It’s not legal in Australia at least. It would make you eligible for a full refund no matter how old the product is. I’ve used this law to return various things that got software updates that removed or significantly changed advertised features.

Doing it with a car is a whole different level though. I’m pretty sure it’d still fall under the same laws but returning cars is very tricky even when you have a legal reason.

Is this true even after the warranty period? I could have used this return some smart TVs that were basically broken by software updates...

Manufacturer warranties are in addition to the legal warranty, they can't contract out of it. https://www.accc.gov.au/business/treating-customers-fairly/c...

There is no rollback but you can stay at whatever version you want. No bugfixes either though, although that's similar to other manufacturers.

Tesla software updates have in general been good with some setbacks. So the model still seems definitely better than what the industry usually does. A rollback option would be nice as this update shows. It would also give them some extra data on what people actually think of the updates.

Let's be honest with ourselves though, and admit once and for all that upgrades are not bugfixes but bugswaps.

Hard disagree on that one. In 2 years of driving this car the updates have been a clear net positive. Even this update with the botched UI included a new automatic seat heating feature that's a benefit. I definitely have criticisms of their UX, particularly around a few features that are used while driving, but they still have by far the best infotainment in the industry and keep improving it.