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 and 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.
Also, the truck was never crash tested…. Who buys a car that hasn’t been crash tested? Idiots…. That’s who.
Edited to correct. Apparently, they finally decided to crash test the cyber truck 3 months ago…. How long has it been for sale?
Maybe people just assumed it was crash tested, just like any other car that is allowed to be sold? I mean I wouldn’t ask if the wheels are included either.
Well, it’s not allowed to be sold in countries that have a requirement for crash tests in their laws (and in particular for not obliterating pedestrians in those crash tests)…
Many countries require cars not have sharp edges that kill people. Elon insists on it.
For a fee, Trump will executive order those requirements away.
and ferrari owners.
At least you know that there is demonstrated build quality with Ferrari.
eh
they didn’t say a high build quality! might’ve meant a demonstrated shoddy build quality!
How is that legal?
One word: capitalism
Dysfunctional regulators/legal system. Plenty of non capitalist cultures had that issue too.
Can you give a source for that? NHTSA says they have crash test ratings
Numbers look normal to me, are other cars retaining more percentage of their sale price nowadays?
I remember when all cars lost half their value as trade ins when you drove them off the lot, since that is how economics work.
The issue isn’t the numbers. The issue is that Musk previously claimed Teslas would retain value and would even gain value with new releases of auto pilot. With these expectations in mind, the numbers must look abyssal to Tesla fans.
According to Elon everyone who bought a Tesla is now kicking back with their heels up as their car is now a fully autonomous taxi that can generate passive income 24/7
The only times I have seen vehicles appreciate in value has been: Collectors and Covid. I could have sold my car for the price I paid for it years before in Dec 2020, which is absolute nonsense.
Private sales of early Prius models were higher than new back when supply massively outweighed demand. Trade ins not so much.
That very short time during covid qas due to supply being disrupted and dealerships couldn’t sell new for over MSRP but could sell used for higher.
generally cars loose 50% of their value over 5 year term.
luxury vehicles lose value faster, trucks slower
cybertruck is a vanity car, so it is more of a luxury product here. still pretty a steep depreciate for 2 years of miles for 1yo vehicle tho
the bigger issue here is the demand tbh
Correct analysis, exactly right.
The purely utilitarian value of a vehicle (transporting people, moving cargo) decreases over time as its expected remaining life decreases, which should more or less be linear in time. Transferrable warranties change this slightly.
In contrast, the aesthetic value can change very rapidly, if it is based on things like not having a prior owner, clout, aesthetic defects (minor scratches). These aesthetic factors are not tied to usable life really at all.
People paying $120k for a cybertruck are most likely placing higher weight to its aesthetic value than purely utilitarian value, so we would expect faster depreciation than for a work truck where almost all the weight is placed on pure utility.
That being said, “being associated with an egotistical bully destroying our government” probably affects aesthetic value to some degree.
My 5 year old Hyundai was sold to a dealer at 50% loss a year ago. Had around 100,000 km on it.
Hell, I have a Toyota about 8 years old and it still hasn’t dropped below 50%. I bought it for like $28k and it’s at 65k miles, and I keep getting offers for like $15-16k.
It’s almost like consumers like vehicles that don’t fall apart when you sneeze on them
we’re in a really weird time now for auto sales, especially used ones. the production dip caused by covid has now passed though the sales market into the resales market. and now we have tariff and other economic speedbumps coming. shit’s gonna be weird for a while
runaway gas pedals
um
