For new buyers here is what buying $10k FSD versus $199/month subscription looks like:
Tesla offers a 72 month plan for purchases
Current interest is 2.49%
Using a bankrate loan calculator you'll pay $775.95 in interest for a total financed cost of $10,795.95. Over six years that's $149.67/month. Then you're done paying. Plus FSD stays with the car so if you sell you should recoup some of your cost.
Of note I had a friend purchase a Tesla model Y early this year and she had FSD for free as a trial for a month or something like that. Because of the free trial she opted not to buy FSD and afterwards when she wanted to purchase FSD she discovered she could not finance it after the fact and would have to pay in full.
I really wonder why Tesla doesn't offer financing for FSD. If Apple can finance a $1200 iPhone over 3 years, Tesla can do $10,000 over 4-6 years.
Subscriptions would and should go up in value as it gets more features. The best benefit for ALL parties still is to add FSD at time of purchase and finance over the length of the loan.
10,000 RIGHT NOW is not the same as 10,000 spread out over time.