MW Trump just bought a Tesla, but many other owners are selling their Musk-made EVs. What's going on?

By Claudia Assis and Weston Blasi

There are nearly 14,000 used Teslas for sale nationwide this week, in a market complicated by politics

Lindy Lowe had one of the rarest perks in the electric-vehicle world: free charging for life.

Her gray Tesla Model X, bought in 2019, came with that "wonderful" charging deal and a seven-year warranty, she said. Never an Elon Musk fan, Lowe just enjoyed driving her Tesla around the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. She mostly didn't associate her car with Tesla Inc.'s $(TSLA)$ chief executive.

After the November elections, Lowe said, her husband was ready to sell the car but she held back, in part because of the free charging. Then she saw Musk's post on X, the social-media platform he owns, in early February implying that federal employees don't work hard enough.

To Lowe, it seemed outrageous and mean-spirited. Driving her Tesla felt like lending "some kind of tacit support" to Musk's point of view and his activities leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Soon after, Lowe traded in her Tesla for a Volvo XC90 plug-in hybrid. She has no regrets, she said.

There are many reasons to sell or trade in a car. It is a personal decision, perhaps even more than the decision to buy a car, which can come with some degree of urgency.

With Teslas, however, there is now an undercurrent of politics that is leading some owners to think about selling. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump on Tuesday made good on a promise to buy a Tesla as he showcased a group of them on the South Lawn of the White House. On X, supporters of Trump posted their intention to back Tesla, suggesting that the EV maker could pick up some new buyers.

If some of those Trump supporters are looking for a used Tesla, there will be plenty to choose from. Autotrader.com showed nearly 14,000 used Teslas for sale nationwide this week, a big increase from just a few months ago.

Mark Schirmer, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, which owns Autotrader, said that late last year there were some 11,300 used Tesla listings a month. One year earlier, there were about 8,800 used Teslas listed per month.

The increasing number of used Teslas on the market is at least in part related to the number of new Tesla vehicles that have been sold in recent years.

In the U.S., Tesla sales peaked in the third quarter of 2023, when the EV maker sold 166,000 cars, according to Edmunds. (Tesla reports its sales in the aggregate, breaking them down by model only.) That sales spike took place during a steady postpandemic climb and at the start of Tesla's ongoing push for more leases. Some of the Teslas coming off the most popular three-year lease term are hitting the used-car market now.

The percentage of used Teslas on the market is relatively small compared with other car makers, Schirmer said. "For the size of Tesla - their share of the new market - the volume is growing, but is actually quite low," he said. Mazda, a smaller carmaker, has more used-car listings despite its smaller new-car footprint, he said. "All we can say for certain," he added, is that "the volume of listings is indeed increasing."

'The hate is real'

Musk's involvement with DOGE and other aspects of the political sphere, including voicing support for the far right in Europe, has been followed by protests at Tesla facilities, vandalization of Tesla electric vehicles and altercations between protesters and Tesla owners.

But not all Tesla owners who may feel uncomfortable being associated with Musk are selling their EVs. Some are taking less drastic action, like putting bumper stickers on their cars that signal their discontent with Musk's politics.

"The interest in the stickers has been extremely high," said Matthew Hiller, who sells Musk-centric stickers on Etsy and has seen demand rise to 500 stickers a day, which sell for $6 to $10. "I'm getting orders from all over the world, every day. It's not just America who's fed up with Elon."

In Washington state, one Tesla Cybertruck owner has taken things a step further, putting the badge of rival electric-vehicle maker Rivian $(RIVN)$ on his electric truck.

The owner, a 47-year-old self-employed man, requested anonymity because he said he lives in a small town and has faced vitriol toward his truck since the presidential election.

"The hate is real right now," he said. "I expected people to be, 'Gosh, that's an ugly truck,' but I didn't expect people to be like, 'I hate you because of your Cybertruck.'"

So he bought Rivian badges off Amazon.com and put them on magnets so he could take them on and off. They have been on more than off, he said. He knew most people wouldn't be fooled and mistake a Cybertruck for a Rivian, but some people were getting "aggressive," he said, "and I just needed some sort of sign that I don't really align with what's going on."

A rough market for used EVs in general

The issues around used Teslas come amid an overall decline in the prices for used EVs. The price for all used EVs fell 15.1% over the past year, compared with a drop of less than 1% for hybrids and gas-powered cars over the same period, according to a recent iSeeCars study.

"Too many factors are pushing against EVs right now," iSeeCars analyst Karl Brauer said. "Prices remain higher than the equivalent gasoline car, even with government incentives, which are almost assuredly going away."

People are also less confident about spending today than they were six months ago. "Anytime you are not as confident and [interest] rates are higher, if you're going to make a big purchase, the more expensive it is, it's going to be difficult," Brauer said.

Shares of Tesla jumped 91% from Election Day to a Dec. 17 record close of $479.86, but the stock has since lost that "Trump bump," dropping 51% from that high, as investors worry about Musk's involvement with DOGE, his support of far-right causes in Europe - where sales of new Teslas have fallen - the lack of near-term catalysts for the stock, and increased competition in EVs.

Sales of new Teslas in China also have fallen, and on Wednesday Automotive News reported that U.S. registrations for new Teslas fell 11% in January, citing S&P Global Mobility data.

Tesla is slated to report first-quarter new-car sales in early April, with the FactSet consensus expecting 430,000 EVs sold, up from 387,000 in the first quarter of 2024. Several investment banks have dialed down their expectations for first-quarter Tesla sales in recent weeks.

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-Claudia Assis -Weston Blasi

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March 13, 2025 11:43 ET (15:43 GMT)

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