Tesla’s Self-Driving Hype Leaves Owners Feeling Tricked

Back in 2017, Tom LoSavio dropped over $100, 000 on a Tesla Model S, convinced by promises that his car would one day drive itself. He paid an extra $8, 000 for “lifetime” access to what Tesla called its most advanced autonomous features. Nine years later, LoSavio feels cheated. He’s now leading a lawsuit against Tesla, arguing the company sold a product it couldn’t deliver. The case claims Tesla misled customers by charging for self-driving upgrades that never worked as advertised. The lawsuit wants refunds for buyers who purchased or leased Teslas between 2016 and 2024 and asks courts to stop Tesla from calling its cars “self-driving. ” The frustration isn’t just in the U. S. In Australia, a group of owners is suing Tesla, calling their vehicles defective because they can’t actually drive themselves. In Europe, a Tesla owner started a campaign to unite buyers after paying €68, 000 for a Model 3 plus €6, 400 for Full Self-Driving—only to find out Dutch regulators still haven’t approved the feature for his car’s older hardware. “I bought it because I trusted the promises, ” he said. “I didn’t expect it to take seven years with no results. ”

Tesla’s self-driving sales pitch started in 2015 when Elon Musk claimed cars would be fully autonomous by 2017. That never happened. Instead, Tesla kept updating its hardware—from the first version in 2014 to the fourth in 2023—leaving early buyers with outdated tech. Some got free upgrades, but others had to pay $1, 000 just to keep up. Meanwhile, Tesla’s stock keeps climbing, even as its share of the electric car market shrinks. Analysts estimate millions of Teslas on the road today can’t run the latest self-driving software. Today, Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” feature costs $99 a month and still requires a human driver to supervise. It can steer, brake, and change lanes—but only with constant oversight. Tesla has also hinted at a future without steering wheels, teasing a robotaxi service and a tiny, no-controls car called the Cybercab. Yet for owners like LoSavio, the question remains: When will Tesla actually deliver what it promised?

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