Pre-Owned Tesla Prices Tumble as Trade-Ins Climb To All-Time High

Key Takeaways

• In the year to March 31, the average price of a used Tesla fell 7.03% in the U.S. and 17.3% in the U.K., industry data suggests.
• The falling prices reflect higher-than-ever trade-in rates.
• Demand for new Teslas is also weak and could get worse if tariffs induce significant price increases.

As a glut of traded-in vehicles hit the market, prices for pre-owned Teslas have dropped in the U.K. and U.S.

The price drop further complicates Tesla’s business prospects as the firm faces plummeting global sales and supply chain uncertainty amid an escalating trade war.

Used Tesla Prices Fall Faster Than Other Brands

According to data from CarGurus, the average price for a second-hand Tesla in the U.S. fell from $31,590 on March 31, 2024, to $29,370 a year later

The 7.03% decline is much steeper than the 2.72% average observed across brands and models.

Cybertrucks faced the most severe price drop of more than 54% year-over-year.

Despite Elon musk’s prediction that Tesla would sell 250,000 Cybertrucks per year, the company has sold just 46,000 since they hit the market in 2023.

Tesla in the U.K.

The decline was even more pronounced in the U.K., where the average price of a second-hand Tesla fell 17.3% from £26,895 to £22,213.

As Tesla doesn’t sell Cybertrucks outside of North America, the model with the steepest price decline in the U.K. was the Model Y, which saw an average price reduction of 22.55%.

Overall, pre-owned vehicle prices fell a little over 4% in the country, CarGuru data reveals.

When it comes to new Teslas, the U.K. has bucked the wider European trend for declining sales. Yet the increase is down to an uptick in electric vehicle (EV) sales across the board.

Looking at all EVs sold in the country, Tesla has actually lost market share.

Tesla Trade-Ins at All-Time High

The falling market for used Teslas reflects an uptick in trade-ins

According to data from Edmunds, in March, Tesla accounted for 1.4% of all vehicle trade-ins at dealerships. That represents roughly a 300% increase compared to the same period in 2024 and the brand’s highest-ever share of all trade-ins.

The increased supply of second-hand Teslas is likely behind falling prices.

Another contributing factor is a series of price cuts the company implemented in late 2022 and early 2023.

It follows that two years after those discounts were introduced, pre-owned prices have also fallen.

Tariffs To Impact New Tesla Prices

While the cost of used Teslas has fallen, new vehicles are expected to rise in price once the full impact of recent U.S. tariffs is factored in.

Like most automakers, Tesla relies on international supply chains that will incur significant new taxes under Donald Trump’s latest tariff regime.

An analysis by Barron’s estimates that new import duties will cause the average cost of a Tesla made in the U.S. to rise by $4,000, or 11%.

The looming price hike comes at a bad time for Tesla, which has suffered a dramatic drop in sales as more buyers boycott the company over CEO Elon Musk’s politics.

In the first quarter of 2025, Tesla sold just 336,681 units, its worst performance since 2023 and nearly 80,000 fewer EV than rival BYD

Between the growing boycott movement and weaker demand for EVs generally, the firm has lost market share in almost every market.