Tesla is sending emails urging owners to purchase Full Self-Driving (FSD) before February 14, when the automaker switches to a subscription-only model.
But in the email, Tesla appears to sneak in a policy change: FSD now only “stays with your Tesla as long as you own it.” It also has contradicting information on its support page.
The email push
Tesla sent out a marketing email today with the subject line “Purchase by February 14 to Own FSD (Supervised)” featuring the tagline “Purchase It Now, Own It Outright.”
The email states:
When you purchase Full Self-Driving (Supervised),* it stays with your Tesla as long as you own it. And with over-the-air software updates, FSD (Supervised) gets better overnight.
This is a marketing push following Elon Musk’s announcement that Tesla would stop selling FSD on February 14 and only allow a monthly subscription going forward.
However, what got our attention is the asterisk and the phrase “as long as you own it”.
What changed?
Historically, FSD was tied to the vehicle, not the owner. If you bought a Tesla with FSD and later sold it privately to another person, the FSD capability transferred with the car. The new owner got to keep the software you paid for.
Tesla has been known to remove the FSD on used cars it bought and then resold, but it has not prevented private owners from selling a vehicle with FSD privately.
Tesla’s new language explicitly states the opposite: FSD stays with you only “as long as you own it.” When you sell the car, the FSD you paid $8,000 for apparently disappears.
This is a significant change that Tesla appears to have made quietly, without any formal announcement.
In fact, Tesla’s FSD support page contradicts the new language in the email:
If the previous owner purchased FSD (Supervised) with a one-time payment rather than subscribing, then the vehicle will be transferred to you with FSD (Supervised). If the previous owner subscribed to FSD (Supervised) for a monthly fee, you will need to subscribe using your own Tesla Account.
Electrek reached out to Tesla for clarification. We will update if we get an answer.
The timing is suspect
Tesla is actively pushing customers to buy FSD before the February 14 deadline, using marketing language like “Own It Outright” that implies permanence and ownership. But if FSD evaporates when you sell the car, you don’t really “own” it at all, you’re essentially paying $8,000 for an extended software license that terminates when you sell.
This matters because one of the historical justifications for buying FSD was that it added resale value to the vehicle. Tesla CEO Elon Musk famously claimed Tesla vehicles would be “appreciating assets” because of FSD. If FSD no longer transfers on resale, that argument completely falls apart.
A pattern of changes
Tesla has gradually shifted its FSD policies over the years:
- Pre-2019: FSD was understood to transfer with the vehicle on private sales
- November 2019: Tesla began remotely removing FSD from vehicles sold at auction
- 2023: Tesla introduced temporary “FSD Transfer” programs allowing owners to move FSD to a new Tesla purchase, but with restrictions
- January 2026: Tesla announced FSD purchases end February 14, moving to subscription-only
- Now: Tesla’s marketing explicitly states FSD only stays “as long as you own it”
Electrek’s Take
If this is as stated in the email rather than the support page, it’s a classic bait-and-switch.
Tesla is using urgency marketing (“Purchase by February 14!”) and ownership language (“Own It Outright”) to push customers into buying FSD, while simultaneously changing the terms so that what you’re buying is worth significantly less than what it used to be.
If FSD doesn’t transfer when you sell the car, you’re not buying a vehicle upgrade; you’re buying a personal software license that has zero resale value. That’s a fundamentally different product than what Tesla sold for years, and the fact that they are implementing the change at the same time that they are creating urgency to buy by ending FSD sales looks like a desperate cash grab.
At $8,000 for a non-transferable license vs. $99/month for a subscription, the math gets even worse. You’d need to keep the car for nearly 7 years just to break even versus subscribing, and at the end of those 7 years, your “purchase” is worth nothing on resale anyway.
Tesla should be transparent about this change and what customers are actually buying. Instead, they’re burying it in asterisks while shouting “Own It Outright” in giant letters.
I sent Tesla a press email highlighting the discrepancy between the email and support page, but I won’t hold my breath for a response.
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