FSD purchased with vehicle or post delivery - does it matter?

[ajbrun]

Whilst I believe the UK's regulations are behind what Tesla is allowed to offer in the US, I believe FSD will get much more feature rich eventually. Given I plan to keep my MY for ~10 years and my belief in its eventual features, purchasing it *may* make sense. However, I also want to be cost conscience given it's clearly not cheap - hopefully the answers to my questions will help me decide:

1. If I purchase it after delivery of the vehicle, does this have any impact on insurance? I assume if I purchase it with the vehicle, and the insurance needs to replace the vehicle, this will also include the software originally purchased? For any software added afterwards, do insurers allow it to be included (at a cost I assume)?
2. Similar to the above - if it's purchased with the vehicle, and the price of FSD increases, does that automatically affect what's paid to the insurer monthly? I assume they honour the original replacement if required even if FSD costs increase - I'm just cautious about monthly insurance costs rising as FSD does...
3. Given the UK isn't Tesla’s primary market for FSD, how much warning do they tend to give before any price increases if any? I've seen warning for the US, but not sure on UK...

I may pose the insurance questions to whoever I choose (direct line?) for confirmation in any case, but I suspect someone here may have previous knowledge.

 

[pgkevet]

One used to get an insurance discount for having EAP/FSD at Direct Line. Not sure if that still applies.
Whatever the state of insurance when you start out doesn't stop Insurers changing their rules when it comes to renewing it. And we know they like to wriggle out of stuff.
If FSD ever shows signs of working, it will spiral in cost but may be offered as a subscription.
At the moment it’s almost useless and I feel robbed.
Will it work in 10 years? Maybe. Will tesla honour past promises to upgrade your car with whatever hardware is needed by then? Who knows what new bits they'll need to add and whether your wiring looms etc are up to it...

 

[GRiLLA]

You'll only be getting new for old insurance for a year, after that the insurers will give you what they consider 'market value'. Currently the market would not consider having FSD as having value, pretty much like any other option on any car, insurance would expect you to shop around to find a car with the options you expect. My insurance hasn't changed since I bought FSD with the car in 2019 for £4900. The car is very much worth less now than when it was new, so no reason for the premium to increase ever.

 

[Jason71]

I think the best time to buy it is never.
Or failing that on a second hand car where you will get it for next to nothing.

 

[Dilly]

FSD is a bit like bitcoin.
neither physically exist and may go up or down in value…

 

[Overworked]

There is absolutely no reason to buy FSD with a new vehicle, it and EAP can be added at any point after purchase. If you are intending to hold the car that long then there is no need to splash out now. In fact there is every reason not to buy it, as you will have the AP as normal and if you feel you need it then you can have a 48hr trial of EAP whenever it suits you.

As for insurance, what an insurer will charge today is no indication of what they will do next year. However as the software is Tesla "standard" for both EAP and FSD there is, as I understand it from other threads, much less of an insurance hit than the usual types of aftermarket changes to OEM spec - as it is an OEM spec in itself.

Since the FSD is unlikely to be approved under our more restrictive regulations for some time (years?) then take your time would be my advice. Even EAP is not really a viable package for many who take the 48hr test. Perhaps they might later just sell it item by item - who can tell?

 

[Artiste]

A couple of things to remember:

1 FSD stays with the car not the owner, so when you sell the car you sell FSD with it.

2. Neither Tesla nor other buyers seem to offer anything extra when buying a second hand car with FSD. It will not enhance the value of your car.

I wouldn’t want to put anyone off (honest!) but I consider FSD to be my one single biggest waste of money. It’s in permanent beta and is going nowhere anytime soon. Level 4 autonomy won’t be available in this country for many years, so unless you’re going to keep your car for a LONG time you’ll have to consider if it’s value for money.

 

[Ferret]

I purchased EAP after purchase. You can get a refund withing 48hours if you don't like it, so purchase before a long drive. I have kept it.

 

[HenryT]

In case it might be material to anyone's thought processes, it seems the price of FSD is increasing to $12,000 on 17th Jan in the US. Being discussed here.

It might be a reasonable assumption that the UK price will be going up soon too.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

Heh.. no chance.. The reason the reintroduced EAP in the european market was because FSD wasn't selling. Making it even more expensive they might as well kill it completely.

 

[HenryT]

Heh.. no chance.. The reason the reintroduced EAP in the european market was because FSD wasn't selling. Making it even more expensive they might as well kill it completely.

We'll see...

 

[Foucault]

At the moment FSD in the UK is pretty much worthless, which is reflected in second hand values where cars with FSD sell for the same price as those without. Whether it will have some value in the future is debatable given they can’t even get simple things like auto wipers to work let alone the phantom braking that still plagues Autopliot. I did buy FSD when I bought my car in 2019 but if I had my time again I wouldn’t bother.

 

[Mikey3LR]

Considering they cant seem to full self drive the automatic wipers correctly... im not confident in FSD I removed it from my purchase before delivery. Dont feel im missing out.... currently.

 

[KennethS]

Our 2019 M3P has FSD. On the Model Y we have ordered we will get EAP. This was not an option at the time we ordered the M3P but for us the current extra "features" in FSD versus EAP are worthless. We do like having auto park and summon, both seldom used but helpful when needed. We tend to keep our cars long term, provided they are relatively reliable and trouble free, so resale value is not a major factor when we spec a car.

 

[ajbrun]

Considering they cant seem to full self drive the automatic wipers correctly... im not confident in FSD I removed it from my purchase before delivery. Dont feel im missing out.... currently.

I did the same - started with EAP, then latter added to FSD but have now removed the lot. It started due to concern that FSD would eventually be complete and the price would rise too much, but given this is far and away the most expensive vehicle I've ever bought, my financial head kicked in. I don't think I drive enough at the moment to warrant the extra cost, but may be temped if it looks to be actually feature complete (or near enough with a wide release) at a sensible price.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

Yeah I got FSD in 2019 on the basis it was the cheapest it would ever be, and 'worth it' within a year or two. It's still not worth what I paid then (£6800 IIRC) let alone what they charge now.

I'm on the fence on EAP... it's really only for auto lane change and I could learn to live without it.

 

[Jason71]

FSD is a bit like bitcoin.
neither physically exist and may go up or down in value…

Not really. When bitcoin goes up in value it goes up in value for everyone, those looking to buy it and those who have already bought it. I don't see any existing owners benefiting from a price increase in FSD so far since the second hand market does not value it very highly. And that includes Tesla themselves if you trade in. At the very least they ought to let you transfer it to a new car if you trade in and buy a new one from them.

 

[speedyranger74]

Not really. When bitcoin goes up in value it goes up in value for everyone, those looking to buy it and those who have already bought it. I don't see any existing owners benefiting from a price increase in FSD so far since the second hand market does not value it very highly. And that includes Tesla themselves if you trade in. At the very least they ought to let you transfer it to a new car if you trade in and buy a new one from them.

"Very highly"?
In my experience is near to zero.
I agree, Tesla, is the first to give you 0$when you trade in.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

In the US Tesla have started to offer a monthy subscription which you can turn on/off which will end up here at somepoint, you can then just pay for the periods of time where it might be useful.

Aside from the fact that the material benefit of FSD is very questionable at the moment and for some time, why do you think you need it? If you value it on the ability to park and help take the strain on the odd journey then fine, thats your choice, whereas if you think the car is going to legally pick you up from the pub after you've had a few too many and worse, you can send it out to act as a taxi and earn money, I think you're going to be very disappointed for some time.

The used market tells you what they value it as, and its close to zero. You might have a buyer offer to pay £1000 more for a car with it than without, but I suspect its nearer thje truth to say a car with it will sell before a car without it, all other things being equal, but thats about it.

 

[Snowy77]

I absolutely will get Enhanced Auto Pilot. Decision I have made AFTER getting the car I have set aside funds for this. To me EAP makes more sense for us, but probably not for a lot of people. For me, the extra driving assists help complete the car, but the main reason is auto park. We have a very tight squeezy carport to garage down the side of our house. Manual park is fine, but you can't get the doors open without exhaling air and doing a limbo to get in / out. Summon lets the car park itself, and bring itself out on to the driveway. This also generates a huge and significant security addition. Even without the perimeter proximity alarms, and CCTV, if it's hard to get in to physically it's a bonus!

Full Self Drive though, I know the consensus is that it is not value for money in the UK. You'd use the Enhanced features, but full self drive, it's not even possible legally.. yet. Most likely, you'll be on car #2 or #3 before FSD is approved in the UK, and your premium package stays with your car NOT your account.