Poll: Is FSD Worth the Cost?

[MissT]

I'd love to try it and see for myself however at $10,000 in Canada it is way overpriced. That's half the price of a cheap ICE car. And the Model 3SR+ I have is expensive enough without it. Especially as I read lal these comments. If it were a few thousand I could see it, but not at this price

 

[2101Guy]

If the much touted "soon to be released" city driving is using the same AI that is responsible for Smart Summon pulling my car up onto a curb that it was parked next to, or responsible for it being unable to actually back out of my driveway to the front of my house (just kept going back and forth, and hunting and turning the steering wheel and not actually going to the front of my house on the private street), or in general, being rather unpredictable and for the most part, useless?

Then FSD has a LONG way to go before the "you will be able to get in the car, engage NOA, and let it take you all the way from your home, to the parking lot of your job" phase hits.

 

[Valtor]

I would be happy just to have the TACC stop trying to kill me without extreme phantom breaking. I so wish there was a dumbed down version of it we can select where it's just a cruise with radar.

My wife won't allow me to use cruise at all now. I would understand if these things were happening on Autopilot maybe, but just on cruise nope!

 

[MarcEMarc]

I bought a used 2017 Model S 100D which had EAP but no FSD. The FSD now would be $7,000 ($7,499 inc tax). I’ve struggled to see the value and if the feature will change the trade-in/resale value of the car in the future?

My challenge is that I think I should really just enjoy this car and then when the time comes, sell it and buy a new one with HW3 and any additional sensors (I think there will be more required based on the way the dash display continually gets the car movements wrong).

 

[ElectricIAC]

Huh? If you have EAP FSD should only be $3-4,000 to u/g and still totally not worth it.

 

[nomotruk]

I paid 6k for FSD and the real differentiator, as others have said, is lane switching and I like that feature enough that I would pay for it again. Why? Lane switching is the icing on the cake and I like icing. Because of lane switching I truly chill and relax for 90% of my commute where previously it was a constant stressful commute/game of cat and mouse where I was always speeding and overtaking... just because its in my nature. But because FSD is so good, I don't really speed that much anymore... plus I don't have to constantly check for blindspots. Instead, I just accept its 5 to 15 mph speeding overage (not sure how it calculates this but if everyone is doing 85 in a 75, it allows me to set it to 90...welcome to Colorado) and just relax and let the car modulate its speed, steer itself and I just have to let it know when I want it to pass someone. It makes me a safer and more responsible driver. Without AP, it is just really, really good radar cruise control that steers for you. But I drive 100 miles a day (round trip) on the highway so this is really where it shines so its worth it for me.

 

[AllThatR3mains]

If you commute on the highway often - like myself, you'll love FSD. I don't regret the $7k, at all.

 

[AllThatR3mains]

Otherwise, save your money and wait until the system is proven.

By then, FSD might be twice the price!

 

[Zeronet]

I am not sure about the $7000 price, but I am still glad that I paid the $5000 for auto-assist on my 2018 Model 3. I use it on long-distance interstates where I find it relaxing. And it probably also improves my safety when I am tired from driving the long distances. But I would never enable automated lane changes, the AI is not yet ready. My wife does not like auto-assist or use it. So, it's a personal thing.

If, or when, full automated driving ever becomes legal, I'll certainly be willing to pay to upgrade to full-self diving capability.

 

[SubZeRo666]

I bought FSD, but i wish i didn't. I only use TACC (a lot) and don't won't it to steer itself because it's constantly nagging me about keeping hands on the wheel, than i rather steer myself. I'm right handed and keep only my right hand on the wheel, but it doesn't seem to detect that properly. Not going to use any hacks and try to fool it, but because i'm right handed i don't want to use left hand. Where are the sensors? How do they work?

If i would now have the option to buy again, i would only buy the minimum which gives me TACC or adaptive cruise control.

 

[Jenremoved]

I got it because it was within my budget and I wanted to get what I perceived to be the best Model 3 possible. I don’t regret my purchase as I find the features useful (even the dreaded auto park).

 

[Manitoba Keith]

In snow, "FSD" is mostly useless. That is Canada for 4-5 months of the year. So is the cruise control that stops working due to slush or mud on the front sensors and stops when the maps crap out - as in crossing borders.
I bought the CAD$10K "Future Self Driving" myth, but given the knowledge I have now, I wouldn't have.
Maps that come & go - sad. Then there is the "Blinded Camera" due to the sun. Happens way too often.
Do they actually test these cars in "Real World" conditions or just in California?
Also TAC what is with the 70 mph down to 45 mph because there is an overpass - also seems to change the cruise speed. Had it happen 3 times in lower WI on I 90/94. Finally hit voice button & Spoke "Bug Report"! They might be able to see it in the data.
I think it was overpasses with signs on the top of them in my lane. Very dangerous as some tailgaters (MI seems worse) will crash into the rear end, but probably even worse in California.

 

[IanAber]

Navigate on Autopilot is pretty good overall but it does try and hug the fast lane far too much. This is really bad driving but having lived in the USA for the past 30 years I can understand why it has not been an issue for the development team. In general, American drivers behave in much the same way. It is not unusual to come up behind someone driving at 65MPH in the left lane on I75 for miles and miles with nothing to the right of them. There are signs every now and then that tell slower traffic to keep right but people take no notice. If they do move right it is only to the middle lane leaving the right lane empty.
Of course driving a Tesla in the right lane is a problem because of the woefully inadequate road markings where the car will tend to drift into the middle of what should really be two lanes with one about to exit only to jerk back left violently as a new lane divider suddenly appears out of nowhere.
I find it amusing to see television programs explaining how the experts in the USA are going to developing countries to show them how to build highways. We are hardly experts here. Take a look at Europe if you want to know how to arrange sign posts and draw lane markings. Give the Full Self Driving developers a fighting chance and fix the road markings and signage in the USA!

 

[psychojr]

I like FSD even in its limited and wonky capacity now, but I speculate that by the time it does what we all want it to do, the price for it will probably be around $25k because of how much value it will add at that point.

Yea and my car will be in the junk pile by then. They should have priced levels of FSD as they became available. A couple grand for summon and nav on autopilot, a couple more for city streets, etc. That would have been fair. I feel ripped off.

 

[Tam]

By then, FSD might be twice the price!

Indeed! That's the cost for the proof.

 

[ElectricIAC]

People keep bringing up price increases for “FSD” as a lump sum. I just don’t see it, worst case it’ll be a $9,999 add but it won’t be 5 figures.

If anything I see it being a subscription model at some point in time and honestly that’s probably the best way once it’s actually developed or at least much further along.

 

[Artax]

NoAP is definitely not ready for prime time. EVERY single time I have tried to use it, it failed in one form or another. I can't always predict WHEN it will fail, but I can predict that it WILL fail at some point on every trip, just because it consistently has. TRUST is the key; if I can't trust it to perform consistently, then it is effectively useless. I have watched many videos of AP tests and ratings... the theme is fairly consistent... your can't trust AP to perform... sometimes it works (and the tester is amazed), then it fails (and the tester is disappointed). The point is, it only takes one bad fail to kill someone.

Elon insists that LIDAR is a stupid approach; cameras are all that is needed for spatial awareness.... but that is only true in ideal conditions Recently I have seen many videos taking about ways to circumvent issues when bad weather (snow/rain) blocks the cameras and the radar. REALLY..!?! I have seen the alarms come up when a camera is blocked (and I live in an area where snow is not an issue). Again, TRUST... if you can't trust it to perform consistently, then it is effectively useless.

I am waiting for h/w 3 to roll out in Canada. Artax rolled off the assembly line a week or so before h/w 3 became standard. I do believe that some of the issues I have observed are related to the delays due to h/w 2.5 processing power. But I am not holding my breath that h/w 3 will solve many of the problems (certainly won't address the blocked sensor issues). Again, I have watched videos of testing post h/w 3 upgrade; although there are improvements, still way too many fails.

For me TRUST is key... so I don't see NoAP being anything more than a novelty. As a novelty, definitely NOT worth paying for... at ANY price. I wouldn't pay for it again (too bad I can't get my money back). In fact, with other vendors introducing alternatives with competitive range improvements, not sure I would buy Tesla again (if s/w is no longer a driver, and range is competitive, the only other reason left to buy Tesla is Customer Service... and we all know Tesla customer service SUCKS).

 

[Garlan Garner]

I think people in this thread are voting based on what they purchased.

 

[wordragon]

I do the same 26 mile roundtrip on local roads (usually in rush hour) at least 6 times a week, and you get used to where AP and auto steer give you trouble and work around that. Within its limits, its a great help in dealing with a boring drive. I like NoA, as well - its usually better at changing lanes than I am in the sense that it sees and uses opportunities faster than I would - one of the few cases where its less cautious than I am. When its just passing the car or two in front of me, I usually punch the speed a bit to get past them and return to my lane rather than wait for it to mosey on past. I think FSD pricing is like their order deposits - they get larger as it gets closer to reality, so betting I will like FSD for $7k and happy I didn't wait and maybe pay more.

 

[Garlan Garner]

NoAP is definitely not ready for prime time. EVERY single time I have tried to use it, it failed in one form or another. I can't always predict WHEN it will fail, but I can predict that it WILL fail at some point on every trip, just because it consistently has. TRUST is the key; if I can't trust it to perform consistently, then it is effectively useless. I have watched many videos of AP tests and ratings... the theme is fairly consistent... your can't trust AP to perform... sometimes it works (and the tester is amazed), then it fails (and the tester is disappointed). The point is, it only takes one bad fail to kill someone.

Elon insists that LIDAR is a stupid approach; cameras are all that is needed for spatial awareness.... but that is only true in ideal conditions Recently I have seen many videos taking about ways to circumvent issues when bad weather (snow/rain) blocks the cameras and the radar. REALLY..!?! I have seen the alarms come up when a camera is blocked (and I live in an area where snow is not an issue). Again, TRUST... if you can't trust it to perform consistently, then it is effectively useless.

I am waiting for h/w 3 to roll out in Canada. Artax rolled off the assembly line a week or so before h/w 3 became standard. I do believe that some of the issues I have observed are related to the delays due to h/w 2.5 processing power. But I am not holding my breath that h/w 3 will solve many of the problems (certainly won't address the blocked sensor issues). Again, I have watched videos of testing post h/w 3 upgrade; although there are improvements, still way too many fails.

For me TRUST is key... so I don't see NoAP being anything more than a novelty. As a novelty, definitely NOT worth paying for... at ANY price. I wouldn't pay for it again (too bad I can't get my money back). In fact, with other vendors introducing alternatives with competitive range improvements, not sure I would buy Tesla again (if s/w is no longer a driver, and range is competitive, the only other reason left to buy Tesla is Customer Service... and we all know Tesla customer service SUCKS).

That's a good decision on your part.

Don't use it.