Tesla, Inc.
Consumer Discretionary
52
out of 100. Number 200 of 512, counting from the worst.
Where Tesla, Inc. does well
- Data retention 3 of 15. Few problems found.
- 'We do not sell your personal data to anyone for any purpose, period.' — an unusually absolute no-sale pledge.
- Vehicle and camera data are NOT linked to your identity by default; camera recordings for fleet learning require your opt-in consent on the vehicle touchscreen, and location history is not tied to you unless a safety event (collision/airbag deployment) occurs.
- Arbitration is softened: Tesla pays all AAA fees, filing fee reimbursed if you prevail, small-claims court remains an option, and a 30-day opt-out exists.
- Patent Pledge: Tesla irrevocably pledges not to initiate patent lawsuits against anyone acting in good faith using EV patents.
- FSD and Premium Connectivity subscription price increases require one month's notice, and cancellation of both subscriptions is self-serve in the Tesla Account.
- Retention policy commits to keeping personal data 'for the shortest period possible' with account-level access/deletion controls.
You give up your right to a judge, jury, or class action against Tesla — even for claims about Tesla's marketing made BEFORE you signed.
The fine print
6 clauses and findings from the draft archive, dated 1 October 2026. The plain English comes first; the small print is the company's own words. None of these has been checked yet.
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You give up your right to a judge, jury, or class action against Tesla — even for claims about Tesla's marketing made BEFORE you signed. One arbitrator decides everything.
If not resolved within 60 days, you agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to any aspect of the relationship between you and Tesla will not be decided by a judge or jury but instead by a single arbitrator in an arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. This includes claims arising before this Agreement, such as claims related to statements about our products.
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The only escape hatch is a physical mailed letter within 30 days that must include your VIN — but buyers who sign the agreement online before delivery may not even have a VIN yet. (Same 30-day letter opt-out appears in the Motor Vehicle Order Agreement, Premium Connectivity agreement, Robotaxi and Rideshare terms, and Tesla Assist terms.)
You may opt out of arbitration within 30 days after signing this Agreement by sending a letter to: Tesla, Inc.; P.O. Box 15430; Fremont, CA 94539-7970, stating your name, Vehicle Identification Number, and intent to opt out of the arbitration provision.
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Subscriptions auto-renew and you're charged unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the period ends — a tight window that makes last-minute cancellations still billable.
For charges that support automatic or recurring payments, you understand that your payment method will be charged each time your service automatically renews at the end of the prescribed period, unless turned off at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the end of the current billing period.
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Cancel mid-month and you lose the rest of what you paid — no prorated refund. Also: Tesla may suspend, modify or terminate Premium Connectivity 'at any time and you will not be entitled to a refund.' (Same no-proration rule in the FSD Subscription Agreement.)
You can cancel this subscription at any time through your Tesla Account. If you do cancel, your subscription payment won't be prorated.
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Tesla reserves the right to change prices, features, or the entire terms whenever it wants. (Payment Terms separately say amendments 'are effective when posted to this page'; Supercharger and congestion fee rates 'may change from time to time'.)
We can change these Terms & Conditions; change, add or delete Services or the features included therein; and change the prices we charge for the Service, at any time.
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Tesla can remotely kill access to features you already paid for — like Full Self-Driving — on suspicion of reverse engineering or tampering. Also in Payment Terms: 'Any person who uses your vehicle can also make use of the services... and you will remain responsible to Tesla for payment of the applicable charges' — a friend borrowing your car can rack up charges you owe.
Tesla reserves the right to take any appropriate action, including immediately suspending, restricting, disable, or terminating your access to and use of Tesla Technology, including the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system and any related features or services, if you violate these protections.
How these were found
Researched 2026-10-01. Primary sources read directly on tesla.com: Payment Terms / Vehicle Charging Policy / FSD (Supervised) Rideshare Terms / Robotaxi Terms of Service (www.tesla.com/legal/terms); Full Self-Driving (Supervised) Subscription Agreement, Premium Connectivity Subscription Agreement, Patent Pledge, Demo Drive Scheduling Terms (www.tesla.com/legal/additional-resources); Premium Connectivity T&Cs summary (www.tesla.com/en_TH/legal/additional-resources). The Motor Vehicle Order Agreement itself is issued through Tesla's logged-in account document hub and could not be fetched directly; its arbitration clause was corroborated via two verbatim mirrors (manuals.plus copy of the Model 3 Order Agreement; scribd uploads of the official v.20210128 and v.20220915 Motor Vehicle Order Agreements) and third-party summaries (lemoncarlawyer.com). Privacy Notice read via the en_MY rendering of www.tesla.com/legal/privacy (content identical to the US page, which only exposed its summary hub in the fetch). No clause inventing: all quotes/paraphrases above trace to these documents.
These notes come from the original draft and are not independent verification.