A Used EV Is the Way to Get Those Luxury Wheels

Car buyers are finding incredible deals on super high-end EVs that are only a few years old. They average about $38,000, according to one expert. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Key Points

• Used electric vehicles are selling for sharp discounts compared with their original sticker prices, with some luxury models down over 70%.
• The price drops are driven by leased vehicles returning to dealerships, a deteriorating new EV market, and rapid technological improvements.
• Experts recommend that used EV buyers check the vehicle’s battery health, as batteries represent roughly 40% of the vehicle’s value.

Chris Blaydon was used-car shopping for his teenage daughter this summer. Then he and his wife discovered lightly used, higher-end electric vehicles were selling for nearly half of their original sticker price.

“When we started to realize that some of those deals exist out there and how much car we could get, it shifted from ‘Let’s get something for our daughter’ to ‘Let’s get something for us,’” he says.

The 52-year-old advertising data analyst, who lives in Chicago’s North Shore, bought a 2025 Audi Q6 e-tron with 10,000 miles for about $45,000, a sharp drop from the original MSRP of close to $72,000.

Blaydon wasn’t the only EV buyer who stumbled on a deal. Sam Lazarus, 29, a software engineer in Mountain View, Calif., earlier this year spent $70,000 on a 2023 Lucid Air Touring, a luxury EV with 12,000 miles on it. The original sticker price for that trim level started at $109,000, according to Carfax.

“That’s an ultraluxury car at not ‘cheap’ prices, but not that far out of the realm of a new car price,” Lazarus says.

Considering the average price of a new car as of July is nearly $50,000, according to Kelley Blue Book sales data, used EVs are worth a hard look these days.

Used EVs are averaging about $38,000, says Jenni Newman, editor in chief at Cars.com. While that is more than average list price of all used cars around $31,000, Newman echoes what Blaydon and Lazarus found, that you can get more bang for your buck buying a used EV.

“It’s an area where you can get…a lot more car for your money,” she says.

A quick search on Cars.com found a range of used EVs under $30,000, including luxury brands such as Mercedes, Audis and Volvos, a bargain compared with their new-car prices.

Cox Automotive pulled data on the best used EV deals as of July for Barron’s compared with their original new EV price. Audi e-trons have an average used retail listing price of $25,540, compared with the average new transaction price of $115,171, a 77.8% decline. Tesla Model S and Model X, both luxury cars, are down more than 70% from their average new list price.

It isn’t all luxury cars, either. Used-car prices for a Nissan Leaf are averaging $14,520, a 60.6% drop from its average new list price.

Not all EVs are going cheap. Tesla Cybertrucks are only seeing a 5.8% drop and the GMC Sierra EV is down only 0.6% from its new list price.

There are a few reasons why used EVs are a good deal right now. Electric vehicles accounted for 44% of cars leased in 2023, according to Cars.com and now these vehicles are coming off lease and showing up in dealerships again.

Another factor in sagging used EV prices in the deteriorating market for new EVS. American consumers bought 77,000 new EVs in July, down 41.5% from a year earlier, according to Cox Automotive. The year-ago period was just before electrical vehicle subsides ended.

Rapid improvements in technology, particularly the battery, also makes older used EVs less enticing to car buyers, says Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director, industry insights for Cox Automotive. The lack of data about how well EV batteries would hold up under real-world conditions may have contributed to the price drop, she adds.

Some of the pricing pressure on EVs may be lifting as charging stations infrastructure has improved and EV batteries aren’t degrading as quickly as expected, Valdez Streaty says.

If you are going to buy an EV, Newman and Valdez Streaty offered some tips.

• Know the battery health. Batteries are roughly 40% of the vehicle’s value so ask for the state of battery health from the dealer. Many EVs let you pull a battery health readout through the manufacturer’s app. Ask for the car to be fully charged and compare the displayed range to the original Environmental Protection Agency’s estimated range when new.

• Be aware of purchasing EVs from private sellers. Dealers inspect the car and often offer some battery coverage. Dealers are subject to disclosure requirements that private sellers aren’t held to. If you are buying from a private party, hire a mobile EV inspector to evaluate the battery health and systems before you buy. Those can start at $175.

• Ask where the car was before you buy it. Extreme weather impacts battery health long-term, so cars that sat outside in, say Arizona or Minnesota, for a few years may have more overall battery degradation. Cold snaps can also drain up to 40% of the range, although the normal range should return as weather warms.

• Find out how long it takes to charge to full power and check if the car can use Tesla’s charging network, which has now been adopted across North America. Older cars may need an adapter which can cost about $200.

• Know your driving habits. Most EVs get about 250 miles of range which is enough for commuting without needing to plug in daily. There’s little reason to spend more for greater range unless you have long commutes.

• Kick the tires. Literally. Maintenance costs for EVs are overall lower than gas-powered cars—tires are an exception. EVs are heavier because of their batteries; their tires are more expensive and they wear out more quickly. Look at the tread before buying.

• Check incentives. Federal EV tax credits are gone, but several states still offer them.

Write to editors@barrons.com

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