CapeOne
Active Member
Lease residuals are a separate matter but what an automaker sets as a lease residual is not necessarily going to be reflective of the car's actual value at the end of the lease, and this certainly includes Tesla. One must also consider that residuals are based on a percentage of MSRP and most cars don't sell at full MSRP so part of the depreciation comes from the initial discount/incentives and is not an actual loss in value to the owner. Teslas typically sell at MSRP and therefore 100% of the depreciation is loss to the owner. This is why Tesla's residual values can be misleadingly high when compared against cars sold at a discount. This is the same reason why Saturn, which typically sold for MSRP at least in its early years, often did well in resale value comparisons back in the day. It wasn’t that the cars necessarily had impressive resales, it was because of how resale values are usually calculated.
However, I was responding to your specific comment about depreciation of cars with above average miles over a short time frame (such as the OP's car) and ICE vehicles typically aren't as bad as you seemed to suggest. I also don't think Tesla is necessarily going to be a good as some may think as there have also been comments from owners here and elsewhere that have gotten disappointing offers on their cars at less than a year or two old.
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