A federal appeals court on Friday, October 16, 2026, threw out an order that let Tesla buyers in California pursue a class action over the company’s Full Self-Driving claims, Reuters reports.
The ruling
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Judges Ronald Gould, Jay Bybee and Daniel Bress) vacated the certification of three classes in the case, LoSavio v. Tesla. The panel said there were too many individual questions about what each buyer actually saw before purchasing for the claims to proceed together.
The dispute centers on a statement on Tesla’s website that vehicles sold from October 2016 onward had the hardware needed for full self-driving. Last year, U.S. District Judge Rita Lin ruled that thousands of buyers were likely exposed to that claim and certified the classes. The appeals court found the plaintiffs hadn’t shown that every class member saw the statement, noting that buyers could purchase FSD without ever visiting the page where it appeared.
What it doesn’t decide
The decision isn’t a ruling on whether Tesla’s advertising was accurate. The underlying false-advertising case is still pending; buyers just can’t pursue it jointly as a single class for now. The plaintiffs’ lawyers said the panel “did not fully appreciate the unique circumstances here, and the importance of the hardware statement to Tesla’s marketing campaign.” Tesla has denied the claims. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a brief supporting Tesla’s appeal.
Why it matters
Class certification is often what makes consumer suits like this financially significant. Losing it sharply reduces Tesla’s exposure in this case, even as questions about its self-driving marketing continue elsewhere.
Sources: Reuters (via Investing.com), 9th Circuit memorandum (PDF)