In Brief
Posted:
Per Inside EVs, Cybertruck owners are now allowed by Tesla to trade in their cars for the first time since they hit the market – but they’ll incur a heavy hit in the process.
CarGurus recently showed depreciation rates of up to 45%. Meanwhile, Business Insider talked this past week with two owners who shared firsthand what value Tesla has assigned their Cybertruck. One owner, who bought a $100,000 AWD 2024 model and accumulated 19,623 miles, received a quote for $63,100 (a 37% depreciation); the other purchased a top-of-the-line $127,000 Cyberbeast last September was shown a quote for $78,200, which would amount to a 38% loss after eight months.
Tesla initially banned owners from reselling the vehicle – a policy typically used to prevent scalping of high-demand vehicles and to maintain brand control. In Tesla’s case, it may also have delayed a wave of trade-ins or resales from owners facing a backlash owing to Elon Musk’s high profile in the Trump administration or frustrated with ongoing quality control issues, which have included runaway gas pedals and falling trim pieces.
Worth noting: trade-in figures are typically lower than private-party sales, and EVs as a category depreciate fast. According to Wired, some brands can lose up to 50% in year one.
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