- The average price of a Tesla Model 3 dropped 22.6% from 2023 to 2024.
- The next biggest loser was the Jeep Grand Cherokee, whose average used price dropped by 9.2% within the same period.
- The number of affordable used vehicles under $20,000 is up significantly.
The used car market is reversing fast. The era of used cars surpassing the pricing of new ones during COVID is over. This isn’t just me chatting or pulling facts out of my rear end. We’ve got data from iSeeCars that shows that used cars are getting more affordable. The selection of used cars under $20,000 has increased dramatically. One car leads the charge, though: the Tesla Model 3. The Tesla Model 3 has lost the most value of any used vehicle on the market.
Of course, every vehicle is subject to the law of depreciation; we’ve covered this before here at InsideEVs. But iSeeCars has noticed that the Model 3 has had the biggest drops percentage-wise in a year, regardless of propulsion type. From 2023 to 2024, the average price of a Tesla Model 3 went from $37,548 to $29,045, a dramatic 22.6% reduction in price. The next worst single-year depreciating vehicle was the Jeep Grand Cherokee, which went from an average price of $34,107 in 2023 to a price of $30,956 in 2024, or a reduction of 9.2% in average pricing.
There are two ways to interpret this. On one hand, this is not great news for current Tesla Model 3 owners, especially those who purchased during peak COVID pricing. Those buyers will likely see severely depressed trade-in or private-party sale prices on cars that aren’t that old or used.
On the other hand, this is a boon for used car bargain hunters. iSeeCars says that the stock of used cars on the market is cheaper and less used than in years past. The average mileage of a used car is down 2.8%, which iSeeCars says suggests that people are paying less money for cars that aren’t as well used.
We’re still up, though. The average price of a 1 to 5-year-old car has been up more than 40% since 2019, before COVID rocked the world and caused prices to skyrocket. “Limited supply and high demand saw used car prices skyrocket during the pandemic,” said iSeeCars’ Executive Analyst Karl Brauer. Brauer continued in the study, alluding to an increase in the number of units available, which lowered the average prices of used vehicles. The fleet dumping of Teslas by Hertz and others has no doubt added a huge supply of used Model 3s to choose from. This is good news for buyers searching for a good used car.
That’s still not great for current Tesla Model 3 owners who may or may not have believed Musk's idea that Teslas would never depreciate because they'll soon be self-driving money-makers. But this is probably a good thing for us all when it comes to getting more people behind the wheel of EVs. The average price of a Tesla Model 3 is $29,000, which no doubt includes well-equipped dual-motor and performance variants. Just check a Hertz dealership or Facebook Marketplace seller; chances are it won’t be hard to find a Model 3 slightly above $20,000. That’s a big deal, which means driving a used EV for the same price as a used compact ICE car is possible. Love or hate Tesla, we can’t ignore the fact that a used Model 3 has more power, capability and refinement compared to any ICE compact of the same price.
New EVs may not have entirely reached price parity with ICE cars, but used EVs already have. In many ways, that’s a good thing.
Contact the author: kevin.williams@insideevs.com
