US - Used Tesla values have fallen sharply in the past month as the electric car brand faces widespread backlash.
Tesla owners are rushing to sell their cars, leading to steep discounts on used Teslas, while the overall used car market is slowly recovering.
After a tough few years for the used car market due to the pandemic, things are starting to change. Economic uncertainty and concerns about higher inflation due to tariffs from the Trump administration have prompted some consumers to shift from the new car market to the used car market.
The average price of a used car in the US fell 2.68% between March 2024 and March 2025, but that trend has recently reversed. According to Car Guru's used car index, used car prices have increased 2.17% in just the past 30 days.
,Tesla, however, is an exception. Used Tesla values have fallen since the pandemic and have not benefited from the current economic downturn. While the average price of a used car has risen more than 2% over the past 30 days, used Tesla prices have fallen 1.34% in the United States.
That's due to oversupply, as many Tesla owners are selling to distance themselves from the Tesla brand, which is closely tied to CEO Elon Musk and his increasingly divisive political views.
Demand for used Teslas is so high that many used car dealers, who struggled to buy inventory just a year ago, are starting to hesitate to buy Teslas because of their rapidly declining values.
In Quebec, Canada, Le Journal de Montréal spoke to local used car dealers and attended a car auction where many Teslas were for sale, some for half their price more than a year ago.
“People don’t want to buy them anymore,” said Éric Piuze, a used-car dealer in Montreal’s South Shore. “The Elon Musk effect is real in Quebec.”
Used-car dealers at the auction noted that they were not confident they could sell used Teslas quickly enough to avoid further depreciation, adding that potential buyers were paying low prices for Teslas because they knew inventory was high, creating a plentiful market.
Dealers are also seeing higher defaults on Tesla payments, as buyers who took out loans to buy their vehicles just a few years ago are struggling to make payments.
“People paid a lot of money for Teslas,” Piuze added. “During the pandemic, we saw a lot of people taking out mortgages to buy Teslas. Those days are gone.”
At its peak, the average used Tesla cost more than $60,000 in 2022. Now, those cars cost a fraction of that, but the payments are still high.
The market has been unable to absorb the surge in Tesla resellers, according to Electrek. The Cybertruck pickup has dragged down the entire Tesla market, with a 6.64% drop in used value over the past 30 days. The Model Y alone has dropped 1.67% over the same period.
As people resell their used Teslas, they are buying other electric vehicles, boosting the overall electric vehicle market.