Journal · July 18, 2026 · updated July 13, 2026
How the Referral FSD Trial Applies to Your Account
Confirming the referral line on your order summary is only half the story. The other half — the part almost nobody explains — is what happens between placing that order and actually having 3 months of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) usable in your car. Here's where I've watched that trial actually land, on my own account and a handful of friends'.
Step 1: the order summary confirms it's coming, not that it's active
The referral line you check before paying (see exactly where it appears) is a confirmation that the trial is attached to your order — it is not the trial itself turning on. Nothing activates at the moment you pay. That distinction trips people up who go looking for FSD in their app the same week they order and find nothing yet.
Step 2: it activates at delivery, tied to the VIN
The FSD (Supervised) trial attaches to your specific vehicle at delivery, not to your Tesla Account in the abstract. Practically: you won't see it in the app until your car has actually been handed over and associated with your account. If you're checking during the order-to-delivery wait, you're checking too early — that's expected, not a sign something's wrong.
Step 3: where it shows up in the app
Once delivered, the trial shows as an active Full Self-Driving (Supervised) subscription against your VIN in the Tesla app, under your vehicle's software/subscription details — the same place a paid FSD subscription would show, just marked as a trial with an end date roughly 3 months out from activation. In the car itself, the Autopilot/FSD feature set becomes available to enable, the same as it would for a paying subscriber.
What "3 months" actually counts from
The clock starts at activation — delivery — not at the date you ordered or the date you clicked the referral link. A longer order-to-delivery wait doesn't shorten your trial; a fast delivery doesn't extend it. Whatever the gap between order and delivery turns out to be, the 3 months start counting from the day the car is actually yours.
If it hasn't shown up a few days after delivery
Give it a short window — a few days is normal for account and vehicle syncing after delivery, in my experience and from friends I've walked through this. If it still isn't showing after that:
- Recheck your original order confirmation email for the referral line, so you have proof it was attached at order time.
- Confirm you're checking the right account — the one that placed the order, not a household member's separate login.
- Contact Tesla support directly with your order number and the confirmation email as reference. This is a support conversation, not something a page like this one can fix for you.
I built a full pre-delivery and delivery-day version of this check into my delivery-day checklist, including what I personally verify in the app on the day itself.
What happens when the 3 months end
The trial simply expires at the end of its term like any other subscription trial. FSD (Supervised) features stop being available unless you convert to a paid subscription (or already own it outright, if you'd purchased it separately). There's no auto-billing surprise tied to the referral trial itself — it ends, and the choice of whether to pay for FSD going forward is yours, made with three months of real usage behind you instead of none.
Solar works differently — worth saying once
All of the above is specific to the vehicle FSD trial. The Solar referral ($400 off) is a straightforward price reduction applied to that separate transaction, with no activation delay or VIN association to think about. Detail in do referral codes work on solar?
Sources:
- Tesla Support — Refer and Earn
- Electrek — Tesla referral program guide
- Not a Tesla App — referral FSD incentives