FSD was the only thing making my Tesla feel unique. Now it's just...a Car

Would you buy FSD as an advanced security feature over just being a want? There are significant advantages to using FSD since driving is by far the most dangerous this we could do every day.

Let us know what other EVs without FSD you would prefer at the same/similar price point

Juniper model Y is a totally different car imo

I would say yes, but it’s other HUMAN psycho drivers that are the RISK so not sure it helps that much. I think at this point it’s a handy, convenient flex. I ABSOLUTELY love it but it’s not worth 150 AUD for me personally month.

I have a 2018 MS, and purchased FSD outright nearly three years ago. Ups and downs, and it’s very good now, *most of the time*, although not nearly as good as the 2025 MX loaner I had over a weekend a few weeks back. Still, use it every time I drive. No cabin camera for me, so hands on the wheel all the time. That said, when I’m forced to actually drive (snow, other inclement weather, taking over for whatever reason), I still love this car. Huge map screen, quiet ride, walk away lock, walk up unlock, always ready to go (wall connector), $0.048/mile for fuel/energy (overall average since I’ve had the car, 70k+ miles with me), the app to prepare the car (heat or cool), and just the awesome performance. I agree, FSD is part of it, but if that were not an option, it’s still an amazing car.

It definitely is

I’m having a hard time understanding this question. Have you driven a normal gas cars recently? The vibration, the fumes, having to turn the car on and off! I jut sit down and press drive. Actually, I put in a pin first which gives me serious peace of mind! I can watch youtube and netflix directly on the main screen. I can see the cameras all round the car from the app on my phone easily. I have Sentry mode recordings of everything that happens around the car. Easy supercharging network across the nation. DOG MODE. Watching my dog in the car from my app while it’s in dog mode and I’m running an errand. Camp mode! No other car has camp mode like a Tesla. I could go on and on. Rent a normal gas car for a weekend and you’ll remember quickly.

I think Tesla's cars are clearly better than other cars even without FSD, but yes, FSD is a massive differentiator that nobody else comes remotely close to. It's absolutely incredible.

I know it's too bad 🤮 Tesla definitely peaked a couple years ago and went downhill so suddenly. My wife is so sad. Personally I'm stoked when the time comes to get a Rivian or Ford next, they've really upped the game for the next generation of EVs.

I’ve canceled a lot of subscriptions due to budgeting but FSD ain’t going anywhere

I’ve had my 21 M3P for 5 years. Longest I’ve kept a car for and not a single complaint other than the rattles. I don’t use FSD and I still enjoy driving it. To each their own for course but you won’t find anything better and don’t even get started on the software side of things.

Hard disagree .tesla is unique is every single metric you could measure it on. Tons of value and fun . I couldn’t give a shit about fsd. Just because Tesla couldn’t drive me around anymore doesn’t mean driving myself around in a used RAV4 is better . Get a grip mate . Enjoy

I push a button in my garage and arrive 300 miles later without touching the wheel or pedals. LOL..Enjoy your Ford.

As someone who has a Pre Juniper “2025” 7 seater model y who got it at the discount “inventory” sale with the 0% APR and 5k off with the 7k tax credit, yall enjoy that 60,000 juniper. Having driven both, juniper ain’t worth the extra cost that it would’ve been had I waited for it. Plenty happy with my decision 👍🏻

FSD has saved me from at least one accident so far: two drivers in my blind spot to the right of me had a road rage incident on the freeway (with each other, not me :) ) and FSD swerved out of the way before I even noticed.

Yeah unfortunately, the subscription means that it won’t be a safety feature used by so many people who could benefit from it (old folks, distracted kids, everyone who has a phone drinkers, etc). Back in the day, autopilot wasn’t included. Then it became standard with all vehicles. If only we could have kept that trajectory going with FSD. A guy in an X recently got a DUI near me and caused a multi car accident. He already has a Tesla but doesn’t matter since FSD requires financial gymnastics to justify.

I got rid of fsd to save money as well and I realized that I hate driving. 1200 a year for personal chauffeur is a luxury that I have to pay for and that is the new norm now.

My Teslas are HW 3 and HW 2.5, so that probably colors my FSD experience. I own EAP on my HW 3 Model 3 and just basic autopilot on my Model X. I freaking love driving these cars. I only use EAP or standard auto pilot almost exclusively in stop-and-go traffic situations.

Probably more true about MY than MX. The X always felt very different to me because of that huge front window, plus the automatic doors. And the Y always felt like a pretty average, normal car/EV. So I’m with you on that. But yeah, for me, FSD was always what stood out and is the main reason I got and love driving my Tesla.

Most cars are getting a version of FSD in the next year or so. While this makes your Tesla less unique it will likely lower the price for FSD as well with added competition

Have you…. driven other cars in the category? They suck lol. Test drive a refresh model Y and you’ll know lol.

Damn, what a deal also, don’t forget you have hardware for and also they made a lot of suspension upgrades anyways in 2023 lol def where is it over Juniper hype

I also think the legacy Y looks will age more gracefully

Yah yah mine does too, although it randomly jams the brakes on at orange lights and gets stuck dancing between lanes in highway traffic lol. They'll all be able to do it soon, it won't even be impressive. Except other car brands have radar and will be able to do it in the rain and without getting out to clean the cameras with your sleeve every 30km, or taking the car in for service to get the condensation scum out of the front camera. It's like when we all thought Chatgpt was the only LLM - turns out the ones that came later were in a league above.

I'd swap to a Genesis in a heartbeat if the Tesla didn't devalue so quickly.

You have a defective car if it does that. I do 2000-mile trips without incident. Get it serviced. Sounds bad.

What is this the Tesla PR department? I live in a more humid place than you. Everyone has this issue. The cameras only work reliably in California.

I certainly wasn't trying to trash the car. It's still a great car overall. I've gotten so used to having FSD for almost 2 years that going back to driving feels underwhelming. Maybe I'm going through FSD withdrawals. :)

Agreed. They are nice cars. I just wish they had better range.

Wut? I live in Ohio and have traveled up and down the east coast. The cameras have been flawless LOL.

I wish my Tesla got the range it was advertised to have... I have a 2022 model 3 long range and it realistically gets the same as the Genesis. Maybe just my Tesla is a turd, but my experience is nothing but negatives and I've owned it for 2 years.

Concur. Still driving my 2019 M3SR+ and tell people it is a computer on wheels, and not a car. As for FSD, I paid 5k at time of purchase and have used it close to a dozen times. Not my cup of tea as I prefer to drive rather than be chaufered.

I would change my cell phones to Mint mobile before dropping FSD. I'm sorry you're going through that. It's an easy thing to rely on quicky

Can you elaborate? What other issues did you have?

U miss the rainbow

I have a love hate relationship with FSD. I love it and am obsessed with it. But any time I take over manually I’m like, aw shit man I really gotta drive this the old fashion way more often, this is so nice

I went from bmw to tesla y juniper, I am not used to the bumps yet… my bmw felt like it was gliding on snow while my Tesla feels like I’m gliding on asphalt. But I would never go back to any other car because I love FSD sooo much!!!

Love my m3p don’t need fsd

How much you wanna sell it for?

I am a bit biased because I dislike driving. About as exciting as doing laundry. I looked for a used Tesla with paid for FSD. The dealer described it as like being chauffeured. Someday I am sure other cars will have this feature but in the meantime I am very happy with what it can do.

I've probably used FSD maybe in short spans for a stretch of road but not more than that. I like FSD but I'd rather have control.

I use FSD if I feel lazy for a couple of miles of road in the afternoon, once or twice a week. Even without FSD, I still love how the car feels in general.

This what Tesla is banking on, to maximize their revenue.

Nothing wrong with your decision, but if it's USD you're talking, a lot of us got them for about $45K due to tax credits.

FSD has ended my envy of other cars. I used to admire and look twice at a Bentley but now if I I had a chance to speak to the owner of that Bentley. I'd ask him. Do you actually drive your car? Do you steer the wheel and move your foot from the gas to the brake quickly? That's adorable. You are driving your car the way people drove cars in 1950. I'm driving my car the way people will drive in the future. We are not the same and I envy myself. I love FSD. But I like my car

“Not driving my car is what defines driving my car” ok dude.

It doesn't matter what I want to sell it for because market value has dropped roughly 60% from the MSRP. I can get about 25,000 trade-in value and I paid about twice that 2 years ago... I'm not willing to take that kind of loss so I'll just drive it till the tires fall off and hate it.

My number one complaint is cruise control / basic autopilot... Over the past years of updates it doesn't operate most of the winter season. Constantly turns off saying cameras are blinded... But I simply don't care it's got one job to do maintain speed.. But it doesn't even do that. When it does activate it Panic brakes all the time. I would shut off all the traffic aware components if I could... It's simply does not function effectively in my environment and makes my car useless as a daily commuter. I've similar issues with the HVAC... The auto features are absolutely terrible in winter here ... It constantly switches to Auto defog which starts blowing cold air in -30 weather... And the manual controls don't have the options to do what I need them to do. It's simply needs to blow hot air on the windshield but it fights me constantly and switches to cold air because it wants to Auto defog because of its cameras... I couldn't care less about the cameras the car needs to stay warm when it's cold outside. It's just constant frustrations ... The software keeps making choices for me and they simply don't work effectively . But I can't turn them off . And trust me I've gone through every menu after every update and tried every single option ... I'd love for this car to work but it does not . If it would simply give me the control to do things it'd be a much better driver experience .

Wild take. You know what... Im not taking the rage bait nvm.

This. I have these same issues with my 23 M3LR. I hate that in any kind of weather or morning sun that the cruise will either shut off or be so speed limited that it is useless. Takes me back to the days without cruise control and I hate it.

I sold my 2020 with purchased FSD and bought the 2026 BECAUSE of the transfer option. I selected FSD transfer. I sold my car private 2 days before my new car pickup and I was prompted to delete sold car from my app so the new owner wouldn’t get CCE’s to my account. Although it might seem obvious now, I was told a week after I picked up my car that they can’t transfer the FSD because the old car is t in my account. Now I have a new car without the reason I have the car and since it’s new, I have to wait for it to depreciate enough that it doesn’t feel like I’m taking a bath on the purchase. The silver lining I tell myself is that in 3 years when my car still has value, but is paid off, I’ll be able to trade it for another brand that values customer loyalty.

I feel like a caveman if I have to actually drive my own vehicle

I bought my 2022 MYP last month. I researched cars for three months before buying. In the last month I had it narrowed down to an MYP with less than 50k and FSD included. I learned that only 8.9% of Teslas on the road have FSD purchased, so it was a long search. Most non-Tesla dealers don't even know what FSD is or how to tell if it's included with the vehicle. I told my wife I was going to give up and just get a MYP and spend the $99 for trips when we wanted FSD. She encouraged me to keep looking. I finally found one, and as I assumed, the Jeep dealership I purchased from had no idea it had FSD included, so I got a really sweet deal. I'm so glad I waited, I use FSD every time I'm behind the wheel.

Yeah there needs to be an option for regular old school cruise control. Yesterday morning it was super foggy and wanted to do 35 in a 45.

Same! And keep that nubby stalk...if you even have one.

Juniper was the exact same price as the old model Y. The launch edition was at a premium but it included FSD and other options. In May of last year they even offered 1.99% financing

Only recently have I started enthusiastically hand driving my MSP, and it’s so capable and fun. I’m only using FSD for very short periods at a time now, like reaching for something, drinking my coffee, or letting the car navigate tricky intersections I’m unfamiliar with.

I dunno about you, but I always dreamed of having a 400+HP car

Acceleration is still the prime factor.

I’ve only used FSD for free trials. But overall it’s the most enjoyable car I’ve ever driven. It had all the options I wanted like heated and ventilated seats. A rear screen for the kids. It has better horse power than any car I’ve owned. Lower maintenance and fuel costs. The software is miles better than any infotainment system I’ve used in other vehicles.

Bought a '25 M3 in Dec '24. After my free trial ended, I made it 6 days before I subscribed and have had it since. Absolute difference maker IMO, especially in Houston traffic.

We bought my wife’s Tesla for FSD specifically. In town and out to about 50-100 miles one way it’s strictly the Model Y because FSD is amazing. Long trips are what my baby diesel truck is for. Between 25-35mpg and 800+ miles to tank is where it’s at. With lack of long travel lately and taking flights now, I’d trade my truck for cybertruck in a heartbeat if I could. Tesla is so far ahead in the EV world

I do most of my own driving because I am more efficient & enjoy driving my S. It is a great driving car. Very comfy & capable. I don't use FSD as much as I thought I would, I bought my used S specifically seeking out a fully paid FSD model. It is very capable but I do try to avoid potholes & using the brakes as much as possible. But for long drives, 4+ hours, FSD makes me feel so much less tired & drained. Keeping an eye on the road & thumb on the steering wheel is so much easier than full on driving. Highways I don't see much road obstacles & need for quick braking on highways so I probably could have been fine with free autosteer instead of FSD. But even with HW3 on my MCU1, FSD is remarkable. The maneuvers it has done on the road is something that some people with driver's licenses fail to do. Most notably on a 2 lane highway, we were in the right passing a truck stop. FSD saw a car up ahead merging on the highway, switched to the empty left lane, passed them but now they could merge easier, then we switched back in to the right lane. Blinkers, smooth, never scared or jerky. Most people I drive with do not perform this courtesy maneuver. If I didn't have paid for FSD I would definitely get it when ever we are road tripping. Worth it.

Hmm I think your car is like 4 years old. 22’ models came out mid 21’. Depreciation isn’t different from that type of that price range vehicle. It seems to stress you out so much about losing in value, consider buying used or a 30k or less new Toyota next cycle.

I know what the vehicle Market is like so you don't need to provide me advice I didn't ask for. What stresses me out is that the software insists on operating the vehicle without allowing me to control it... But the software does a really piss poor job of doing so. It's not a good design. If I could effectively disable or override the features that don't function correctly I'd be much more tolerant of this car. But Tesla is far more concerned about the data collected than customer satisfaction.

Haha your response show a lot about you. Here is more unsolicited advice: it should be still be under basic warranty. If the car is not operating like a normal Tesla then take it to service. If it’s operating normally, then you not very smart and need to learn.

I agree. It’s difficult for me to drive another car, even an electric vehicle, without the Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature.

Compared to other EV‘s Teslas don’t depreciate that bad

I don’t like the look of the Juniper all

Having recently returned from a trip where I had 4 different rental cars I can tell you I have no desire to return to an ICE vehicle or any other EV. I like the way Tesla's drive, I like the controls, I just enjoy them.

Only reason i drive (supervise drive) a tesla. But… its not just a car. Free charging at work saves me miney and the tesla quirks (games, gronk, random farts) make it different. I rock a model Y…. Good use of space, phone remote temperature adjustment, are nice…. But the exterior is kinda ugly.

I don’t think people give it enough credit for how good it is. I used to rag on it myself in years past since it was very incomplete, but about a year ago it got really, really good. I bought FSD in 2018 (think it was $2.5k at the time) on a Model 3 and then transferred it to a Model Y when that promotion was going on. Best money I ever spent.

That was my build, with the 5k FSD. I traded it in for a 22 MY and lost FSD. I miss seeing it get better and better with updates.

I think FSD is one of the features that differentiate it from other cars but their are others the biggest in my opinion is the software. It has the best software of any car and I believe software is the most important part of a car these days. It’s what makes a car feel ordinary vs futuristic. Tesla software has that “just works” feeling that Apple products have

You don’t use it because V12 is terrible compared to HW4 cars lol

If you are saying you don’t use it and you have HW3….. we know, you don’t have to explain why of course you’re not using it, V12 is unusable at times.

I feed it’s a need but the subscription model is not cool

I love my model Y as much as anyone here but I do feel a little confused when people talk so highly about the driving of the car - yes the acceleration and handling is great but the regen braking (imo) is less ideal than a typical gas car from a driving perspective. I think driving a Tesla is great driving 100% of the time your foot is on the accelerator but the second it comes off, I do think a ICE car's braking feels better. So, how does everyone who loves the drive aspect overlook that?

I cannot relate to you at all. I cannot step out of my m3 into a Corolla and feel anywhere near the same

I don’t use it cause I’m not paying for it haha

Could be worse. At least you still have Autosteer!

100% it is. I drove old model y and could not believe how different they are. And I even drove the 2024 which had the better suspension. I cannot even imagine the older model y

Autopilot is still the best though (for all Teslas bought before Feb 2026).

fsd is the only reason for me to own tesla. No FSD = No Tesla.

Come work at Tesla! Tesla employees get FSD for free! We also get a great deal on company stock. If you are interested let me know, maybe I can help you find something challenging and rewarding?

I don’t have FSD because I love driving it myself. I only engage the auto steer on highways.

I find it interesting how many people love FSD while I see it as garbage. According to those articles, it's 4X as likely to crash rather than just driving yourself. 150,000 miles in my MYP and I can't seeyself driving anything else. It's still unique.

Yup, end-to-end and the scale-up of that architecture has been a miracle. It went from janky trash to an extremely smooth and competent driver in less than two years. Most people still have no idea what it's capable of now, and even Tesla owners often have no idea how much better their car is than others. It's simply in another league.

Ioniq without the ICCU issue, but FSD is game changer so not switching from Tesla until a viable alternative exists.

I would do laundry anytime vs driving any day. One doesn’t have the risk of dying because someone you share the road with doesn’t care about their lives.

To each his own, but driving my Model Y manually is still, by far, the most fun I've had driving anything, been driving for 40+ years. Tried FSD on my two free trials but I prefer driving it myself

That's because using FSD turns car ownership from "driving places" to "being delivered places" and I don't care how many little edge cases you guys point to, it's a better experience than having to be mentally engaged and controlling the car nonstop. Anyone that says otherwise is either on FSD 12 or straight up doesn't even own it to know any better.

Even without FSD, I haven’t driven a car that is as effortless to drive.

It’s been amazing seeing the transition little by little over the years. I definitely appreciate it more and understand its nuances better than most.

What's more amazing to me is how comparatively slow the progress was from the first release of FSD to 2024, and then how insanely fast it got starting in 2024 when they switched to an end-to-end neural network. The difference in the progress rate is staggering. It seemed like it would take 10+ years to get to unsupervised before, and now we're basically there.

I think what you are looking at here is the "price point" and "little luxury" space. So they're way more expensive than your phone, kayo, newpapers, eating out for the family. The benchmark I put it up against is the mobile phone plan. That has way more utility and entertainment and is $60 a month or so. It will be the first thing dropped when times get tight.

Totally agree... 6 Months of the Year my morning commute is virtually unbearable. If I could I drive my 20-year-old Mercedes and be loving life... Unfortunately that's a summer car only.

Well your Market must be different than mine... Every other EV like a bolt or ionic holds its value much better than a used Tesla... Which says a lot Most dealerships won't even talk to me when I tell them I have a Tesla to trade in... Pretty brutal when a car salesman hangs up on you because your trade in won't move from the lot.

It is a car.

I don’t have a particular market. I look at trends and sales. https://gizmodo.com/used-teslas-are-getting-more-expensive-while-other-evs-get-cheaper-2000726699

First world problems

I agree. Long time Tesla owner who has driven a few other EVs recently (most notably Rivians and Hyundais) and I will admit the build quality of Tesla is still meh at best from my experience but without question, FSD is really what differentiates Tesla from the other brands.

That's every car. They are not investments. Once you spend the money on the car its gone, you can't get it back. 2024 model y AWD here. had model 3 before that.. Model Y is paid off. I couldn't care less what happens to it, it's just a car. FSD is great though HW4...

I loved when I had FSD trials. But you do understand that a Tesla is a car?

I couldn’t disagree with this statement enough. I dread driving my wife’s ICE car now. The tech/user interface, one-pedal driving, instant power/torque, the quiet, not having to hold the brake pedal at stop lights etc. FSD is an added bonus to all of those things. Oh and I leave my garage every morning with a full tank. Best and most unique car I’ve ever owned.

Of course you’re not the same. They drive a premium car, you drive a budget car. Everything else is just your fantasy

That's why I bought it outright during the good times (both wife and I are currently gainfully employed) but that will certainly change in the coming years with a work merger happening, future A.I. layoffs, robot apocalypse. I don't want to pay $99 a month now but I certainly won't if I get laid off. I sleep easier at night knowing that when I am unemployed I will still have my chauffeur working for me.

Maybe it's because of the trim you have. I have a 22 MYP and a 25 M3P. Especially in the 3, I'd rather drive myself. I had it for 3 months, the FSD and used it less than 1% of the time. The car is incredible to drive. If I had a standard then I'd probably agree more with you.

I paid the full $10k in 2022 for FSD and had to wait 6 months before I was allowed to use it even though I had paid for it 6 months earlier. But I really wanted the new tech to try out and experience its many growing pains over the years. I use FSD 99% of the time, and while it does a great job most of the time, there are still times where it does something weird or something I wouldn't do. And I agree with you, if I didn't have FSD, I probably would look for a different EV. The driving experience is so good with FSD, no other car company can compare.

The lease prices have for a what they call “Premium” Y have gotten so out of hand that I left and won’t be back for 3 years 😢. I miss FSD but couldn’t justify almost $1000 a month Payment, FSD plus the ridiculous amount insurance wanted.

Very true. There was one update specifically where it was like a light switch went on and I said to myself, this is it. Now it even pulls out and parks at your destination. The last thing it needs is to have custom parking jobs for home and work so you can tell it to reverse into a garage or park in a specific parking spot.

Have you test drove any other the newer models and tried FSD in those?

I have! My girlfriend and I went to test drive the new model y and it was impressive. My girlfriend couldn’t believe how it would just drive around and even park for us. I’m planning on getting a model y somewhat soon and I’ll most likely be paying for FSD as I need it

FSD 12.3, 12.5, and then 13.2 all in one year progressively made me realize that they've solved it. Each one was a massive leap forward. And then 14.2 last year continued that trend and made it even more of a certainty. But yeah, being able to have it park in a specific spot would be a huge quality of life improvement. Not sure how they'd train it to do that, but it would be really nice.

Hw4 Juniper FSD use it almost every drive. Some days let it chauffeur me to work while I listen to audiobooks and relax. I love that I can turn it off on a whim, mash it to blow by some pokes hanging in the left lane, then re engage. It’s great for the boring parts of any drive. FSD on HW4 is fantastic.

It’s only 100 bucks, can’t you find another way to budget so you can get the FSD. Or do a few hours of uber driving if you really got to. If your budget is that tight that 100 bucks is an issue, then thats an issue regardless.

This. And when theres some snow on the side of the road on top of the line markings, the car thinks that the uneven snow is the line and starts to autocorrect my driving(even in fully manual state). I fking hate it when with no autopilot on it starts to take control and causes dangerous situations.

It is a car.  Now go drive it.

Model y can feel boring, I have a model 3 highland for 2 years now and loved it every day with/without FSD

What utter BS. Most countries don’t even have FSD and people love driving a Tesla- me included. It drives completely different- especially to a ICE car and more fun to drive than a Polestar and EV6 that I test drove.

I just don't see the point of it. If I'm still legally responsible for the car and need to pay full attention it's not really helping me. I just want my car to pick me up from the pub at night and let me sit in the back while it drives me home.