Poll: Is FSD Worth the Cost?

[Ugene]

My favorite part of this thread is how it illustrates why the technology is so awesome: nobody is forced to use it.

Everyone has their own comfort level behind the wheel, and the system provides as much assistance as we want or need. I think autopilot has some advantages with reaction time, but it's a mixed blessing because the system is virtually incapable of anticipating people's reactions. I'm absolutely certain it can brake faster for slowing or stopping traffic than a human driver, or even countersteer when an accident is imminent. Whether or not that outweighs the system's inability to see problems arise further out is probably dependent on the drivers level of alertness.

I've driven about 24,000 miles in the last year, 90% of which have been on autopilot. I've gotten to know the system well, and fully understand why some are afraid to use it.

It is not only comfort level. Roads and driving conditions matter. When highways are open and there no triggers for things such as fantom braking and following "wrong lane", or when there's stop-n-go traffic, autopilot helps. In my daily driving I am mostly in between.
Then some people are OK to follow the slow lane on AP and some people like to be efficient.
Some people are too afraid to give up control, some don't realize dangers, and some in between, but all of them call themselves realists.
Some people are OK with autopark taking 5x the time of self park and risk scratches.
I again am thankful to those who use autopilot a lot and help train it.
Also, as I mentioned in another response, when I got my car, Autopilot did not do any fantom braking and didn't abort lane changes I triggered. It was more useful for my commute pattern. It got worse for my practical purposes.

From your comment it was not clear if you think $4-7K for FSD worth it or not.

 

[Twiglett]

my favorite part of this thread is the the OP is asking a question that only applies when it was posted, back in Feb 2020.
Taking what was available in Feb it doesn't seem worth 7k
But between Feb and May we've had a bunch of updates and updates will continue to flow - current average for my car is new software every two weeks.
Autosteer is dramatically better than it was a year ago. As of 2020.12.11.1 using autosteer on fast sweeping corners is bordering on magical, super smooth cornering.

But, the biggest question is really, will FSD be 7k.
For me it definitely will, someone who want to keep driving themselves may not agree.

If Tesla was like all others and delivered a static product it wouldn't be worth the price. But what you're buying here is the future.

 

[pdx_m3s]

my favorite part of this thread is the the OP is asking a question that only applies when it was posted, back in Feb 2020.
Taking what was available in Feb it doesn't seem worth 7k
But between Feb and May we've had a bunch of updates and updates will continue to flow - current average for my car is new software every two weeks.
Autosteer is dramatically better than it was a year ago. As of 2020.12.11.1 using autosteer on fast sweeping corners is bordering on magical, super smooth cornering.

But, the biggest question is really, will FSD be 7k.
For me it definitely will, someone who want to keep driving themselves may not agree.

If Tesla was like all others and delivered a static product it wouldn't be worth the price. But what you're buying here is the future.

“Buying the future”... you may be waiting a while. Some people have bought the future a couple times over with nothing to show for it. It’s too bad Tesla doesn’t offer EAP anymore, as that is where the system is still at in terms of capabilities.

 

[whttiger25]

There are certainly people on here who use NoA every day and enjoy it and think the $7000 is well worth it.

There are others that say the only useful FSD feature is the auto lane change when you use the signal while AutoPilot is enabled. I personally don't see how this is worth $7000 (that is a huge sum of money), but some people enjoy this enough that they would happily pay again.

In a true value sense, no AP option is best. Save a few more thousand, lose AutoSteer and TACC (you still get regular cruise control after this). We really wanted the adaptive cruise and don't really use AutoSteer (another topic entirely), so even that I'm not sure was worth thousands. If you make frequent successful use of AutoSteer, I could see that being a substantial value and worth getting.

The rest of the FSD features we either don't use because they're not available on our roads (NoA), we don't like their performance to use daily (Auto park, auto lane change) or are flat out illegal to use right now (enhanced summon) in our province. So definitely not worth the CAD$9200 it would cost.

EDIT: I should add that the legality and availability are two huge things I don't see changing any time soon, so my response is somewhat location dependent. Even if the features were fully available, I wouldn't use them for the same reasons you mentioned. I don't have confidence in these improving fast enough to happen within the ownership period of some owners. Keep in mind their goal is to be "feature complete" for FSD (meaning add city driving at this point), which is not the same goal as a refined assisted driving experience that solves people's current concerns with it.

TACC is incredibly valuable.

 

[jeremymc7]

I haven’t bothered with FSD with any of my previously Tesla purchase, even my Dec 2019 purchase. The difference it offered was very minimal for the price, especially if you do the majority of your driving on surface streets like I do.

With my Jun 2020 I decided to bite the bullet for once. Still siding add much value for mostly surface street drivers.

The stoplight / stop sign functionally was a notable update but again didn’t add much value for street drivers but made me feel better about my purchase.

The latest release with no need to use the stalk as long as there is a lead car added much more value for me. I’m enjoying it a lot.

The only annoying thing is having to go back to manual for turns and then back to see drive on the straight always. Very annoying. Once surface street turns functionality is added, hopefully somewhat soon even if beta, will make the $7k really worth it for me. Still not $7K or value but with wild for me.

 

[ElectricIAC]

I’m starting to come around on FSD when the adjustment on a demo car effectively pays for it. Our new MX has it and with the new improvements we’re glad to have it.

On a new custom order though I still don’t feel it’s worth $7K (Or $8K soon) Eager to see where monthly pricing goes as well as features going forward..

 

[jeremymc7]

Eager to see where monthly pricing goes as well as features going forward..

Honestly I labored over this as well. However in my case the monthly fee has no resale value where purchase does. Likewise being a digital feature not subject to wear the depreciation is less.

In my case I put FSD on a low interest loan as I know that instead of paying up front I know I can make substantially more return on my investment putting the funds elsewhere VS the interest rate of the loan. Add to that the the lower depreciation on the feature and the higher demand of used cars with FSD. In all likelihood I’ll make enough money over 5 years to more than pay for the FSD and that’s before depreciated value when I go to sell the car in 4-7 years.

 

[DBV1]

Do you think FSD if I do a three year lease on Tesla? It sounds like the enhanced autopilot works very well, but FSD is intriguing and I do a lot of highway driving. Although, living in Cleveland, I am not sure how often would get to use Autopilot considering the weather we can get.

I think it would probably add about 75 a month on a lease. Thanks!

 

[jeremymc7]

Having debated lease vs loan and having run the numbers purchase with loan was more financially prudent even if only keeping the car 3-5 years. The lease structure is not very favorable, especially if your getting anything other than just the base entry level mode with no options. Depreciation is still quite low on purchase resale and there are still quite a lot of financial incentives for purchasers.

 

[DBV1]

Having debated lease vs loan and having run the numbers purchase with loan was more financially prudent even if only keeping the car 3-5 years. The lease structure is not very favorable, especially if your getting anything other than just the base entry level mode with no options. Depreciation is still quite low on purchase resale and there are still quite a lot of financial incentives for purchasers.

Yeah - I have gone back and forth on that. In my case I would be leasing or buying a Model S LR (was looking at a Model 3). I was just more interested if FSD is worthwhile on a lease. Thanks!

 

[Gasaraki]

The system has 360 degree visibility. It can absolutely see those things (Greentheonly has even posted post-crash videos showing you can clearly see the oncoming car from the car cameras).


But currently is explicitly not intended to be used to handle intersections at all (other than stopping for lights/stop signs)- and not intended to handle, at all, oncoming, or cross, traffic in any way.

That's still 100% the drivers responsibility right now.

It doesn't look like it. There are no cameras that point 45 degrees to the left of the driver and to the right of the front passenger.

 

[jeremymc7]

Yeah - I have gone back and forth on that. In my case I would be leasing or buying a Model S LR (was looking at a Model 3). I was just more interested if FSD is worthwhile on a lease. Thanks!

On a lease no. I don’t think it is. If you want FSD doing a loan would be a different story.

 

[AdamMacDon]

It doesn't look like it. There are no cameras that point 45 degrees to the left of the driver and to the right of the front passenger.

The wide angle front facing camera theoretically covers this but I also tend to agree this is not enough. I notice the AP seems to lose objects in the A pillar blind spot area. I am worried about the car's side visibility for the future of FSD.

 

[Knightshade]

It doesn't look like it. There are no cameras that point 45 degrees to the left of the driver and to the right of the front passenger.

yes, there are.

Again green shows videos of this (even shows an accident of someone in a 3 getting hit and the car is clearly visible as it approached from the side in the right camera)

https://twitter.com/greentheonly/status/1258595082862768129

 

[Redbrick]

Wife asked me isn't fsd half the value of the tesla brand anyways?

 

[whttiger25]

Wife asked me isn't fsd half the value of the tesla brand anyways?

Definitely a substantial portion of the stock valuation. Makes you wonder about the stock valuation.

 

[Redbrick]

Definitely a substantial portion of the stock valuation. Makes you wonder about the stock valuation.

Don't even talk to me about stocks....it's been twilight zone since..