A few quick points,
I have an 18 with FSD. I love the car and would not replace it.
if I was faced with buying new or old however, buy the new. There have been enough small changes (visible and invisible) to make the car very different. Eg laminated glass as one of the more noticeable.
I would buy without FSD (knowing what I now know from experience.) We have a model Y coming to accompany our 3, and it won’t have FSD. When I test drive it, I missed the lane change, but it did most of the same stuff otherwise. (Yes, the stop light is cool, but still feels like a gimmick at the moment to me, for now). The Y will become our road trip car as it’s more efficient then the 3 (performance with 20”wheels) and has some more space to pack a family of 4 with a packable crib and etc. So, I will miss the FSD a bit, but don’t feel is a make or break at this time. This leads to my next point if I do miss the FSD on long trips too much.
The other consideration is that FSD is likely to come as a subscription soon. You could sign up anytime or for occasional use. (We don’t know the rules yet, and they will probably always change). So, it takes 8-10k of the purchase price.
In the end, it’s a Tesla, there’s no wrong answer, only which answer is best for you.
I have an 18 with FSD. I love the car and would not replace it.
if I was faced with buying new or old however, buy the new. There have been enough small changes (visible and invisible) to make the car very different. Eg laminated glass as one of the more noticeable.
I would buy without FSD (knowing what I now know from experience.) We have a model Y coming to accompany our 3, and it won’t have FSD. When I test drive it, I missed the lane change, but it did most of the same stuff otherwise. (Yes, the stop light is cool, but still feels like a gimmick at the moment to me, for now). The Y will become our road trip car as it’s more efficient then the 3 (performance with 20”wheels) and has some more space to pack a family of 4 with a packable crib and etc. So, I will miss the FSD a bit, but don’t feel is a make or break at this time. This leads to my next point if I do miss the FSD on long trips too much.
The other consideration is that FSD is likely to come as a subscription soon. You could sign up anytime or for occasional use. (We don’t know the rules yet, and they will probably always change). So, it takes 8-10k of the purchase price.
In the end, it’s a Tesla, there’s no wrong answer, only which answer is best for you.
