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What proof should you save when you order a Tesla through a referral?
Four screenshots and a two-line note take about a minute. They're the only record you'll have if the referral goes missing.
Short answer
Save the referral page showing the heading and your car's benefit line, the country and date, your order confirmation, and a note of when you opened the link and ordered. Tesla's terms say that if you disagree with a decision, “it will be your responsibility to show us” — so the proof is yours to keep.
Why proof matters: Tesla's “show us” sentence
Most referral orders go through without a hitch. When one doesn't, the conversation with Tesla starts from what Tesla's systems recorded. If your order shows no referral, the system's version is “no referral.” Your memory of opening the link doesn't count for much.
Tesla's terms are clear about who carries the weight in a disagreement:
If you disagree with us, it will be your responsibility to show us that you have not violated any Tesla policies or these Terms and Conditions.
That sentence is about policy violations, but it sets the tone for every referral question: you bring the evidence. And there's a hard rule behind it. “Referral links cannot be applied after you place your order.” If the referral didn't attach, you can't go back and add it. You can only ask, and a clear record makes the question easier to answer.
Text version of this diagram
- Referral page: the heading and your car's benefit line, in one screenshot.
- Country and date: the address bar and the device clock in view.
- Order confirmation: order number, model, country, date placed.
- A two-line note: the time you opened the link, the time you ordered, and the browser you used.
Screenshot 1: the referral page heading and your car's card
Right after the link opens, take one screenshot that shows two things together. First, the heading. On a working US or Canadian page it reads “Order with [Name]'s Referral”; on the Australian page we captured on Oct 4, 2026 it read “[Name] Gave You Up To $350 Off a New Tesla.” Second, the card for the car you plan to order, with its benefit line. In the US on Oct 3, 2026, the Model Y card read “3 mo. Full Self-Driving (Supervised)”.
This screenshot proves the link worked at the moment you used it. It also proves the code wasn't capped. A capped page reads “[Name]'s Referral Limit Has Been Reached” and shows no benefit line — and if that's what you see, stop and use a different code before you order.
Screenshot 2: the country and the date
The benefit depends on the country. A US page and a UK page show different things. So capture the address bar, which shows the country part of the address, together with your device's date and time. On a phone, the status bar clock is usually enough. On a laptop, include the taskbar or menu bar clock.
Two reasons this matters. Tesla's benefits change over time — our changelog shows the US page moving from cash off to a Full Self-Driving (Supervised) trial. And the program is “subject to the local laws and regulations of the registration address of the referrer and buyer.” A dated, country-specific screenshot settles which version you saw.
Screenshot 3: the order confirmation
After you place the order, save the confirmation screen and keep the confirmation email. You want the order number, the model, the country and the date placed. If any referral or benefit line appears on the order summary, make sure it's in the shot. If none appears, note that too. It tells you something early, while you can still ask.
Note the time you opened the link and ordered
Write two lines in your notes app: when you opened the link and when you ordered, plus which browser and device you used. Here's why. The referral page we captured in October 2026 keeps the referral in a browser cookie set to last 86,400 seconds — 24 hours. That's how the page is built, not a promise from Tesla, and Tesla's terms don't mention it. But if your order came from a different device, a private window or days later, the note helps you and Tesla work out what happened.
Watch out
Don't open the link on your phone and then order on a laptop. Open it on the device you'll order from, and finish in one sitting. A screenshot can't fix a referral that was never on the order.
Owner-side proof (pending in their app)
The person whose code you used has their own record. Tesla says that after the buyer orders, the referrer's benefit “will appear as ‘pending’ in the Tesla app until the Grant Date.” If you know the owner, ask them to check their Refer and Earn screen a day or two after you order and send you a screenshot of the pending entry. That's the strongest sign the referral attached. If nothing appears for them, you've learned it while your order is still young.
Don't ask for anything else from them, and don't share their screenshots publicly. Their name and code are theirs.
What not to bother saving
- Screenshots of other websites (ours included) describing the benefit. Tesla goes by Tesla's page, not ours.
- Chat messages promising a figure. Only Tesla's page and Tesla's terms count.
- Financing lines from the referral page, such as “1.99% APR Available” on the US Model Y card on Oct 3, 2026. Those are Tesla's general finance offers, not part of the referral.
- The bare code on its own. The page screenshot already shows it in the address bar.
How to send it to Tesla
Use the contact route on your order — your Tesla Advisor or the support options in the Tesla app or account. Keep the message short and factual:
Say what you expected.
“I opened a referral link before ordering and expected the buyer benefit shown on the page.”
Give the facts.
Order number, country, date and time placed, the time you opened the link.
Attach the screenshots.
Referral page with heading and car card; address bar and clock; order confirmation.
Ask, don't demand.
Tesla's terms give it discretion. A clear, polite question gets a clear answer faster.
If the referral truly didn't attach because the order came first, the after-order page explains the options and their costs.
How long to keep it
Keep everything until your benefit has arrived and you've used it. That's at least until delivery. Where benefits count down from the Grant Date — 12 months for UK buyer benefits — keep the files until that window closes too. Tesla's terms also say “all benefit redemptions are final,” so once the benefit is in your account and used, the proof has done its job.
Sources
Tesla's US Refer and Earn terms (Effective Aug 24, 2024; updated Feb 24, 2026; read in the Jun 15, 2026 archive copy) — Terms and Conditions (burden of proof, local laws, redemptions final) and FAQ on pending benefits; Tesla's UK Refer and Earn terms (Effective Sep 5, 2024; updated Jun 4, 2025; read in the Jun 12, 2026 archive copy); Tesla's US referral page, as captured by the Internet Archive on Oct 3, 2026 (tesla.com blocks automated reading; every owner's referral page shows the same benefit cards). Heading forms from Internet Archive captures of Tesla's US (Oct 3, 2026), Australian (Oct 4, 2026) and US capped (Jun 1, 2025) referral pages; cookie lifetime from the page configuration in the US, German, Japanese and Australian captures, Oct 1–4, 2026.