Photo: Tesla
After Tesla started honoring its pledge to allow one-time FSD transfer to a new car, owners discovered the process was not as painless as they thought. Some Tesla owners reported that their transfer was rejected because of an incompatible software version, while others were refused for alleged hardware incompatibilities.
Elon Musk announced during the Q2 earnings call that Tesla would allow a one-time FSD transfer to a new car for people who take delivery of a new Tesla by September 30. The joy was short-lived, as people soon discovered the offer had strings attached. One of the most intriguing stipulations in the transfer contract said that new vehicles bought under the deal would not sell, even privately, with the FSD activated. Tesla allegedly introduced this limitation to prevent people from flipping new cars with FSD.
Following backlash from owners, Tesla walked back this decision and sent out new contracts that eliminated any reference to private sales. The transferred FSD capability would follow the same terms as the feature bought with a new car from Tesla. This made people happy, but not all of them could transfer their FSD to a new vehicle.
One Tesla Model 3 owner who thought he could benefit from this offer to replace his 2018 model year car with a new Model Y was told the transfer was impossible. He shared the conversation with a Tesla advisor telling him that his Model 3 was not eligible "because of the firmware difference." The guy has been an FSD Beta tester since December 2020 and could not comprehend what firmware difference could prevent him from taking advantage of this offer.
Intriguingly, the service advisor's replies looked like they were written by AI, repeating the arguments the Model 3 owner raised without offering a helpful explanation or a solution. After all, firmware is just software and can be changed with an easy update, especially as the Model 3 was on the latest publicly available version of FSD. Still, the Tesla Advisors are not always knowledgeable, and owners reported on instances where the advisor told them they were not eligible because they didn't have FSD, which was, of course, incorrect.
After sharing the story on Reddit, another Tesla owner confessed to a similar experience. He successfully transferred FSD to the new car after talking to different delivery center advisors. It took him two days, but he was able to find someone that finally moved the FSD capability without a problem. This shows that the transfer was not planned in advance, and Tesla employees were not trained to deal with it. Musk probably had this idea on the fly while answering the question during the earnings call.
Other owners told on the Tesla Motors Club forum that even when the transfer goes well, there are things that you need to be aware of before taking the plunge. For instance, cars upgraded to FSD from EAP would also lose EAP as part of the transfer, which is not clear from the contract terms. If you're considering taking the offer to transfer FSD to a new Tesla, it's worth reading the thread on the Tesla Motors Club forum, as it offers solutions to many problems Tesla owners encountered during the transfer process.
Following backlash from owners, Tesla walked back this decision and sent out new contracts that eliminated any reference to private sales. The transferred FSD capability would follow the same terms as the feature bought with a new car from Tesla. This made people happy, but not all of them could transfer their FSD to a new vehicle.
One Tesla Model 3 owner who thought he could benefit from this offer to replace his 2018 model year car with a new Model Y was told the transfer was impossible. He shared the conversation with a Tesla advisor telling him that his Model 3 was not eligible "because of the firmware difference." The guy has been an FSD Beta tester since December 2020 and could not comprehend what firmware difference could prevent him from taking advantage of this offer.
Intriguingly, the service advisor's replies looked like they were written by AI, repeating the arguments the Model 3 owner raised without offering a helpful explanation or a solution. After all, firmware is just software and can be changed with an easy update, especially as the Model 3 was on the latest publicly available version of FSD. Still, the Tesla Advisors are not always knowledgeable, and owners reported on instances where the advisor told them they were not eligible because they didn't have FSD, which was, of course, incorrect.
After sharing the story on Reddit, another Tesla owner confessed to a similar experience. He successfully transferred FSD to the new car after talking to different delivery center advisors. It took him two days, but he was able to find someone that finally moved the FSD capability without a problem. This shows that the transfer was not planned in advance, and Tesla employees were not trained to deal with it. Musk probably had this idea on the fly while answering the question during the earnings call.
Other owners told on the Tesla Motors Club forum that even when the transfer goes well, there are things that you need to be aware of before taking the plunge. For instance, cars upgraded to FSD from EAP would also lose EAP as part of the transfer, which is not clear from the contract terms. If you're considering taking the offer to transfer FSD to a new Tesla, it's worth reading the thread on the Tesla Motors Club forum, as it offers solutions to many problems Tesla owners encountered during the transfer process.
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