[UK] used value of their Tesla cars plummeting?

[colt033]

So far I've had two salespeople from the local showroom chasing me telling me they don't know how long the lower prices will last, they're getting a lot of orders, etc. Seems a bit desperate.

If I needed a new car now I'd probably get an ICE car. I know over half a dozen people who've sold their EV and done exactly that.

 

[MashinBenzin]

I’ve not read every recent post, so apologies if this is already covered.

WBAC’s price is what many of us use as a rough barometer for value, but it is only reflective of how much they want your model of car on the forecourt and that changes fast as they buy and sell stock.

My MY jumped £6k this week - £45k up from £39k before Xmas. Obviously they wouldn’t want stock over Xmas and year end. This was similar with my Disco last year. £67k in November to £52k before Xmas and back up to £62k by February.

I’m not saying the residuals will be especially strong in 2023, but it’s not all doom and gloom.

I also think that EVs will remain popular and in 3/4 years time the values will look ok versus our GMFVs as the public demand grows for secondhand ones and city centre restrictions become tighter.

 

[UrbanSplash]

When I part ex’d my 3LR last March for a Y, I got £45k for it. WBAC value it at £23k today, less than a year later. This is absolute madness.

 

[Jason71]

When I part ex’d my 3LR last March for a Y, I got £45k for it. WBAC value it at £23k today, less than a year later. This is absolute madness.

Those are the extreme though. Tesla were paying over the odds in March since supply was starting to outpace demand ( pre shanghai covid) and now WBAC are low balling everyone on Tesla's right now since the market is in flux. What is a car like yours selling for only Auto Trader?
If you got 45K in March what is that must be like a 2020 with say 25K miles? Assuming it was that is really a 35K car right now. which would be like 30% depreciation from new which is still pretty good by "normal" standards rather than the crazy prices we have seen over the last couple of years.

 

[GRiLLA]

It was very clear last year that PX prices were abnormal and not likely to last. I wasn't really expecting to replace my 2019 car but spending about £7K to reset the warranty to new it made complete sense and clearly wasn't going to last.

Now things are back to more like what I expected to happen, I'm happy to have exploited the abnormality.

 

[Casss]

I know over half a dozen people who've sold their EV and done exactly that.

So these half dozen people you know bought EV's at the peak of their value (probably, or new), have now panic sold them as values have "crashed" (just normalised, in the long term view) and have now bought brand new ICE vehicles that are going to depreciate just as quickly if not more quickly which also cost more to run? Or is this unrelated to residual prices?

If that sounds like a good move because you desperately need to get 400+ miles per tank from an efficient (relative to other ICE vehicles) but slow diesel or petrol ICE vehicle then by all means, but by any other reasoning this is just crazy.

 

[Adopado]

If that sounds like a good move because you desperately need to get 400+ miles per tank from an efficient but slow diesel or petrol ICE vehicle then by all means, but by any other reasoning this is just crazy.

Completely agree ... and I know what you mean ... but I can't live with a sentence that includes the word "efficient" to describe a diesel or petrol ICE! They go a long way despite being terribly inefficient ... the energy density of petrol/diesel is extraordinary, which is just as well, because most of that energy is thrown away and not used to propel the vehicle forward!

 

[Casss]

Completely agree ... and I know what you mean ... but I can't live with a sentence that includes the word "efficient" to describe a diesel or petrol ICE! They go a long way despite being terribly inefficient ... the energy density of petrol/diesel is extraordinary, which is just as well, because most of that energy is thrown away and not used to propel the vehicle forward!

You're right, I have caveated to clarify

 

[UrbanSplash]

Those are the extreme though. Tesla were paying over the odds in March since supply was starting to outpace demand ( pre shanghai covid) and now WBAC are low balling everyone on Tesla's right now since the market is in flux. What is a car like yours selling for only Auto Trader?
If you got 45K in March what is that must be like a 2020 with say 25K miles? Assuming it was that is really a 35K car right now. which would be like 30% depreciation from new which is still pretty good by "normal" standards rather than the crazy prices we have seen over the last couple of years.

I get your point. WBAC are ‘low’…. But that’s all the market is prepared to buy at for now you could argue. So this all it’s currently worth.

Anyway, I want an M3 Touring! Can’t see that happening though.

 

[Mr H]

Put mine into Tesla trade in and they came back with £41k after 10 months and 8000 miles. I paid £55k, they’re having a Giraffe, I won’t be ordering a P

 

[qwickshot]

That’s a normal trade in value for a car with 8000 on the clock (assume it’s coming up to 1 year old).

The moment you drive the car off the lot, it’s normal to lose 20% because you have just handed over £9k to HMRC in the form of VAT.

The car you bought was only cost £45,833.33 plus VAT to begin with so being offered £41k seems almost reasonable.

 

[Jason71]

I get your point. WBAC are ‘low’…. But that’s all the market is prepared to buy at for now you could argue. So this all it’s currently worth.

Anyway, I want an M3 Touring! Can’t see that happening though.

They may be what the trade is willing to pay, though I am not sure when WBAC became the final arbiter of that TBH. But between the other similar services and ways to sell privately like Autotrader, Ebay etc I don't consider them the definitive guide to value/worth

 

[Durzel]

Put mine into Tesla trade in and they came back with £41k after 10 months and 8000 miles. I paid £55k, they’re having a Giraffe, I won’t be ordering a P

It's 2023 now, not circa March 2022.

 

[btc1k]

They may be what the trade is willing to pay, though I am not sure when WBAC became the final arbiter of that TBH. But between the other similar services and ways to sell privately like Autotrader, Ebay etc I don't consider them the definitive guide to value/worth

WBAC are a buyer and that's the money they give you - today as a trade buyer.

Can advertise for whatever you like on Autotrader - doesn't mean the car will sell at that price. So it doesn't represent the "valuation".

The act of deciding how much money something is worth takes place when the money physically changes hands. With a little discount for selling to trade.

 

[MrT3]

That’s a normal trade in value for a car with 8000 on the clock (assume it’s coming up to 1 year old).

The moment you drive the car off the lot, it’s normal to lose 20% because you have just handed over £9k to HMRC in the form of VAT.

The car you bought was only cost £45,833.33 plus VAT to begin with so being offered £41k seems almost reasonable.

Yes, normal depreciation curve but VAT has nothing to do with your vehicle instantly dropping in value - that's an old wives' tail that been around for decades.

Your trade-in value is much less because the dealer has costs to flip the vehicle and also wants to make a profit on the deal, but more importantly there needs to be a large enough discount from the new vehicle price to incentivise the sale - otherwise the person looking to buy might as well just order a new vehicle (unless there is a supply shortage and used prices go above new prices as we saw in 2022).

 

[Jason71]

WBAC are a buyer and that's the money they give you - today as a trade buyer.

Can advertise for whatever you like on Autotrader - doesn't mean the car will sell at that price. So it doesn't represent the "valuation".

The act of deciding how much money something is worth takes place when the money physically changes hands. With a little discount for selling to trade.

You are kind of making my point. WBAC are a single potential buyer. Their offered price does not represent the value of the car it represents their value that day.
WBACs price on a given day was being equated to the overall "market value" which is what I was disagreeing with.

 

[Mr H]

It's 2023 now, not circa March 2022.

£350 a week depreciation, i'll keep it...

 

[btc1k]

You are kind of making my point. WBAC are a single potential buyer. Their offered price does not represent the value of the car it represents their value that day.
WBACs price on a given day was being equated to the overall "market value" which is what I was disagreeing with.

Most people do miss the point on valuation. That's why their second hand cars sit on Autotrader for months because they think it has a higher "value" than the market does.

Yes the value is the price at which the buyer is willing to pay at that snapshot in time.

If cash changes hands then it's fair value at that time, dependent on market conditions. The arbiter is the buyer!

Supply and demand economics. All other valuations are a mirage in your head.

 

[Idk3]

I was actually wrong, order book opened in May and deliveries started in June. Those cars would have been on 19 plates.

Tesla have sold more cars year on year in the UK. From Car Dealer Magazine:


They sold 25,171 Model 3s alone in 2021.

All of that is to say that there have been more and more Teslas (particularly Model 3s) being delivered, year on year, since they came out. The shock from Q3-Q4 2019 cars coming off lease and hitting the market is a phenomenon that is going to be repeated for every quarter from here on out.

I'm not sure the BMW comparison is valid because the BMW M140i was around for 4 years and ceased production in 2019. Cars that drop out of production can sometimes appreciate (depending on volume), particularly if they are better in some ways than later cars (M3 CS and CSL pricing makes me sad - I missed out on picking one of those up).

There is no "slowing to a constant steady stream" with Tesla. They are all about volume.

The initial burst of deliveries won't be repeated as high as it is now, yes it may happen constantly each quarter, but ultimately things will settle down eventually. An absolutely fantastic time to buy I think personally, could be completely wrong and Tesla may just fold, but either way, the value for a M3P at 30-32k is unreal.

The BMW is definitely a comparison, I'm not talking about when they ceased production, I'm talking about when they were literally 2 years old. The values were absolutely being rinsed because of the silly deals coming out, but as I say they returned back to normal shortly after.

 

[Rooster6655]

Yes, normal depreciation curve but VAT has nothing to do with your vehicle instantly dropping in value - that's an old wives' tail that been around for decades.

Exactly makes no sense, VAT is supposedly to have been paid on all cars in the UK excluding businesses who I think are supposed to charge it on disposal, this gives a baseline price for where the depreciation starts from not the ex vat price.