Tesla Model Y Purchase Now or Wait for AI5

My wife currently drives a small car that’s about 15 years old, and with a baby on the way, we’re looking to upgrade to an SUV.

I’m considering a Tesla Model Y, mainly because of its supervised Autopilot/FSD capabilities.

We tend to keep our cars for a very long time—usually 15 years or more, until they’re no longer economical to maintain.

Given that, would it make sense to wait for Tesla’s AI5 hardware before buying, so the car is less likely to become limited by outdated Autopilot hardware or software in the future?

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  • Have you considered an Au Falcon?

    • My daily is the wifes au ute. When it dies ill get a dual cab more practical the extra seats for me.

      Problem is it wont die!

    • I’m into Zeekr 7X, but wifey is into Model Y. This makes it easy.

      • Au falcon would tick your use case though, the wagon more though

      • Get the Zeekr, heaps better vehicle than the Tesla. Tesla has great software, but autopilot is not worth the $$$

      • If you're into the Zeekr 7X and you can afford it then get the long range version, it'll destroy the Tesla in almost every aspect. If you must get unsupervised driving then you're stuck with the poor man's interior and you'll have to get a Tesla with it's single screen instead of the 3x screens that come on the Zeekr 7X or basically any other modern car.

        • So you like clutter, not everyone does 👍. Zeekr is a good car for sure, but there's a reason why Model Y sells so well globally.

          • @Brianqpr: An instrument cluster is not clutter.

          • @Brianqpr: I like luxury and safety by not having to look sideways and downwards away from the road for basic stuff like my speed. I also don't like baking my entire family to a crisp on fake leather seats, nothing wrong with any of those things except for the fact that you are getting ripped off by paying an extra $12,000 for an inferior car. Kudos to Tesla for being first to market and having a great marketing team, that's the real reason why they are still selling so well. People take comfort in a branded name they've known for a long time.

            • @supersabroso: Dont forget, zeekr also comes with an actual shade for the moonroof - keeps the car a lot cooler in Aus summer.

            • @supersabroso: There's no buttons on the 7x dashboard, which is a pity

  • with a baby on the way, we’re looking to upgrade to an SUV.

    How big is this baby going to be?

    • Haha this happened to me too, OP is correct and definitely needs an upgrade due to the pram. If the pram can even fit into their small car that's already a miracle, my medium sized Corolla boot was 90% used up with our pram in it. However, I'd buy the far more luxurious BYD Sealion 7 ($53,990) with real leather seats, 3x the quantity of screens and most importantly an automatic roof cover over the Tesla Model Y ($65,690) which doesn't have any of those things and invest the $11.7k savings into shares so that when the baby retires, it'll have an extra $3,700,000 at age 67.

      • If you buy a massive pram then yes you need a big car to fit it.
        However, if you get a sensible sized pram, then any car will do. We did fine with a VW golf.
        We would always laugh at people with their giant prams trying to manoeuvre them through restaurants, shops etc.. We would just glide right through and never felt inconvenienced at all.

      • Yesterday I learned that they have $3,000 prams readily available for sale in Australia.

        Just a pram, not diamond and ruby studded or real fur lined bullet proof capsule. No ai or any hands free functions. You still have to do the lifting, storing and pushing. No self cleaning mode..

        Just a pram.

        • the LV pram costs 9990..

          • @Harrash: I don't think that this was even that sort of a brand name.

            I came across it looking to find Emmaljunga prams available for sale in Australia and how much they cost these days.

            Came across a bunch of really expensive prams in regular online baby shops. They had some great outdoor play equipment, nursery furniture, car seats etc that I thought was really well priced. Then the price of these prams was just so incongruous. They were nice looking prams, but… yikes!

            • @Satchimo: The super expensive prams are not what the average person is using. Think of them more like the absurdly priced handbags.

              They are a fashion accessory and aimed at the same people that buy the multi thousand dollar bags.

    • Current car won’t fit 3 adults plus the baby seat.

      • Thought about ejecting the third wheel from your relationship?

        • Great advice. But that's not possible right now :(

      • Which boyfriend is the father?

        • Either that, or the creepy, rusted on, cant get her to leave mother-in-law…

          • @pegaxs: Even worse, a vibe coded mother in law…

            • @Some Random Guy: Can't you just recode any of the bits you don't like and include more of those you do like if she's vibe coded though?

              Could also add a timer couldn't you? So she turns off after 20 minutes (2 hours if she's doing chores or preparing dinner) and an alarm that sounds an alert when she's escaped from her shackles leaving her room?

          • @pegaxs: Oddly specific…

  • You should really test drive the car before putting so much weight into FSD.
    Our test drive of a Model Y with FSD a month ago was just terrible.
    The trip - from Tesla dealer to home and return, driving on roads that is pretty normal suburbia in Melbourne and not in peak traffic with perfect weather conditions.
    On the way home, FSD made lane merge and changes that had people behind us honking as the moves were very late, it's as if FSD didn't know a turn was coming up or where we are going?
    Into our street, the Tesla missed our house twice and on the 3rd attempt, drove into a neighbour's driveway a block away.
    On the return trip to Tesla dealership, it was just TERRIBLE! Off the freeway, it entered into a 3 lane highway that has a right-hand turn 4km ahead. The Tesla stayed in the left most lane for a long time despite sparse traffic. There were so many opportunities to move into the right and be ready for a right turn and I was wondering when it would move to the right? With only a 100m to go, it made its move, but by then, the dedicated right turn lane was filled with cars. Instead of waiting in the right most straight behind the queued right turning cars. It moved to the front of traffic and waited in the right most straight ahead lane right next to the right turn lane and STOPPED whilst it is green. Of course, the incessant beeps and honks came right away from those behind. Of course, I then did the right thing and turn off FSD and continue straight ahead to do a Uturn coming back from the other way for a left turn. I'd resumed the FSD.
    When we got near the dealership, the car kept going past the dealsership twice.
    I'd decided that I'd seen enough.
    Tesla people's explanation was yeah, it has problem coming back to the dealer address. Apparently the next one would solve this…
    Yeah… sure, no thanks.

    For me, I don't have a need for FSD, but that was something the demo car had and we just wanted to try it out. But, this is not fit for purpose and is a danger to the general community.

    For those that paid for it, I wish you luck and for those driving around you.
    I do feel sorry for those that paid for this going back to 2019. You'd been willingly robbed. Imagine where that $10K would have gotten you had you invested it. Hell, even a cash deposit would have been decent.

    Back to @Hans678, you really should try it and be sure this is for you. With your new young family, that for me would add more risk. It's your call, if I was in your position, I would prioritise the welfare of my family too much to trust FSD.

    Autopilot (Active cruise and lane centering) use on freeways and sparse roads is perfectly fine. Above that, no way!

    • Please don't judge based on 2 trips. I have driven few thousands of kms and I am on 98.2% of FSD. Yes, it is not 100%, but once you know the quirks it helps a lot! Definitely better than some drivers I've been in car with.

    • 3 lane highway that has a right-hand turn 4km ahead. The Tesla stayed in the left most lane for a long time despite sparse traffic.

      Keep left unless overtaking - sounds like it knows the rules better than most.

      My short experience in a juniper Y with FSD was similarly horrible. It was so indecisive about where to park then it eventually chose a handicap spot. FFS.

      • Haha. Or just use the "hurry" mode and park some coins for a speeding ticket.

      • On 3 lanes going in the same direction, keeping left when you know a turn is coming up very shortly simply means a driver is not paying attention and the brain is taking a snooze. So much so that it did run out of time to move across. That’s just stupid, nothing to do with road rules.

        • The exit was 4km away. Nearly 3 minutes.

          • @MS Paint: Approx 3 mins at 80km/h.
            Importantly,situational awareness dictates positioning that best fits the situation.
            Also, outside of the freeway, who sticks in the left lane when there are 3 lanes.

            • @TreeHugger: If it's an 80 zone then the keep left unless overtaking rule doesn't apply. I was assuming it was a 100 zone being a 3 lane highway

    • Autopilot (Active cruise and lane centering)

      Isn't this usually free or standard on other brands? Even in BMW comes without a subscription lol

      • Autopilot and FSD are different. Autopilot is standard,
        FSD is optional and surely, a whisker away for class action against Tesla for those that paid it since 2019.

        • Got it. I have a feeling Tesla can get away from the class action; it's up to the various governments to allow it more than anything, isn't it?

    • Thanks for sharing, I’ll be definitely reconsider it.

    • I think you missed the key word there. It is FSD Supervised. Not just FSD.
      I know this misses the address few of the times but on the other side is also capable of going to some extreme places. For me FSD streak is 408 kms. And this was not on so straight roads. Around 15 kms out of those off roads in yarra ranges. Had not touched the steering wheel that day. From garage to yarra range and back to garage. With multiple stops.
      Again I was fully prepared to take over the driving as this is still FSD Supervised. I was on FSD 14.3.5 on that drive.

    • Are there any EVs on the market with Tesla-level of Autopilot? Happy to consider China SUV EVs ta

      • Telsa is currently the only brand in Australia for FSD.
        XPeng is to bring out NGP in 2027.

        2028 will likely see FSD for XPeng, Zeekr, MG, Mercedes, BYD, etc
        That would be an interesting year for car buying…

        I believe Zeekr already has proper full self driving in China but Australian models just get level 2 for now.

  • My grandfather kept driving his old Valiant while waiting for flying cars to be released.

    Eventually he died, but I'm sure they're not far away now.

  • You're looking at mid-2027 at the earliest for the new chip. They'll likely prioritise more important countries than Australia first as well, and Tesla frequently misses their targets so probably more like 2028.

    If you can wait that long it suggests you don't really need the car in the first place.

    Also, just buying an SUV because you're having a baby is a pretty poor reason. Do you genuinely need it or is this more a you want a certain car and a baby is a nice excuse? Millions of people have raised kids without SUVs without issue.

    • Yeah, I wasn't super detail in some life changes.

      Financially, I have access to novated lease, and it's quite attempting to lower my taxes (this is one big factor).
      Family wise, we also moving into a house with cheap charging at home.

      • It’s not lowering your taxes, you’re just spending more (a lot more if it’s an Tesla) and getting a small discount.

        • You can also have your rego costs, fuel/electricity, servicing, tyres, and insurance all being paid from your pre-tax income. Its significantly better than something like a car loan (only for BEV).

          • @yabingus: Agreed, but if a “big factor” is “lowering my taxes” that’s not the same thing.

            It’s like saying you saved money because the shoes (or Eneloops) you didn’t need but bought anyway were on sale.

        • Agreed, Novated Lease isn't about saving via Tax Deductions (while there is some).

          But NL For EV cars, versus depreciation of ICE and resale value, fuels & maintenance, vs cash in offset, and balloon payments, there's situations where a new NL EV car will outweight existing or new 2nd hand ICE vehicle.

      • Note that from 1st April 27 the 100% FBT discount is limited to cars under $75k.

        Id be very surprised if HW5 is here before then.

        • Yeah chip shortages i would think make it economical hard

    • Next upgrade for vehicles is likely the HW4 SoC with 2x the RAM. It's already being used on Cybercab. So a variant of that will come to Model Y later this year or early to mid next year.

    • Buying a new car because you have a baby is seriously the worst reason I ever hear people quoting for buying anew car, but it's also one of the most common. Not one baby was ever born that didn't fit into any car made in history, so why buy a new car for a blob that's too small to sit in a normal seat?

      People need to be honest with themselves and say "I actually bought a new car because by couching it as for the "baby" I could spend our shared savings without making it sound like I was buying a new toy".

      The reason people buy new cars is because they want a (specifically) new car. Otherwise keep the one you have or buy a second hand one

      • Probably also because newer cars are theoretically safer, and once a baby is born, humans are biologically wired to protect the baby.

  • Wait for AI5

    Wait for AS5

    • Pair that with a customised plate.

      • NOGASS

  • or Wait for AI5

    AI5 wasn't really scheduled for cars, it was for the robots……

    • It’s firstly for the robots, then vehicles.

      • I doubt ai5 will hit cars, it will be ai6.

        Tesla has said ai5 is always robots first.

        • lol tesla says a lot of things…

          • @eddyah: and they deliver too. Far better than all the other legacy companies.

            • @JimmyF: No they don’t. Musk/Tesla model relies on hype and pre orders. Did you read the promised Cybertruck stats? A roadster has been sent out of space, but yet to be in a showroom. FSD? It’s been promised for years.
              Am a current Tesla owner.

              • @pwnd: Mate what are you talking about.

                They have delivered leaps and bounds, and achieved in 10 years what legacy car makers dream of doing.

                Have you seen the price drops on BMW Mercedes and Audi? All the cars that normal wealthy people buy, C class, 3 series, A4.. numbers are dropping. Jump on Australian FB groups.. thousands of people, and some with nicer cars than above coming across to Tesla.

                But hey don’t let some good facts get in the way of your groundbreaking find.

                • @BusMan247:

                  Have you seen the price drops on BMW Mercedes and Audi?…. thousands of people, and some with nicer cars than above coming across to Tesla.

                  They are coming across to a bunch of Chinese made stuff. (tesla included)

              • @pwnd:

                No they don’t

                They do

                Did you read the promised Cybertruck stats

                Still delivered the product

                A roadster has been sent out of space, but yet to be in a showroom

                Release event is coming in a few days. You can even order one for delivery in Australia

                FSD

                Cars driving around the USA today without a driver in the seat.

                You seem to be confusing delays in delivering a product with NOT delivering.

                • @JimmyF: Cybertruck? Delivered the product but not what was promised in range or price.so they delivered a truck, without any of the features promised. Classic Tesla “delivery”

                  USA without a driver in the seat? I don’t live there. It hasn’t delivered it here. In Australia. Where I am making the comment. Despite the pre orders.

                  Roadster was promised years ago. Or do you consider releasing something years and years after you stated you would as delivered?

                  • @pwnd:

                    Cybertruck? Delivered the product
                    without any of the features promised

                    LOL yeah nah, lots of the features had been delivered. Sure some had been dropped, but that is the life of making a product.

                    Rarely does a 'concept' cars get made as the concept.

                    USA without a driver in the seat? I don’t live there. It hasn’t delivered it here. In Australia. Where I am making the comment. Despite the pre orders.

                    Not a Tesla issue, Australian laws haven't caught up. The fact is, they have driverless cars today. So not a fail to deliver, its a failure of Australia to keep up.

                    Roadster was promised years ago. Or do you consider releasing something years and years after you stated you would as delivered?

                    You're really struggling for things.

            • @JimmyF: Just a few broken promises:

              • Coast-to-coast self driving by 2017 – LA to New York without touching the controls. Never happened.

              • "Full Self-Driving" by 2019 – Musk said he was certain it would be feature complete by the end of 2019. We're now in 2026…

              • 1 million robotaxis by 2020 – Musk literally said Tesla would have over a million robotaxis on the road in 2020.

              • 5,000 Model 3s/week by the end of 2017 – Didn't hit it until around June 2018.

              • 500,000 cars in 2018 – Didn't happen.

              • Tesla Semi production in 2019 – Didn't start customer deliveries until the end of 2022.

              • Roadster coming in 2020 – It's 2026 and we're still waiting.

              • Cybertruck starting at US$39,900 – Yeah… that didn't happen.

              • Cybertruck with 500+ miles (~800km) range – Production version didn't get close to that either.

              • Cyberquad – Showed off a full-size ATV and said it would be available with the Cybertruck. Never happened. They did eventually sell a kids' version though 😂

              And that's hardly an exhaustive list. The FSD/robotaxi stuff alone has had enough "next year" predictions to fill another list.

              Thing about promises with a deadline on it is, if you don't meet that deadline, that means the promise was broken

              • @Dishcount: LOL Now list what was delivered…..

                • @JimmyF: Why? IV proven my point, now prove yours

                  • @Dishcount: Honestly I couldn't be bothered, not my place to fix those with EDS

                    • @JimmyF: Perhaps we just need to acknowledge mass production is hard, but if we listed every single person's empty promises, failure to deliver what they said they would, we'd be able to paint everyone as incompetent….

                      • @darkhorseblt: Yes mass production is hard, creating products takes longer than people hope.

                        Its easy to list failures or misses and overlook what has been delivered.

                        So many other car companies wheel out a concept car and that is the end of it. Never made.

            • @JimmyF: just 10 years late

              • @F1Maniac: Late to what? Other OEMs? LOL They still saying they'll beat Tesla any time they want to but yet car sales for them continue to decline and zero cars driving around by themselves.

  • The way tesla have been promoting FSD for years now wouldnt give me any hope itll actually deliver any time soon. It was promised with the current generation of hardware and yet….still not here.

    In general, unless the new tech is manufactured and juat being shipped, dont wait for it to be released or youll find something else to wait for.

    Buy when you are ready, bot when the technokogy might be ready.

    • so… Full self drive is actually here - Someone in my family has it and literally drives to visit us from 2.5 hours away without having to intervene in its FSD at all.
      I also know someone else who said the same thing, does business 1 day per week in a different city and it drives itself there as well as the daily commute.

      You have to be responsible and paying attention in case it f…s up - but that's normal risk management not dissimilar than a pilot being required to be supervising autopilot and not asleep on the job. It does the driving.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h406fHRsI_o&t=190s

      They get better once they learn routes over and over too and you can set them to go faster, closer gaps etc.

      • You have to be responsible and paying attention

        This is the biggest risk with Level 2 (also Level 3) autonomy. It is incredibly hard to be focused and ready to jump in when you have no input into the operation whatsoever.

        Plus I am pretty sure most of Tesla's "occured under human operation" defences have been because FSD turns off as soon as you try and take avoidance action (press the brake or turn the steering wheel) even if not taking the action might have meant FSD causing a collision.

        P.S: I like EVs and drive a Tesla. I am also looking forward to Level 4 & 5 autonomy becoming a thing.

        • I currently embark on level 10 autonomy trips everyday.

          It's called a bus.

        • Yeah even Elon agrees. He's said Tesla's will never be "level 3" certified, they are going to jump straight from level 2 to level 4 when the time comes.

      • If you have to supervise it, it isnt fully self driving.

      • So why would you need to wait for the next version?

        • so the car is less likely to become limited by outdated Autopilot.

          Reminds me of all those online whingers years ago that didn't buy an RTX4080 because the RTX5080 was expected to be announced soon.

      • Yes your right you have to be responsible.

        The problem occurs when the very few are not and think they can look at their phones or even go to sleep.

      • No thanks, rather wait for level 3 or level 4. Too much intervention from videos ive watched, especially at roundabouts.

    • I thought it was already here?

      • We can take you to Mars today. I mean as of 2014. But if you wait until 2027 your model y can take you to Mars and back all by itself using fsd.

    • I got a model 3 Uber to the airport the other day and the driver did not touch the wheel or pedals, just supervising it. It went around roundabouts, stopped at red lights. Pulled up at the airport parking. FSD is CERTAINLY here!!!

    • FSD with full autonomy was promised in 2016.
      The headline was “All Tesla cars being produced now have full self driving hardware”

      Don’t believe any Tesla claims. Only believe what is actually available at the time of purchase.

  • The cringe associated with this brand will only increase over time, so if you like to keep your cars for a long time then keep this in mind.

    • Who gives a shit what Redditors think about the car you drive 😂

      • Supporting a Nazi has consequences. I drove a Tesla for a week and people would cross three lanes of traffic just to call me names.

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