Should I buy the "full self driving option"?

[jdcollins5]

Personally EAP and NoA do everything that I need for my driving. Currently the only thing that FSD, in its current definition, will add is driving on city streets with stop light and stop sign recognition. This does not interest me.

If FSD does develop in to autonomous driving, I am not sure that interests me at the current time. I like the recommendation to put the money in Tesla stock for the time being.

 

[Hiteshrp]

Initially i didn't buy it but then I bought it and the thought process is that it is only going to get better. You pay less now (not sure about the future) and it is still ahead of any other car that i have driven.

 

[ewoodrick]

I think that there are a couple of factors in buying FSD today.

• Are you stretched to buy the car to begin with?
• Do you want the tech, just to have the tech
• Do you want to take a gamble with when it may be available in the future.

NYC isn't really a great place to even think about comparing it. Most people can't drive in NYC. But then again, often the only way to get through traffic in NYC is to just ignore the pedestrians and inch your way through the crowd. Heck, even traffic lights are often optional.

There's a lot of other roads in the country. There are a lot of other opportunities for FSD to shine.
I bought FSD, I don't regret it. While a little overpriced for what's available on the market today, the features that it provides outshines all of the other products. For example, Nissan ProAssist can see about 80% of the roads and engage, Tesla is at 100%.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Ummmmm... he said New York City

Their location is given as "USA".
The example was a video. Post doesn't say it was their video.

I agree with Joshan. They aren't interested in having the question answered. They aren't actually interested in discussion.
They just want people to watch their videos.

They've started every thread they've posted in and started every one with a video.

I've added them to my ignore list.

 

[Dutchie]

Bite the bullet and enjoy the ride.

 

[NoMoGas]

Their location is given as "USA".
The example was a video. Post doesn't say it was their video.

Im an idiot. :-/ My apologies.

 

[NoMoGas]

I think someone is trying to get hits on their YouTube account. I have seen this post on 3 forums now.

Methinks you might be correct.

Was a great debate/discussion though.

 

[victorpurri]

My vote is no - don't buy it.
Just look at how limited AP currently is, especially on city streets. Phantom breaking, easily confused by left turn lanes, inappropriate/unsafe acceleration with stopped traffic ahead, etc., etc., etc. They have to figure all that out before getting FSD to work, so FSD seems so far away that it will probably only be usable -- if ever -- when you're ready to get a new car.

 

[NoMoGas]

My vote is no - don't buy it.
Just look at how limited AP currently is, especially on city streets. Phantom breaking, easily confused by left turn lanes, inappropriate/unsafe acceleration with stopped traffic ahead, etc., etc., etc. They have to figure all that out before getting FSD to work, so FSD seems so far away that it will probably only be usable -- if ever -- when you're ready to get a new car.

UGH... I hate this. You can't look at Tesla like BMW. As the update the software the car get's better. You basically get an entire new car with every OS change and OS10 is coming soon.

 

[victorpurri]

UGH... I hate this. You can't look at Tesla like BMW. As the update the software the car get's better. You basically get an entire new car with every OS change and OS10 is coming soon.

Sorry, I don't follow... What in my post suggested that Tesla=BMW? I definitely don't think that.

I agree that the car gets better over time and that is indeed awesome. But what I'm saying is that I don't think it will get good enough for FSD to be usable during the lifetime of cars bought today. Obviously I could be proven wrong and fall on my face if in 2-3 years FSD is fully functional, but my bet is that they won't be able to progress so quickly given how Tesla's self-driving capabilities have evolved over the past several years.

And I know you're exaggerating, but no you don't get an entire new car with every OS change. It's an incremental change, especially in the area of self-driving.

 

[NoMoGas]

Sorry, I don't follow... What in my post suggested that Tesla=BMW? I definitely don't think that.

I agree that the car gets better over time and that is indeed awesome. But what I'm saying is that I don't think it will get good enough for FSD to be usable during the lifetime of cars bought today. Obviously I could be proven wrong and fall on my face if in 2-3 years FSD is fully functional, but my bet is that they won't be able to progress so quickly given how Tesla's self-driving capabilities have evolved over the past several years.

And I know you're exaggerating, but no you don't get an entire new car with every OS change. It's an incremental change, especially in the area of self-driving.

Very true but my point is I HAVE SEEN the new software in action. It's coming. Will it be 100%? Maybe maybe not but it is miles ahead of what is there now. The truth is it is hard to tell, but given Tesla's track record and Elon's devotion to AP, I wouldnt bet against him.

To each there own.

 

[SoCalDriver]

I didn’t buy it, tried it a few times when I had the trial and I didn’t like it at all. I just didn’t like the way the car drives with it.

Unless you have money to burn?

 

[Nocturnal]

What's the cost? It's not just about full FSD at this point. Auto lane change is nice, enhanced summon will be really cool. Nav on autopilot on surface streets will be out sooner or later. As others mentioned, we need more info.

I justified buying EAP for 7k as the following: It only takes one small mistake, late at night, tired etc. where I could have been using EAP but did not have access to it to pay for the software 100x over.

 

[RFernatt]

I am a Tesla fan, but I didn't buy and wouldn't pay for FSD today. I did buy EAP and do use it. I also think there is a good chance that Tesla "solves" FSD (in a scalable, practical manner) before anyone else. However, I don't believe that Tesla will solve it and regulators will approve it in enough jurisdictions during enough of the ownership period of the car to make it a worthwhile purchase at this time. If I buy a Model Y in three years when my Rogue lease is up, I may feel differently at that time and Tesla will have had enough time dilation of the current overly optimistic predictions to know whether it is a good bet or not.

 

[Knightshade]

My vote is no - don't buy it.
Just look at how limited AP currently is, especially on city streets.

Probably because the current system is explicitly not intended for use on city streets

It's "limited" by design

That has no bearing on the FSD system that will be intended for city streets and will be using entirely different HW and SW to do it.

 

[CCIE]

I bought AP and FSD during the last fire sale for $2k + $3k. The $2k for AP was worth it to get TACC and Autosteer.

I've yet to see any value from FSD. And, based on the reliability of the existing functions, I don't expect anything that's remotely autonomous for 5+ years. With that timeline, FSD isn't even worth what I paid for it, nevermind the current ridiculous pricing. Save your money.

 

[victorpurri]

Probably because the current system is explicitly not intended for use on city streets
It's "limited" by design

Haha, I knew this one was coming as I typed "city streets".
You're right, it is not intended to be used in city streets, but I don't think the system is limited by design, it's limited by the technology.
For example, I don't think the system sucks at dealing with left turn lanes because the developers thought they didn't have to bother with that scenario, I think it sucks because they could not figure out how to handle the scenario.

That has no bearing on the FSD system that will be intended for city streets and will be using entirely different HW and SW to do it.

I strongly disagree here. I don't think FSD will use entirely different HW and SW, but actually a lot of the same HW and SW. In my view, FSD will be an extension of EAP/NoA, which is an extension of AP.

 

[AKinDC]

In a word, no.
When they finally release a real FSD, they're going to be so desperate for everyone to use it, that I guarantee there will be big sales/incentives to try to get maximum adoption in minimum time.

 

[75Shappyt]

I got EAP when I bought my 2017 MS75, bought FSD on sale for 2K, I not sure this is right, at first EAP, I didn't like it, but kept on using it, and it just got better, now it's flawless, on NoA same thing, I must have used 25 times now, flawless, maybe the car just needs time to learn it. Or maybe I got better using it, not sure. I would buy AP/FSD, it will add value to the car, and do think you will it back when you sell.

 

[camalaio]

I did not get FSD, and I do not regret it.

I actually like driving. Autosteer via AP is nice sometimes (e.g. turn on to adjust seating postion, adjust uncomfortable clothing, etc.). Adaptive cruise is very nice, except for when someone turns left in front of you (far head) and the car slams on the brakes. I fail to trust autosteer any more than I currently use it because Tesla warns you not to, and because it has shown me not to get too comfortable due to situations and happenings it just doesn't handle well.

Paying an extra $8000 Great White North dollars for a feature that adds Summon (of no utility to me, ever) and auto lane-change (I prefer to moderate the lane changes anyways) and auto on-/off-ramp (I prefer to moderate my merges, of course with safety assist features that are always enabled already) just wasn't worth it for me. Of course they may have more features that work better in the future, but I don't even want the current set of features. Fancier ones just won't be attractive for me.

Our (lack of) road markings here are also terrible for Autopilot in general. Maybe they'll "solve" this in the future, but even the crews re-painting the lines sometimes don't know where they're supposed to go or how many lanes there used to be.

Instead I'll go fork over $602 Canadian pesos for the CHAdeMO adapter that actually adds a lot of travel convenience around my province of BC.

Note that I _have_ tried summon, which is just "meh" for my current usage and parking situations. When advanced summon exists I won't want it, because I can get to the car faster while inconveniencing less other drivers. NoA doesn't seem to work around here (option isn't offered).