Tesla’s $15,000 'Full Self-Driving Beta' Can Be Worthless At Trade-In

Photo: Brandon Bell (Getty Images)

Like clockwork every year, Elon Musk promises that Tesla’s vehicles will be fully-autonomous by next year. Despite not delivering on the promise, Tesla owners can get a Level 2 ADAS system by paying to enroll in the “Full Self-Driving” Beta. The guinea pig privilege currently costs $15,000 and is non-transferable between Tesla vehicles. It would be easy to assume that the inclusion of the feature would have a positive impact on a Tesla’s resale value. However, multiple accounts show that the beta feature is only worth a fraction of the purchase price when the vehicle is traded-in.

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The Drive reported that several Tesla owners saw the value of the FSD Beta significantly depreciate when trading in their vehicles with the automaker despite Musk’s comments that his company’s cars were assets. One customer went to Twitter to complain that the FSD Beta on their 2020 Tesla Model Y Performance was only worth $3,900 at trade-in, $11,100 less than the current price. The owner was offered a total of $37,700, a sharp decline from the list price of around $60,000 three years ago.

The offers can be even worse for Tesla owners if they attempt to trade in their vehicles with a third party. There have been complaints that retail chains don’t offer anything extra for the feature. One user on Reddit noted that CarMax representatives don’t even have the ability to note that a Tesla is equipped with FSD Beta. The user posted, “[The] Carmax rep showed me their options screen, and there’s no box there which they can select to give the car the extra value. So if you’re the type of person who changes cars every couple of years, do not get FSD as you will get no value for it.”

Calculating the actual value of the “Full Self-Driving” Beta has only been complicated by the introduction of the $200 per month subscription. The subscription model is far more affordable for Tesla owners, especially if they don’t intend to own the vehicle for more than six years. It would become even more worthwhile if Tesla raised the FSB purchase price yet again.