Buying a M3 or MY at auction - how to know if FSD is on the car

[MitchJi]

Hi,

I’m planning to buy a M3 or MY at a dealer auction. How can I find out if a particular car has FSD?

Can I use the vin number to check?

Bonus question: If I doesn't come with a Keys how do I get some?

 

[jjrandorin]

1. you cant, even if if there, there is no guarantee it would stay with the car, it would depend on if it was ever traded back into tesla. Regardless of whether its there or not, you should buy it assuming its not there.

2. Like any other vehicle where you would need keys... contact a dealer (in this case, the manufacturer, tesla) and prove ownership of the vin (title transfer) and buy keys (keycards) from them.

 

[MitchJi]

1. you cant, even if if there, there is no guarantee it would stay with the car, it would depend on if it was ever traded back into tesla. Regardless of whether its there or not, you should buy it assuming its not there.

Thank you very much for the help .

So if I purchase at an auction where I can inspect the car and it does have keys (some of the cars come with keys), if I turn on the car I can tell if the car has FSD? How?

 

[serendipitous]

Thank you very much for the help .

So if I purchase at an auction where I can inspect the car and it does have keys (some of the cars come with keys), if I turn on the car I can tell if the car has FSD? How?

You can tell if it has it by going to the Software tab under the main menu and seeing if it says Full Self Driving is an "included package". However, you can't tell if it's supposed to have it, which is different. Specifically, many cars that pass through Tesla's hands and end up at an auction (i.e. previous owner trades it in to Tesla, Tesla decides not to sell it as used and instead sends it to an auction) have FSD stripped off. However, at least once, the car never received the message from the mothership to turn off FSD. So it appeared to have FSD, and the intermediate dealer sold it to a customer claiming it had FSD, but the terms of their purchase from the auction (and from Tesla) didn't include FSD, so Tesla later removed it after an audit found that the car hadn't been updated as intended.

This is probably rare, and Tesla did make things right for the purchaser (even though it was the intermediate dealer's "fault" in my opinion for not verifying what they were purchasing and re-selling). However, it's worth noting that it's still a risk. Even if the car seems to have FSD, there's always a possibility it will get yanked if it wasn't supposed to have it. I suspect this is overblown, but this is why people tell you that you can't tell and should assume it doesn't have it unless you're certain of its progeny.

 

[Kennymb5384]

You can check under the software option as said above. Should say "full self driving capabilities". You would also see a lot of options under "autopilot" in the menu. Should have like "full self driving beta" "navigate on autopilot" "summon"

 

[jjrandorin]

You can tell if it has it by going to the Software tab under the main menu and seeing if it says Full Self Driving is an "included package". However, you can't tell if it's supposed to have it, which is different. Specifically, many cars that pass through Tesla's hands and end up at an auction (i.e. previous owner trades it in to Tesla, Tesla decides not to sell it as used and instead sends it to an auction) have FSD stripped off. However, at least once, the car never received the message from the mothership to turn off FSD. So it appeared to have FSD, and the intermediate dealer sold it to a customer claiming it had FSD, but the terms of their purchase from the auction (and from Tesla) didn't include FSD, so Tesla later removed it after an audit found that the car hadn't been updated as intended.

This is probably rare, and Tesla did make things right for the purchaser (even though it was the intermediate dealer's "fault" in my opinion for not verifying what they were purchasing and re-selling). However, it's worth noting that it's still a risk. Even if the car seems to have FSD, there's always a possibility it will get yanked if it wasn't supposed to have it. I suspect this is overblown, but this is why people tell you that you can't tell and should assume it doesn't have it unless you're certain of its progeny.

The situation you describe, while "rare" has been reported several times here on these boards. Since these boards (while very active) still represent a small fraction of tesla owners, your description above is why I said "you cant" to the question "how can I verify the car has FSD", because as you and the other poster stated, you certainly can check to see if the car has FSD, but there is no way to check to see if the car will KEEP FSD.

There have also been cases of tesla simply not turning off a FSD trial for the car somehow, and the car showing FSD.. but when ownership transfer happens, it appears tesla re audits the vehicle.

If it was a person to person purchase, pretty easy to look at the car and see that it has FSD, and ask the owner to show you the monroney / purchase where FSD was purchased. In that case, one would be good to go.

From auction, none of that can happen, so checking to see if a car at auction has FSD currently could be done, but there should be an expectation that it might not stay there.

 

[MitchJi]

If it was a person to person purchase, pretty easy to look at the car and see that it has FSD, and ask the owner to show you the monroney / purchase where FSD was purchased. In that case, one would be good to go.

I thought that the monroney only applied to new cars! It's very common for people to purchase FSD as an upgrade.

How would you feel about it if you bought a used Tesla with a sef of expensive performance wheels and when you took the car in for service Tesla removed the rims? "we meant to remove them when we flipped the car but we forgot to do it."

I think on the Software tab under the main menu Tesla should include the complete status of every listed package. Including at least the following:
Purchased.
Installed only for trial.
Subscription including the amount of the payment and when it expires!

If they don't nail this down by the time they roll out they roll out the subscriptions it will be a black eye for the company IMO.

 

[DanCar]

Any suggestions for how to buy via auction?

I’m planning to buy a M3 or MY at a dealer auction. ...

 

[FSDTester#420]

easy - price it assuming it doesn't have FSD
If they say its got FSD, ask them to prove it.
If they say nothing, it doesn't have FSD.

 

[jjrandorin]

I thought that the monroney only applied to new cars! It's very common for people to purchase FSD as an upgrade.

How would you feel about it if you bought a used Tesla with a sef of expensive performance wheels and when you took the car in for service Tesla removed the rims? "we meant to remove them when we flipped the car but we forgot to do it."

I think on the Software tab under the main menu Tesla should include the complete status of every listed package. Including at least the following:
Purchased.
Installed only for trial.
Subscription including the amount of the payment and when it expires!

If they don't nail this down by the time they roll out they roll out the subscriptions it will be a black eye for the company IMO.

The monroney does only apply to new cars, but if you were doing a person to person purchase, that would be one way for the person to show you they purchased it with the car.

The advice is, price the car as if it doesnt have FSD, period. The statement you are making has been debated here ad nauseam, and you are going to get absolutely positively 100% nowhere with this argument here or anywhere else, other than as a thought experiment.

If you are thinking about buying a tesla via auction, assume NO software feature that is there will stay there, and price it accordingly.

EDIT: I didnt even pay attention to how long OP has been here, or how many posts they have. You already know all this I am 99% certain, so I guess this is a thought experiment, or something "for discussion" instead of a regular question. In any cause I will say I wish you luck in your attempt to purchase a tesla at auction with FSD.

 

[DeltaOne]

Any suggestions for how to buy via auction?

About 20 years ago a good friend of mine opened and ran a small used car business. Went out of business after just two years. But his stories about the auto auctions were alarming.

He and the other used car dealers used auctions to dump cars they could not sell (it's not a good look when folks see the same car sitting on your lot month after month). And to dump trade-ins they took and then discovered had too many problems to re-sell. And his business owner buddies would help each other by bidding up the prices for each other.

I wouldn't buy a car at any auto auction.

 

[MitchJi]

If you are thinking about buying a tesla via auction, assume NO software feature that is there will stay there, and price it accordingly.

But one of my goals is to get a good deal on FSD.

EDIT: I didn't even pay attention to how long OP has been here, or how many posts they have. You already know all this I am 99% certain, so I guess this is a thought experiment, or something "for discussion" instead of a regular question. In any cause I will say I wish you luck in your attempt to purchase a tesla at auction with FSD.

I didn't know any of this until I posted the questions. Quite a long time ago I "lived" on the investor forums until they were ruined by the combination of trolls and really awful moderation, confusing free speech with the right to yell fire in a crowded theater.