Used Tesla Model 3 Buyers Are Trading In Honda Civics, Toyota Tacomas: Study

CarMax says that SUVs and Toyota models are the top traded-in vehicles for buying a used EV.

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Iulian Dnistran

By: Iulian Dnistran

Sep 26, 2023 at 4:11am ET

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The majority of people who buy a used Tesla Model 3 are trading in their internal combustion Honda Civics and Toyota Tacomas, according to a study from used vehicle retailer CarMax, which analyzed consumer interest in second-hand EVs for the February 2022 to February 2023 period.

As per the company, for shoppers buying a Nissan Leaf, the most common trade-in was a Toyota Prius, which is a hybrid, while customers who made the switch to a Chevrolet Bolt EV most commonly traded in the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt, which was built between 2010 and 2019.

As a whole, CarMax says that in the reported period, the most traded-in vehicle type for EVs were SUVs, with 40 percent of buyers bringing in such a car, followed by sedans and coupes with 29 percent, luxury vehicles with 17 percent, pickup trucks with 8 percent, sports cars with 4 percent, and minivans with 2 percent.

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The most traded-in brand for EVs was Toyota, with 12 percent, followed by BMW and Ford with 8 percent each, and Honda with 7 percent, the same as Chevrolet. Five percent of those buying a used EV from CarMax brought in a Tesla, with the company saying that shoppers who bought a Model S or Model Y most commonly traded in their Tesla Model 3.

Regarding general interest in used EVs, CarMax says that the average search volume for the term “electric” doubled from the previous year, going from a low of about 1.5 percent in January 2021 to a peak of 5.6 percent in October 2022, signaling a growing interest in used EVs countrywide.

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With this being said, some states are more interested in EVs than others, with California topping the sales charts, followed by Washington, Nevada, Oregon, and Arizona. At the other end of the spectrum are Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Tennessee, where CarMax recorded the lowest sales levels for used EVs between September 2022 and February 2023.

As always, we’d like to know what you think about this, so head over to the comments section below to give us your thoughts.