Used Teslas are piling up on the resale market. What to know if you are brave enough to buy one​on March 26, 2025 at 1:00 pm

The electric automaker Tesla has become a lightning rod for protests over company CEO Elon Musk’s involvement in U.S. President Donald Trump’s government.

And individual Tesla owners appear to increasingly be backing away from their association with the brand by flooding the used auto market, according to marketplace websites.

Listings for used Teslas in the first three months of 2025 on BCAA’s marketplace website were up 37 per cent compared with the last three months of 2024, according to Kyla Way, senior manager of marketing for the site. Average list prices were down 12 per cent.

At AutoTrader, vice-president Baris Akyurek said year-over-year comparisons are a better measure of the market, but at a national level, his company’s numbers show “the largest volume of Teslas we’ve ever had, as a percentage to total (inventory)” when looking back to the start of 2024.

AutoTrader counted 2,465 used Teslas listed on its site during the week of March 16 to 22, the latest data available, a 26 per cent increase from the same week of 2024, even as other electric vehicle listings have been declining, Akyurek said.

List prices for used Teslas were also down, 22 per cent from a year ago, Akyurek said. However, sliding demand for all EVs has been bringing prices for all used EVs. And for Tesla, prices have been trending down for a couple of years, predating Musk’s involvement in the U.S. administration.

Akyurek said a lot of factors have influenced the market, such as changing rules for purchase incentives and sales mandates. “I don’t want to speculate, but there are now more Teslas in the marketplace than what it used to be.”

Owners, however, recognize the Tesla name has become a target, regardless of how long someone might have owned their vehicle before Musk got involved in the U.S. administration.

“Take down Tesla” protest events, some at dealerships in B.C., and incidents of vandalism to vehicles and buildings — including eight cases of mischief counted by the Vancouver Police Department — prompted the Vancouver International Auto Show to evict the carmaker from its event last weekend.

Bob Porter, spokesperson for the Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association, understands that people are angry at Musk, especially in the U.S. where he’s attempting to jettison tens of thousands of employees from the civil service, and Teslas become an easy target.

He says some owners are nervous about vandalism and damage, considering what they’ve seen in the U.S.

“It’s unfortunate that a vehicle that people are driving around on the streets has become a target because people are very angry at what the CEO is doing,” Porter said.