Resale value for the Tesla Model 3 received a good report from Kelley Blue Book, as the automotive research company named the car to its 2019 Best Resale Value Award Winners. The Model 3 topped the electric vehicle category.
Kelley Blue Book projects a resale value of 69.3 percent at 36 months and 48.7 percent at 60 months for Model 3. The report only compared the Model 3 with other electric vehicles, but it would have also topped the “luxury car” or “midsize car” categories.
“The Tesla Model 3 has a cultural magic and desirability about it that made people willing to wait months and even years to own one,” the report said. “People don’t like Tesla Model 3s — they crave them — and that’s how you hold on to your resale value over time.”
The report notes that an average 2019 model-year vehicle will only retain about 39 percent of its original value after a five-year ownership period, meaning that a $35,000 new car today will only be worth somewhere close to $13,650 after five years. By comparison, all vehicles in Kelley Blue Book’s Top 10 for Best Resale Value are projected to retain more than 50 percent of their MSRP with the top model, the Toyota Tacoma, expected to bring 62 percent of its MSRP after five years.