Man Who Bought Tesla For $140,000 Is Shocked By Its Value After Just Two Years

When Kyle Conner paid a significant amount for his Tesla Model S, he likely expected to recover a decent portion of that cost when he decided to sell. But what he found out about its current worth left him stunned.

Kyle, who shares his automotive insights on his YouTube channel, Out of Spec Reviews, detailed the story of selling his electric vehicle. The car, produced by Elon Musk’s company, was purchased in 2022 for $140,000. This year, Conner decided it was time to part ways with it.

But things did not unfold as he had hoped.

According to TikToker Chris Pearce (@thechristopherpearce), who analyzed Conner’s experience, it is ‘insane how fast Teslas depreciate’.

Pearce showed the invoice after Tesla’s appraisal of Conner’s car, highlighting just how much it had dropped in value compared to a gas-powered vehicle.

Kyle Conner’s car didn’t age the way he’d hopedTesla

The invoice listed the original purchase price of the Tesla at $140,490.

Then, in a screenshot showing Tesla’s appraisal, Pearce read aloud for his audience: “So with just 37,000 miles on the odometer, Tesla offered him a whopping $46,400.”

“That’s a loss of $94,000 or 67% of its original value.”

Pearce noted that Conner might have gotten more for his car if he had chosen to sell privately, but other appraisal sites also estimated the car’s value at less than half its original cost.

Pearce mentioned: “The appraisal came straight from Tesla, so it could be a lowball offer.”

He paid over $140,000 in 2022X/@itskyleconner

“But even sites like Edmunds, or Consumer Reports wouldn’t give him more than $59,000 at the absolute highest.”

To show how Tesla’s depreciation compared to that of a traditional gas car, Pearce pulled up a comparison with a BMW model that sold for a similar price in the same year.

Pearce explained: “I did us all a favor and found a comparable gas to compare the depreciation.”

He only got back a meagre amountX/@itskyleconner

“The BMW M5 CS came out in 2022, the same year, for around $140,000 — the exact same price. It’s not a perfect comparison, but they’re both saloon-performance sedans. If you go on any of those sites I mentioned, you can buy the M5 CS for $140,000 today. Meaning this car has depreciated maybe $10,000.”

Pearce offered a piece of advice to those considering buying a Tesla.

He suggested that prospective buyers should be cautious and understand that flashy brands may not always retain their value.

A March study by Diminishing Value Carolina revealed that Tesla vehicles lose value 70 times faster than Chevrolet cars.

Meanwhile, brands like GMC and Porsche were shown to have some of the slowest depreciation rates in the industry.

If you’re curious about other cars that experience quick depreciation, models from Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Lincoln, and Volvo were listed just behind Tesla.

Reddit users on the r/TeslaMotors subreddit shared their own stories, many of them shocked by their experiences.

One user remarked: “Imagine how much lower it would be if people could buy out their leases. That’s probably one of the large reason why Tesla doesn’t allow lease buyouts, so that they can have more control over used prices.”

The study by Diminishing Value Carolina indicated that it isn’t just Tesla but electric cars in general that show higher rates of depreciation.

Another person commented: “It’s almost as if Tesla makes a product that has an artificially inflated price because of fanboys that love getting ripped off.”

One more user wrote: “All the commenter’s not understanding that yes cars depreciate, but typically only about 60% over 5 years, losing 67% in 2 years is awful.”

Conner wasn’t particularly happy with the sudden attention this depreciation story brought.

He recently tweeted: “We posted the most glowing review possible of the new Long Range RWD Model 3… nobody shared I posted two screen shots about a Model S with a single word ‘depreciation’ and everyone writes about it Huge Tesla hate bias in the media.”

Post Views: 29