Sales of used Teslas spiked last month, here's why

Yesterday at 03:00 PM

Sales of the Tesla Model 3 electric sedan are up more than 31 per cent, making it the most sold used EV model in Australia in February, new figures show.

This is according to the Australian Automotive Dealer Association’s (AADA) latest used-car sales report, which shows 266 Model 3s were sold last month compared to 203 in January.

Its Tesla Model Y SUV sibling also proved popular last month, with more than 26 per cent shifted compared to January 2025 – up to 114 from 90.

The data also shows that the number of EVs listed for sale in Australia overall (6136) was down 2.1 per cent compared to the month before.

However, used EV sales are increasing across the board compared to last month, with an 11.4 per cent increase reported to 2137.

RELATED: Why Tesla owners are rebadging their cars

Why are people buying used Teslas?

There are a number of reasons why people could be buying more used Teslas.

The new Model 3 is now on sale and the new Model Y has recently been unveiled, which in turn makes older versions more available and affordable.

For Tesla fans, the long-awaited Tesla Model 3 update finally arrived in Australia at the start of 2024, and the new Model Y will arrive around May 2025.

With Tesla being one of the early players in the Australian market, early adopters of the brand may be upgrading or choosing another brand altogether.

There are also now more options opening up in the EV market, more than 100 in fact, which could be enough of a prompt for Model 3 owners to sell their cars for an upgrade and Model Y owners to sell in preparation for the new model.

However, the steep decline in new Tesla sales could debunk that. Figures released by the Electric Vehicle Council show that in January 2025, Tesla sales in Australia fell 33 per cent to 739, compared to 1107 in January 2024.

The latest used Tesla sales figures follow CEO Elon Musk’s recent controversial behaviour, which has also put the car maker back in the spotlight, leading to reports of vandalisation of owners’ vehicles, quiet protests in the form of stickers and rebadging of cars, as well as letters left on people’s windshields.

It’s becoming more common to see Reddit posts such as this one, “Buyers Are Avoiding Teslas Because Elon Musk Has Become So Toxic,” in which plenty of users have something to say about the CEO’s antics.

“Tesla owner. I’ll never buy a combustion car again, but Musk’s behaviour has also convinced me that I’ll never buy another Tesla. I got my car in 2022 before he went all the way off the deep end, which also means by the time I’m looking to upgrade, basically every other manufacturer will have an option I can look at,” said one user.

“I specifically avoided Tesla when I was EV shopping because of Musk,” simply stated another user.

The post Sales of used Teslas spiked last month, here’s why appeared first on Drive.