. I hope this helps.

 

[afadeev]

HW3 is freshly out but a lot of existing Model 3 inventory will still have HW2.5. I’m trying to decide if I should wait for a month to increase the odds of getting HW3 or if I should just commit now and probably end up with HW2. I do not plan to buy FSD so the hardware upgrade program does not apply.
[...]It seems clear that if I bought FSD feature the computer will be upgraded at some point, and this would be a non-issue. Since I don’t plan to buy FSD, but do plan to have this car for quite a few years, looking for thoughts from others.

All things being equal, I would make an effort to get the car with latest greatest hardware.
Even if you don't have immediate need for it, and even if AP works just as well (or even better in the short term) on HW2.5, having HW3 may eventually support new features that HW2.5 will not.

I recall from reading somewhere than HW3 was included in all Model 3's produced post 4/22 build date. Do double check that cut-off date value by googling, and then make sure that the car you are considering is built after that data. Don't rely on the Tesla sales people's info - their knowledge is frequently spotty, and their incentives are not always aligned with yours.

One way to ensure that your car is new, is to customer order it, instead of taking one off the lot.
However, if you want to catch a good deal on "demo" or "low mileage" inventory car, you will need to pay attention to the build dates, and potentially pass up on deals if the car doesn't have HW3.

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[mswlogo]

I’d wait.

It’s impossible to know what will happen down the road.

Note: even the auto highbeam and autowipers use neural nets. And at the moment, they both suck.

Crash prevention, blind spot may also likely improve with faster neural net processing.

There is way more stuff going on than just pure FSD that is using Neural Nets to do its thing.

So you did the right thing to ask.

Also since you won’t being buying FSD it’s all the more reason to wait or locate a HW3 car. If you were buying FSD I think there would less concern with accepting a HW2.5 car because you’d eventually get HW3 if you did.

 

[Dante]

I am in a similar spot... no interest in purchasing FSD, but wanting the HW3 computer for all the reasons you've listed. I wonder if the "May 28th" supercharging bonus deadline is to spur purchase of AP2.5 cars to clear out the inventory. When I got my first 3, I ordered early June, delivered by end of June, and produced in May... so if HW3 is on late April builds, then by the end of May I'd suspect most cars will be HW3. Even though I'm ready to jump, I might wait a few weeks to order as close to the May 28th deadline as possible.

 

[Bender]

Thanks for the feedback.
Side question @mwslogo,
Your signature says noise reduction and tuxmat trunk/frunk. Does the frunk mat help reduce cabin noise?

 

[torontohm3wait]

HW2.5 even after April 12th build date

 

[mswlogo]

Thanks for the feedback.
Side question @mwslogo,
Your signature says noise reduction and tuxmat trunk/frunk. Does the frunk mat help reduce cabin noise?

Sorry just saw this. I think everything added a minuscule amount of help and together it all adds up. I also stuff a thick blanket in the Frunk well.

 

[mswlogo]

HW2.5 even after April 12th build date

Unproven and overseas. Let’s wait and see.

 

[OCR1]

I agree that HW3 may provide benefits outside of FSD down the road, and only the software engineering team knows what plans if any they may have to take advantage of this hardware. So many people on this forum will tell you that if you don’t plan on buying FSD you don’t need HW3. I have no idea what is leading them to believe that since none of us work on the team in charge of developing future software updates, but common sense would certainly indicate that with a much faster hardware platform the possibilities to add enhanced features outside of FSD are very possible.

There is no reason to buy a car with V2.5 at this point unless they offer you a discount for doing so.

 

[jgmartin]

Myself and a few friends have picked up model 3s recently, beginning early this month. All of them have a may build date (even though they were all ordered the first or second week of May), nine were custom order and all shipped with HW3.

I have another friend of mine that just ordered a rwd long range off-menu. Interested to see if his is also a recent build when it shows up.

 

[jgmartin]

*none were custom ordered.

 

[torontohm3wait]

*none were custom ordered.

How do you know its HW3 build date means nothing...I have spoken to several representatives that have stated "some" cars made after 12th of april still have 2.5

 

[jgmartin]

From the firmware version... also the hw3 cars didn’t get noa without confirmation until the new 2019.16.3 release, which we al just received.

 

[torontohm3wait]

From the firmware version... also the hw3 cars didn’t get noa without confirmation until the new 2019.16.3 release, which we al just received.

Thank you will check it out.

 

[OCR1]

How do you know its HW3 build date means nothing...I have spoken to several representatives that have stated "some" cars made after 12th of april still have 2.5

Most of the Tesla reps I have spoken with just flat out say stuff that doesn’t turn out be correct. So I would not assume that because a Tesla rep said the car does not have HW3 that it really does not. It’s proving very difficult to find a way to actually confirm which version you really have at this point.

 

[aymelis]

There is no reason to buy a car with V2.5 at this point unless they offer you a discount for doing so.

Good point. I'm exactly in this case: being proposed a $1500 discount on an inventory with HW2.5 and 18" wheel vs brand new with HW3 and 19" wheels. I like the 19" aesthetics better, but lean towards 18" as the wear slower, are more comfortable and mud noisy. Both with FSD. What would you choose ?

 

[MXWing]

So many people on this forum will tell you that if you don’t plan on buying FSD you don’t need HW3

Logic is rational in my opinion.

Plain TACC and autosteer is pretty dumb compared to even EAP.

If Tesla wants to cut costs they can go even lower than 2.5 just to manage the “AP” feature.

Then throw away the whole thing if one wants to go FSD/HW3.

Ceteris paribus, take the HW3 if you can but I wouldn’t pass up another halving of the tax credit to try and game it however.

 

[ATLcommute]

I confirmed I have 2.5 even though the build date was June 2, 2019. Go figure......

 

[Knightshade]

I confirmed I have 2.5 even though the build date was June 2, 2019. Go figure......

SR? that seems to be where they're burning off the 2.5 parts from previous posts