Tesla’s decision to slash the prices of its Model 3 and Model Y EVs in January has been great for buyers, but new data reveals it’s given existing owners a real financial headache.
An investigation into used car prices discovered that the values of pre-owned Teslas has fallen three times faster than the market average in the last month. Comparing used Tesla prices observed immediately before the new-car price cuts of ups o $13,000 were announced on January 11 with those seen between January 15 and January 31, iSeeCars confirmed a 4.8 percent drop in value. That compares with a market average price drop of just 1.5 percent in the same 16-day timeframe.
The Model 3 suffered the biggest percentage fall, average used values dropping by 5.2 percent or $2,354, and Model Y values also tumbled by 5 percent, or $2,816. Neither of those corrections is particularly surprising given that many customers who might have been considering a used version of either model may now be able to afford a brand new one.
But the changes to the Tesla’s other cars comes as more of a surprise. Neither the Model S or Model X was affected by January’s price cuts, but used S values fell 5.1 percent, or $4,626, while values for the Model X SUV skidded 3.9 percent, or $3,370. ISeeCars does note that Tesla values were already dropping by more than the market average in the last quarter of 2022, though perversely, search activity for the brand’s vehicles has exploded even as the used values have collapsed.
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Another interesting detail to come out of the iSeeCars study of 1.4 million used cars is that the values of used plug-in hybrid vehicles fell by 3.8 percent after Tesla slashed its new car prices, compared with a 1.8 percent fall in used EV prices over the same period. That suggests at least some drivers who might have been planning to buy a used PHEV decided to switch their affections to a new Tesla Model 3 or Y.
Source: iSeeCars