Discuss: Tesla Ordered to Upgrade Owner's FSD Computer for Free

Hagg6

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Oct 6, 2022
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This might help a handful of owners at a cost to others. This isn't a binding precedent, and Tesla could decide that short term subscriptions aren't worth it, if a person could get a computer upgrade for two hundred dollars and then cancel the service. If they don't offer the service, or have a six month minimum, then owners wouldn't be able to say that the car fails to do what was promised.

This won't affect the majority of vehicles that already have the new hardware, but Tesla will have to weigh the factors, including the likelihood that owners who didn't buy FSD will want it for short term use, and whether they'd continue to subscribe or use it for future trips.
 

Caldreamin

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Dec 20, 2022
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I paid for FSD when I bought my 2017 Model X. I called my nearby Tesla service center asking why I wasn’t able to access FSD beta on my MX. They said that I need to pay $1500 to upgrade my car’s MCU1 computer to MCU2 if I want to run FSD beta. I pointed out the promise that Tesla made in 2016 stating that Teslas made from that time forward had all the hardware for FSD. But the service center would not budge.

Since Jordan won his court case requiring Tesla to upgrade his MCU1 car to MCU2 at no cost, hopefullly I can get the same free upgrade without having to take Tesla to court.
 
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Hagg6

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Oct 6, 2022
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I paid for FSD when I bought my 2017 Model X. I called my nearby Tesla service center asking why I wasn’t able to access FSD beta on my MX. They said that I need to pay $1500 to upgrade my car’s MCU1 computer to MCU2 if I want to run FSD beta. I pointed out the promise that Tesla made in 2016 stating that Teslas made from that time forward had all the hardware for FSD. But the service center would not budge.

Since Jordan won his court case requiring Tesla to upgrade his MCU1 car to MCU2 at no cost, hopefullly I can get the same free upgrade without having to take Tesla to court.
That would be a harder case to win, especially if Tesla shows up. You'd have to make a case for why you had a reasonable expectation of access to beta program.

Tesla is obligated to give you a working version of FSD, but they didn't promise you the onscreen display that is currently in beta. Tesla could use simpler onscreen graphics for cars with MCU 1 by the time it hits production, and that shouldn't affect the actual use of the software. If you see what you see now with enhanced autopilot, I'd say that you could see the rest a lot better by looking through the window. What's in front and adjacent lanes actually affects you by not having it on the screen, and that part can be handled by MCU 1.

I upgraded because mine became unreliable, not for extra features, but Tesla should have done more to make good on it.
 

huntley

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Dec 20, 2022
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I paid for FSD when I bought my 2017 Model X. I called my nearby Tesla service center asking why I wasn’t able to access FSD beta on my MX. They said that I need to pay $1500 to upgrade my car’s MCU1 computer to MCU2 if I want to run FSD beta. I pointed out the promise that Tesla made in 2016 stating that Teslas made from that time forward had all the hardware for FSD. But the service center would not budge.

Since Jordan won his court case requiring Tesla to upgrade his MCU1 car to MCU2 at no cost, hopefullly I can get the same free upgrade without having to take Tesla to court.
Jordan's issue wasn't MCU1 to MCU2, it was AP2.5 to AP3
 

Hagg6

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Oct 6, 2022
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Jordan's issue wasn't MCU1 to MCU2, it was AP2.5 to AP3
The overall issue is that certain hardware is less capable or incapable of working with with FSD. Regardless of the hardware, it's a question of whether an upgrade is needed or required.

In the case of the FSD computer itself, it's clear that FSD won't work without it. There are certain things that I couldn't see on my display before a hardware upgrade, such as traffic cones, but Tesla never promised me prior to buying the car that I'd have any particular graphical representation of the road.

Since I got the car, the cameras have changed. Mine had light leakage, so if I looked at the camera image at night with the turn signal on, I got a washed out image with a pink hue. But there was no promised feature prior to my purchase that would let me bring up a view of any camera on screen. So I paid for the replacement cameras.

Tesla has improved the hardware, bringing new capability, but it comes down to whether anyone was deprived of promised capability. Tesla promised that the cars had all the hardware needed for self driving, and there was a clear indication that a person who bought the self driving package at the time that the car was purchased, or who added it later, would be able to have FSD without having to buy new hardware.

Musk also said that if it turned out not to be the case, then Tesla would upgrade the computer for free. For anyone who doesn't have the FSD computer, there's no loss of promised capability without a hardware upgrade, but there is a loss of capability for things that were not promised, and didn't exist prior to the purchase of the cars with the old computers. That includes the ability to get a subscription, which nobody who bought a car prior to the new computer being standard had any reasonable expectation of being able to get.

So the question becomes whether Tesla is obligated to upgrade cars even though the upgrade would do nothing that's needed for the cars to do what was promised. Tesla doesn't have to offer a subscription option to anyone, and could offer it to selected customers.

So it comes down to whether a business can be forced to offer something for sale to anyone who wants it just because they offered it to someone else. If Amazon emails me something that says it's a limited, non transferrable offer to buy a certain TV accessory at half price, could you take them to court and claim that you have the same right to buy it at that price? Or could they claim that they made the offer only to people who bought a TV in the past three years, and that they will give you the offer if you upgrade your TV?
 

dyenunimium

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Dec 22, 2022
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Elon should give out free upgrades for people who've purchased FSD package and MCU upgrade with all necessary hardware.
FSD and MCU are in a box. (if you didn't know)
still disappointed not having Steam game for 2022 intel Model 3/Y and as far as i know theres no upgrade
won't be buying FSD if i buy a S/X
 

LPerez

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May 13, 2023
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So, in my 12/16 S P100D the original owner paid for FSD outright so it came with the car when I bought it BUT when I requested the BETA, it did not work. Furthermore, my latest software update is 2022/8/11/13. Here's my question; shouldn't this car be able to use the FSD BETA since FSD was sold with the car? I took it to Tesla service and they are saying that the car can not handle FSD!
 

LPerez

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May 13, 2023
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Tesla has improved the hardware, bringing new capability, but it comes down to whether anyone was deprived of promised capability. Tesla promised that the cars had all the hardware needed for self driving, and there was a clear indication that a person who bought the self driving package at the time that the car was purchased, or who added it later, would be able to have FSD without having to buy new hardware.
So then, in my case, where the expensive FSD package was bought and paid for when the car was new, I shouldn't have to pay for any upgraded harware that the service techs are telling me I need for FSD to work at all.
 

Hagg6

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Oct 6, 2022
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They are wrong, assuming that you bought the car privately. If you bought it from Tesla, it has it only if they listed it as a feature. If you go to the settings screen and select software, you can touch Additional Vehicle Information to see what hardware you have, etc. Below Software, you can select Upgrades. If FSD is included , it will likely show no upgrades available, or at least not show FSD available.
 
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LPerez

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May 13, 2023
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I checked all the info on the car, including the codes from the Tesla website and it does have FSD paid for in full. I bought it from an exotic car dealer and paid a premium for the options it has like FSD and lifetime premium connectivity. Here is the note they sent in the app:
Tesla service about FSD.jpg
 

Hagg6

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Oct 6, 2022
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It's not clear to me that that would even be legal, except if it keeps you from having features that were never promised. For example, if the old infotainment system can't handle the graphics to show you what's on the road, that would be legitimate since it wasn't promised. But if they simply designed it in a way that it won't work, that's a problem.

I upgraded my infotainment system on my Model S anyway, even without FSD, since it's more responsive and has more capability. So you might want to consider that, or taking them to small claims court. There's a chance that once they get served, they will simply decide to give you the upgrade, but they made it clear that the car should have all the hardware necessary. And Musk said that you'd be able to get a free upgrade if not.