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Tesla is letting customers trade in their old car for a new one, but not everyone is happy about it: 'It's honestly worse'

People are divided over whether this is a good thing for the car company.

Tesla is letting customers trade in their old car for a new one

Photo Credit: iStock

Until now, Tesla customers who bought the company's Full-Self Driving (FSD) package and later wanted to upgrade their Teslas could not transfer the software to a new vehicle. That means they would have to pay $15,000 again if they wanted to keep their FSD capabilities. 

But luckily for those customers, the electric vehicle company has heard their complaints and is now offering Tesla owners the option of transferring their FSD to a new vehicle as long as they purchase it during the third quarter of this year, which means before the end of September, reports Electrek.

While Tesla CEO Elon Musk described the move as an "offer of amnesty" to customers, some of the commenters on electric vehicle news website Electrek saw it as less than the bare minimum.

"So Elon said that Tesla would provide a 'one-time offer of amnesty,'" wrote one commenter. "The definition of amnesty is 'an act of forgiveness for past offenses, especially to a class of persons as a whole.' I guess he's saying that we, the group of people who purchased FSD, made a mistake in buying it. I'm beginning to agree with him!"




"The software should have always been transferable to a new car," wrote another. "That's part of the reason I haven't purchased any of the software options. This is just a short term way to generate more sales. It only shows ... how unfair the policy is to not allow transfer." 

"It's honestly worse that they're doing this 'one-time offer of amnesty,'" responded a third. "They're showing that they're perfectly capable of performing a transfer, they're just choosing not to because they have zero respect for their customers."

Even without actually allowing for a full (as in, non-driver-supervised) self-driving feature, Tesla's FSD feature has already proved hazardous for both drivers and anyone unfortunate enough to share the road with them. Tesla's Autopilot and FSD features have been responsible for a shockingly large number of accidents, including at least 17 fatalities since 2019, reported The Washington Post.

In addition, some especially irresponsible Tesla drivers have been tricking the FSD sensors with devices called "wheel weights," which allow them to take their hands off the wheel, giving them the actual Full Self-Driving capability that Tesla promised and has been unable to deliver safely.

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