FSD With Purchase Or Wait

[DavidS314]

So I'm planning on getting a model 3 next month and deliberating if i should buy FSD with purchase or not. If you believe Elon's timeline about how good it will get, then I think its an easy buy right now (before the price goes up). I would say currently Nav on Auto pilot is only worth about 2-3k more to me at the moment than AP, but I'm afraid if i wait to buy post purchase, the price may rise a lot more.

Curious on others thoughts on this and if current owners have seen enough progression in the software to think Elon's given timeline may be accurate.

 

[notAnExpert]

... Curious ... if current owners have seen enough progression in the software to think Elon's given timeline may be accurate.

I haven’t seen enough progress to believe Tesla’s claim that the car will drive itself on city streets by the end of the year.

Musk/Tesla has a poor history reg FSD timeline.

1. Musk said that by the year 2017 the car was going to self drive coast to coast. It is now 2019.

2. Tesla has been claiming in its order page since March that Adv. Summon is available. Musk said 3 months ago that it would be available in a week. Three months later, he says it is coming but the problem is harder than they originally thought.

3. Tesla claims that the car is currently capable of driving itself from on-ramp to offramp. This is due to Navigate on Autopilot. Most of us who have used NoA would agree that the feature is not very good yet.

I bought AP+FSD when they had a sale. But FSD has a long way to go and I don’t trust Tesla’s timeline. But I really want Tesla to prove me wrong.

 

[duanra]

I didn't buy neither the AP or the FSD, but what I saw so far, is the price going up down up down...

 

[VT_EE]

I love getting updates and trying out new features. If you want to enjoy the FSD feature rollout, buy it now.

 

[turnem]

I haven’t seen enough progress to believe Tesla’s claim that the car will drive itself on city streets by the end of the year.

Musk/Tesla has a poor history reg FSD timeline.

1. Musk said that by the year 2017 the car was going to self drive coast to coast. It is now 2019.

2. Tesla has been claiming in its order page since March that Adv. Summon is available. Musk said 3 months ago that it would be available in a week. Three months later, he says it is coming but the problem is harder than they originally thought.

3. Tesla claims that the car is currently capable of driving itself from on-ramp to offramp. This is due to Navigate on Autopilot. Most of us who have used NoA would agree that the feature is not very good yet.

I bought AP+FSD when they had a sale. But FSD has a long way to go and I don’t trust Tesla’s timeline. But I really want Tesla to prove me wrong.

This.

I'm a huge fan of autopilot. But I'm also a realist and NOA just isn't quite there yet. I've turned off automatic lanes changes as it's just easier and more efficient for me to use the turn signal to change lanes when I am ready.

I suspect FSD will be similar when it eventually arrives. But I suspect we are a ways off from that happening. I'm guessing that turns at intersections will be slow and awkward or something similar to make it a neat feature but not polished enough to use reliably.

So... If the money concerns you I'd just wait.

 

[Johnny Mac]

Get it

 

[Watts_Up]

Just to show off using Smart Sumon.... will be priceless !

 

[AndrePow]

I am just super happy that regular autopilot is included. I don’t buy that any of the features in FSD are fully functional yet. I tried NoA and the on-ramp/off-ramp part is definitely crappy. If Tesla can really deliver all the features of FSD fully functional, I will gladly pay the post-purchase price for it later. But not now.

 

[cucubits]

Before when I sort of decided to get a Model 3, I would plan and think that getting FSD included is a no brainer option. Now, when I'm actually close to ordering one too, I started to look at things a bit more realistically and at the moment none of the features included in FSD are that appealing. I'm not impressed by NoA and I'd just use "regular" AP most of the time. Summon would be a nice to have feature but again, almost zero real world actual usability - for now.

My opinion is that FSD can be skipped for now. There's absolutely no way to know that the price will indeed increase that much. Since I will finance a large part of the car, I don't want to include an option which is not 100% functional yet to pay interest for.

 

[RoBoRaT]

I bought AP and FSD when they were $5K.

If I were to do over, I'd skip the For Sale Dream (FSD) now.

Maybe better off using the $6K to buy Tesla stock now, because if FSD becomes reality - your $6K should be more than enough to buy it then. Maybe.

 

[jjh1234]

I was totally against getting FSD when I bought 2 months ago, but I'm really missing the auto lane change after 1,500 miles of AP. I'm really thinking of getting FSD just to get that. The smart summon and whatever comes next would be great too. I'm hoping for a FSD sale sometime soon!

 

[qdeathstar]

wait and get the best model three you can afford. 6k gets you close to the next tier model 3

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

So I'm planning on getting a model 3 next month and deliberating if i should buy FSD with purchase or not. If you believe Elon's timeline about how good it will get, then I think its an easy buy right now (before the price goes up). I would say currently Nav on Auto pilot is only worth about 2-3k more to me at the moment than AP, but I'm afraid if i wait to buy post purchase, the price may rise a lot more.

Curious on others thoughts on this and if current owners have seen enough progression in the software to think Elon's given timeline may be accurate.

Wait.

Do not pay Tesla for any feature that isn't yet delivered.

Always remember that Elon Musk is a bullshitter. You don't know whether, you don't know when and you don't know how well a given feature actually be implemented in their software.

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

FSD when finished will be .. navigate on autopilot .. not limited on inside roads.
If you've used navigate on AP on freeway, they'll smooth it out further and remove the restriction of using it past the exit.
It is a very awesome feature IMO, but by buying a Tesla this is the best part of owning a Tesla.
I'll go as far as saying that if you don't buy FSD, why are you buying a Tesla? Reality is, by buying a Tesla you give up on SO MUCH.
Interior quality, 100s of other features, ... but AP is a pretty damned good feature. Why not take it the whole distance by buying FSD?

The issue of course is, FSD isn't a reality today!
And Elon has said "Model 3 is an appreciating asset" - I'm calling BS on that.
Even when FSD is 100% ready and operational, there are significant downsides of owning a Tesla.
And AP is a n up side. Market will dictate the price, and the federal tax benefits going away do not help.

 

[Tam]

...enough progression...

The market considers Robotaxi as science fiction so the stock price has not shot up off the roof.

I bought Autopilot when it only worked on freeways and only up to 35 MPH in 2017 so talking about progression, it's been a lot!

If I were you I would go ahead to buy FSD, not because of the fact the market does not believe in science fiction but because current Autopilot is too limited to only 2 functions:

1) TACC
2) Autosteer within your lane.

I would buy FSD just because of Auto Lane Change. It works pretty well and I would say it's better my manual lane change although I've been driving for more than 40 years without causing any accident (thanks to those who have been faithfully honking at me when I attempted to do an unsafe manually change lane!)

I enjoy Navigation on Pilot very much although Consumer Reports said it made them nervous because they had to babysit the system. Not perfect but it's very helpful.

 

[OCR1]

It is a very awesome feature IMO, but by buying a Tesla this is the best part of owning a Tesla.
I'll go as far as saying that if you don't buy FSD, why are you buying a Tesla? Reality is, by buying a Tesla you give up on SO MUCH.
Interior quality, 100s of other features, ... but AP is a pretty damned good feature. Why not take it the whole distance by buying FSD?

Wow, couldn’t possibly disagree more. We bought FSD on our first Model 3 and found it to be a complete waste of money so on our second Model 3 we skipped both AP and FSD and have absolutely no regrets at all. But driving the Model 3 is an absolute blast. It’s the most fun car I’ve ever driven, and driving 1,000 miles per month on $35 worth of electricity is by far my favorite thing about the car. And I love the simplicity of the interior personally, and that’s coming from a Lexus LS460.

 

[notAnExpert]

...
I'll go as far as saying that if you don't buy FSD, why are you buying a Tesla?...

Because there isn’t another EV maker that offers 300+ mile range and a nationwide fast charging network, making Tesla the only practical EV in the market for long distance traveling.

 

[DavidS314]

Thanks for all the input, pretty sure I'm leaning towards the side of just buying it at purchase. Even if all the features don't come on elon's time line (which i expect they won't) I would still enjoy seeing the software improve with each update. Full autonomy isnt as important to me as just making long distance travel much easier requiring less and less of my attention over time ( I plan on doing lots of long distance travel).

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

Because there isn’t another EV maker that offers 300+ mile range and a nationwide fast charging network, making Tesla the only practical EV in the market for long distance traveling.

Why do you need an EV? Climate and pollution aside, and not everyone cares about that. Plenty of people have other problems to worry about, like charging issues in apartments.

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

Wow, couldn’t possibly disagree more. We bought FSD on our first Model 3 and found it to be a complete waste of money so on our second Model 3 we skipped both AP and FSD and have absolutely no regrets at all. But driving the Model 3 is an absolute blast. It’s the most fun car I’ve ever driven, and driving 1,000 miles per month on $35 worth of electricity is by far my favorite thing about the car. And I love the simplicity of the interior personally, and that’s coming from a Lexus LS460.

The reason you don't find FSD useful today, is because they haven't released it yet. But do you find AP useful?

As far as comparing it with a Lexus LS460 - seriously, you bought an LS460 and $35 vs. $100 to fill your tank bothers you and cheap gas is your favorite feature? Something doesn't add up here.

And the minimalist interior, you've just bought into the marketing. I like minimalist too. I don't like cheap. Tesla's interior is cheap and poor quality.