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FinanceTesla

Tesla owners offloading their cars over Elon Musk backlash are in for a nasty surprise

By
Chris Morris
Chris Morris
Former Contributing Writer
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By
Chris Morris
Chris Morris
Former Contributing Writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 11, 2025, 11:52 AM ET
Elon Musk holding a chain saw
Selling your Tesla? Be prepared for dealers to slash their trade-in price. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
  • Thinking of selling your Tesla? You won’t get as much as you might expect. Prices for the company’s vehicles have been plunging and now are far below competitors’. That comes as many Tesla owners are looking to unload their cars as a sign of protest over Elon Musk’s actions at DOGE.

Tesla’s stock price isn’t the only thing that has been plunging lately. Resale value on the manufacturer’s vehicles continues to fall, which could come as a big shock to people looking to make a change.

The average price of a pre-owned Tesla has been in steady decline for coming up on three years now. In 2022, a used Tesla sold for more than $70,000, but dropped as low as $26,000 by last fall. Data from iSeeCars found the Model 3’s price had dropped 24.8%, more than $8,500, in the 12 months from August 2023 to August 2024.

That was the biggest drop of all EV models.

The laws of supply and demand could push that price even lower in months to come. Hertz recently put 30,000 Teslas from its fleet up for sale. And a growing number of Tesla owners are looking to offload their vehicles as part of a backlash against Elon Musk’s recent comments and actions, particularly through his work at DOGE.

Some protests against Musk have even turned violent with some Tesla facilities facing protests, graffiti, and even attacks from people throwing Molotov cocktails.

Recent data from CarGurus shows the price of the average used Tesla was roughly $10,000 lower than other EVs in January of this year.

While all EVs are seeing price declines, Tesla’s drop is far steeper than its competitors’. Year-over-year declines last November, according to iSeeCars, topped 21%. That’s compared to an industry average of 1.4%

Used EV prices for vehicles from Ford, Lexus, Nissan, Hyundai, Acura, and more, however, all saw slight increases in that same time period.

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About the Author
By Chris MorrisFormer Contributing Writer

Chris Morris is a former contributing writer at Fortune, covering everything from general business news to the video game and theme park industries.

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