FSDRadarOwned FSD (Supervised) replaces a subscription of $99 a month in the US, which is $1,188 a year. So a premium for owned FSD pays for itself after roughly premium divided by $99 months of use: $2,000 extra breaks even in about 20 months.
Used-car prices do not add anything like the old $8,000 purchase price: Find My Electric, a large used-Tesla marketplace, estimated in July 2026 that FSD adds about $1,000 to $2,000 to a used Tesla. What you should pay depends on how long you will keep the car, whether you want FSD every month, and the car's hardware.
The three numbers you can check
1. What it costs to rent: $99 a month
Since February 14, 2026, Tesla sells FSD (Supervised) in the US by subscription only. Its support page gives the price: "You can subscribe to FSD (Supervised) for $99 USD per month" (Tesla FSD support page, June 2026 capture). Cars with Enhanced Autopilot reportedly pay $49 a month (Not a Tesla App). This is the number owned FSD saves you, month by month.
| Months of FSD you would use | Subscription cost at $99 |
|---|---|
| 12 | $1,188 |
| 24 | $2,376 |
| 36 | $3,564 |
| 60 | $5,940 |
| 96 | $9,504 |
Arithmetic on today's price, before any sales tax. Tesla has said the subscription price will rise as the software improves, and it has cut it before, so treat this as a snapshot.
2. What owners paid: $5,000 to $15,000
The one-time price changed often: $5,000 in April 2019, a peak of $15,000 in September 2022, $12,000 in September 2023 and $8,000 from April 2024 until Tesla stopped selling it in February 2026 (Not a Tesla App price history). This is what the first owner paid. It is not what a used buyer should pay: the car is older, and a subscription is now an alternative.
3. What the used market pays: a published estimate
Find My Electric, a marketplace that specializes in used Teslas, estimated in its July 28, 2026 update that FSD adds roughly $1,000 to $2,000 to a used Tesla, about $1,500 on average, and Enhanced Autopilot about $500 to $1,200 (Find My Electric). It bases this on the asking, sold and wholesale prices it sees; it does not publish a sample size or method, so read it as an informed estimate, not a measured average. It is the most specific public figure we have found.
Why so low next to $8,000? Likely reasons: many used buyers do not want FSD, some do not know a car has it, and many listings do not say so. That gap is the opportunity: a buyer who wants FSD and can confirm it is owned may pay far less for it in a used car than the subscription would cost.
The break-even rule
Put the three numbers together. Compare two otherwise similar cars, one with owned FSD and one without:
- Premium = price of the FSD car minus price of the similar car without it.
- Break-even months = premium divided by $99 (or $49 if the cheaper car has Enhanced Autopilot).
- If you would use FSD (Supervised) every month for longer than the break-even, owned FSD is the better deal. If you only want it for road trips, a few months of subscription may be cheaper.
Examples at $99 a month:
| Premium for owned FSD | Break-even |
|---|---|
| $1,000 | About 10 months |
| $2,000 | About 20 months |
| $3,000 | About 30 months |
| $5,000 | About 51 months |
The comparison only works with truly similar cars: same model, trim, hardware, year and mileage band, and condition. A $2,000 gap between a clean car with FSD and a rough one without is not an FSD premium.
A worked example
Say you are choosing between two 2021 Model 3 Long Range cars with similar miles and condition. Car A has owned FSD (Supervised), confirmed with the seller's app and a screen photo showing the VIN. Car B has basic Autopilot. Car A is listed $2,500 higher. (These are example numbers, not market prices.)
- Break-even: $2,500 divided by $99 is about 25 months of subscription.
- If you plan to keep the car four years and use FSD most months, you would pay roughly $4,750 to subscribe for 48 months at today's price. Car A is the better deal by about $2,250, before any difference at resale.
- If you only want FSD for a two-week road trip each summer, you might subscribe for about two months a year: roughly $800 over four years. Car B is the better deal.
- Hardware check: a 2021 Model 3 has HW3, so both cars would run the Lite version. That applies equally to the subscription on car B.
Run the same sums on the actual cars you are comparing. The numbers that matter are the real price gap and how many months you would really use FSD.
What moves the value up or down
- Hardware. AI4 (HW4) cars run Tesla's main FSD (Supervised) version; HW3 cars run the reduced "v14 Lite" version as of September 2026 (Electrek). Owned FSD on AI4 is worth more to most buyers. Do not pay for promised HW3 upgrades: none has a published price or date. More in HW3 vs HW4.
- How sure you are it is owned. A premium for FSD you have not confirmed is a bet. Discount it until you have the app screenshot and a matching screen photo. See how to tell.
- History. Salvage, auction and cars Tesla owned between owners carry some risk that paid software was or will be removed. Price that in, or insist on seeing it active.
- How long you keep the car. The longer, the more months of subscription you avoid.
- Whether you would pay for FSD at all. If you would never subscribe, owned FSD is worth only what the next buyer pays for it.
Enhanced Autopilot and other upgrades
A few other paid upgrades also stay with the car and are worth checking for when you compare prices:
- Enhanced Autopilot: stays with the car, and cuts the FSD (Supervised) subscription to a reported $49 a month.
- Acceleration Boost (Model 3 and Model Y Long Range, a $2,000 option in Tesla's data): Tesla kept it on the cars it resold in its own inventory data we analysed, but has never published a resale rule for it.
- Free unlimited Supercharging: the early Model S and X version is reported to pass to private buyers; most later offers, including the Luxe Package's, end at sale.
Will you get it back when you sell?
Under Tesla's current support page, purchased FSD stays with the car when you sell it privately, so the next buyer gets it too. That means part of the premium can come back at resale. How much is uncertain: it depends on what buyers pay for FSD then, on Tesla's rules then, and on your hardware. A car bought for a small FSD premium and kept for years is the lowest-risk version of this bet.
What we will not tell you
We do not publish a single "FSD is worth $X" number, because no public data supports one. Asking prices of listings that mention FSD are not a good guide either: many of those cars have a subscription, not owned FSD. Any figure you see without a source and a date should be treated the same way. What you can rely on is the subscription price, the break-even rule and a verified owned-FSD car.
FSD Radar is independent and not affiliated with Tesla, Inc. Facts in this guide are dated where they change often; we re-check Tesla's support pages regularly. Spotted something out of date? Email info@fsdradar.com.