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Do Tesla referral codes expire?
No date is printed on a code. But three things can switch it off, and all three are visible before you order — if you look.
Short answer
Tesla doesn't give referral codes an expiry date. A code stops helping you in three cases: the owner has used their 10 order referrals for the calendar year, the owner no longer has a qualifying product on their account, or the program ends. The first one you can see on the referral page before you order.
No expiry date on the code itself
Nothing in Tesla's US or UK terms gives a referral code or link an end date. A code you were sent two years ago isn't automatically dead. That doesn't mean it still works: the code is only a pointer to an owner's account, and what Tesla does with it depends on that owner, and on the program, today.
Don't confuse this with credits. Referrer credits do expire — “12 months after the Grant Date,” with an email 30 days before in the US. That clock runs on the owner's wallet, not on the code you're about to use. And the referral page itself remembers the referral in your browser for 24 hours (a cookie set for 86,400 seconds in the page configuration we captured) — an implementation detail about one visit, not the code's lifespan.
The yearly cap resets on January 1
Each owner can make “up to 10 order referrals per calendar year.” This is the off-switch that catches most buyers, because it hurts you rather than the owner:
If you have reached your referrer benefits limit, buyers who place their order using your referral link will not receive any buyer benefits.
Because it's a calendar year, a capped code in November can work again in January. Tesla's terms don't say whether a cancelled order frees up a slot. Tesla's page tells you when a code is capped: the heading changes to “name's Referral Limit Has Been Reached” (seen on a US capture from Jun 1, 2025, and on Norway's page in September 2026 in Norwegian). Details in our post on the limit.
The owner no longer has a qualifying product
Tesla: “Once you transfer or remove all qualifying products from your account, your referral link will no longer be valid.” If the person who gave you the code has sold or traded in their last Tesla, the code stops counting until they take delivery of another qualifying vehicle or activate a qualifying energy product. You can't see the owner's account. Tesla doesn't say what the referral page shows a buyer in that state, which is the reason to ask the owner directly if the code is old.
A US-specific twist: since the terms were updated on Feb 24, 2026, Model S and Model X are no longer on the US qualifying list. Tesla doesn't say whether an owner whose only car is an S or X still has a valid link. If an old code came from an S or X owner, that's one more reason to ask.
The program can end
“Tesla's Refer and Earn program will not remain open indefinitely.” Tesla doesn't say when, or how much notice it would give. If the program ends, codes stop meaning anything. The benefits themselves have also changed many times while the program ran — the US page went from “Up to $2,000 Off a New Tesla” in its Jan 1, 2025 capture to 3 months of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) on Oct 3, 2026. A code from an old post carries no promise of the benefit that post described; see how the US page changed.
A code from an old post or message
Codes turn up in old forum threads, video descriptions and group chats. Three questions sort them out:
| Question | Why it matters | How to check |
|---|---|---|
| Is the owner still a Tesla owner? | No qualifying product means no valid link | Ask them, if you know them. Strangers' codes: you can't check |
| Have they hit 10 referrals this year? | A capped link gives the buyer nothing | The referral page heading |
| Does the post describe today's benefit? | Benefits change; the post doesn't | Ignore the post — read the referral page cards |
A code from someone you know is almost always the better choice: you can ask them the first question, and they'll know if they've been sharing it widely this year.
Codes vs credits: different clocks
| Thing | Expires? | Tesla's wording |
|---|---|---|
| The referral code / link | No date | Invalid once the owner's account holds no qualifying product |
| The owner's yearly allowance | Resets each calendar year | “up to 10 order referrals per calendar year” |
| Referrer credits | 12 months after the Grant Date | “Each referrer benefit expires 12 months after the Grant Date” |
| UK buyer benefits | 12 months after the Grant Date | “Buyer benefits expire 12 months after the Grant Date” |
| The program | Unannounced | “will not remain open indefinitely” |
How to test a code in a few seconds
Open the link in the browser you'll order in.
Don't type the code anywhere — Tesla has no code box. The link carries it.
Read the heading.
“Order with name's Referral” (US, Canada, UK) means the page is live. “Referral Limit Has Been Reached” means stop.
Read the cards.
Each car card names the benefit, such as “3 mo. Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” on the US page on Oct 3, 2026. No benefit shown for your model: ask before ordering.
If the code is old and from someone you know, ask them one question.
“Do you still have a Tesla on your account?”
What happens if you order through a dead code
If the owner was capped, Tesla's terms say you get no buyer benefit. If the owner's link was no longer valid, the terms say the owner gets no referrer benefit; they don't say what you get. Either way, you can't fix it afterwards: “Referral links cannot be applied after you place your order.” The time to switch codes is before you configure, not after.
Sources
Tesla's US Refer and Earn terms (Effective Aug 24, 2024; updated Feb 24, 2026; read in the Jun 15, 2026 archive copy) — Earn Referrer Benefits, Refer and Earn Eligibility, Terms and Conditions (10 per calendar year, program end), FAQ on benefit limits and credit expiry; Tesla's UK Refer and Earn terms (Effective Sep 5, 2024; updated Jun 4, 2025; read in the Jun 12, 2026 archive copy) (buyer benefit expiry). Capped-page headings and benefit history: Internet Archive copies of Tesla's US referral page (Jan 1 and Jun 1, 2025; Oct 3, 2026) and Norway page (Sep 2026); referralCodeCookieMaxAge from the Oct 3, 2026 US page source.