Used EVs See Dramatic Drops In Value - Read Before You Buy a Tesla Model 3

If you are shopping for an electric vehicle, there is great news. Used EVs have been dropping in value by dramatic amounts led by Tesla.

The craziness in the automobile retail market has not yet ended, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. America’s self-imposed new vehicle shortages are subsiding a bit, and slowly but surely, the inventory for many models is steadily increasing. In the used market, the ridiculous prices seen over the past 24 months are normalizing. It’s happening most rapidly with electric vehicles.

A new study just released by iSeeCars shows Ev prices dropping like a rock. Perhaps the best way to illustrate the price changes in the used EV market is to look at the average price in June of last year with the average sale price last month. Over the 12-month period, the average cost of an EV declined by $17,098. That’s about a 30% drop in cost to the used EV shopper.

“A year ago, used EV prices were on the upswing, rising faster than the average used car,” said iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer. “Electric vehicle prices are now falling at nearly 10 times the rate of the average used vehicle, reflecting a clear shift in EV supply and demand." Brauer added,  “With Tesla cutting prices on new models, its used EV values have tumbled. And because Tesla makes up the bulk of the used EV market, the dramatic drop in Tesla values has impacted the entire category.”

Among all used cars, the Tesla Model 3 has seen the most dramatic percentage price drop. The price change over the past 12 months is a whopping $16,258. The used vehicle with the largest price change in dollars is the Tesla Model X. The X has dropped in value by $18,980.

“Tesla occupies three of the top four slots in used car price drops, with Nissan’s LEAF rounding out the top four and confirming the market’s shift away from older, high-volume electric vehicles,” said Brauer. “With so many newer EVs entering the market over the past two years, cars like the Model 3, X, S, and LEAF are looking less competitive and less compelling.”

iSeeCars scrutinized the used car sale prices of 1.8 million 1- to 5-year-old vehicles from June 2022 and 2023. The average listing prices of each car model were compared by researchers between the two time periods, and the differences were expressed as both a percentage difference from the 2022 price as well as a dollar difference. Excluded from the study were heavy-duty vehicles, low-volume vehicles, vehicles discontinued as of the 2022 model year, and vehicles with fewer than 4 of the last 5 model years for each period.

If you would like to see the entire study summary check out the iSeeCars landing page here.
 

John Goreham is an experienced New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can follow John on Twitter, and connect with him at Linkedin.

Image of Tesla Model 3 courtesy of Tesla, Inc. Charts courtesy of iSeeCars.