Seoul court rejects Tesla FSD refund claims

Seoul court throws out Tesla FSD refund lawsuit

On October 29, 2026, the Seoul Central District Court dismissed a lawsuit by Tesla (TSLA) owners in South Korea seeking full refunds for money paid for the Full Self-Driving driver-assistance option. Civil Division 30 ruled against the plaintiffs, rejecting claims to cancel their FSD purchase contracts and to recover the option price, and found that Tesla Korea had not breached its contractual obligations.

The case involved 88 Tesla owners who had bought the FSD option.

Court’s reading of what FSD legally promises

The court concluded that the FSD option did not promise fully autonomous Level 5 driving without human intervention. Judges stated that the option instead refers to partial automation requiring driver involvement, such as traffic light recognition and city steering, along with lane-keeping and distance-keeping functions.

The reasoning emphasized that buyers could not treat the absence of Level 5 capability as a failure to perform the contract. One ruling described the purchase as covering FSD functions applicable to vehicles equipped with Tesla’s Hardware 3.0 system, and held that the inability to use the exact same version available on Hardware 4.0 did not make performance impossible.

Indefinite-term contract tied to regulation and technology

Judges characterized the FSD purchase as an indefinite-term contract under which Tesla would provide additional functions when regulatory approval and technological advances allowed. Because no specific delivery date for full functionality was written into the agreement, the court found that no contractual deadline had been missed.

The court noted that Tesla’s obligation to deliver further FSD features depended on regulatory approvals and technological progress, and that buyers were aware that some functions could take considerable time to become available. On this basis, the judges rejected arguments that delays in enabling broader self-driving capabilities in Korea amounted to non-performance by Tesla Korea.

Functions already delivered to Korean Tesla owners

In dismissing the refund claims, the court found that FSD buyers in South Korea had already received meaningful driver-assistance functions. It cited basic Autopilot features, such as lane-keeping and distance control, and Enhanced Autopilot capabilities including navigation-assisted driving, automatic parking and vehicle summoning.

The judgment also pointed to more recent software updates that added traffic light and road sign recognition, as well as city-driving automation, for older vehicles equipped with Hardware 3 computers. This partial performance under the same contract weighed against the plaintiffs’ attempt to treat the FSD option as effectively useless and to seek full refunds.

Legal framing and potential next steps

The lawsuit was a first-instance civil case at the Seoul Central District Court, and Judge Kim Seokbeom was reportedly the presiding judge.

The ruling is described as a victory for Tesla at a time when the company faces similar legal challenges in other countries over delays in delivering self-driving capabilities. As a district court judgment, it does not preclude the owners from seeking review in a higher court.