It is quite common that price negotiations take place during vehicle trade-ins. Usually, car retailers will adjust their prices accordingly when presented with better-priced alternatives. But can you negotiate your trade-in value with Tesla?

Tesla does not offer any negotiations on trade-ins. In the past, Tesla price matched quotes from other vehicle retailers. But you can get quotes on different days from Tesla. You might get lucky and receive a better offer than your previous quote. You can also try to price match at other car retailers.

Other than these few tricks I’ve come up with a few similar tips that may save you a few bucks. If you play your cards right you might even score big time! So read on to see what could work for you.

Why Doesn’t Tesla Negotiate on Trade-Ins?

Tesla has no incentive to offer the best deal or to match your price because it is not their primary business or source of income. They aren’t dependent on dealerships owned by other automakers.

Telsa prefers not to have to deal with non-tesla inventory and allows trade-ins as a convenience.

The name of the game (for Tesla) is to move as many cars in and out of inventory as quickly as possible. It is like an online shop where there is no middleman who needs to get a commission.

If you’re curious what Tesla would value your car on a Trade-in, they put their old site to value a trade in back up after it was removed a few years ago. You can now again get an instant quote from Tesla from www.tesla.com/tradein. From what I could see, the valued estimations are pretty accurate. You should always do due diligence and see if you can get a better price privately. But this is a good tool to value your trade-in value.

Another reason is that Tesla cannot sell ICE vehicles or other car brands on their parking lots. They also cannot fix and replace non-Tesla parts.

This is why their only option is to take a non-Tesla to an auction house. They make little money selling off a trade-in, so it makes little sense to negotiate prices.

Negotiate-Tesla-Trade-In

Getting the Best Deal on Your Tesla Trade-In

What are the options?

Sell your Tesla privately on the Onlyusedtesla Page.

They deal exclusively with Teslas and make the whole buying and selling aspect as special as actually owning one. They do offer negotiations that exclusively take place between you and the seller.

Buy Your Tesla with Tesla Shares

If you have Tesla shares, they would have grown tremendously in value over the last few years. You can always sell a few shares to pay off the shortfall in your trade-in with Tesla.

You can also play the long game and still wait for a little while. Your Tesla share value may still very well increase tremendously.

By the way, I wrote a somewhat related article called Does Tesla Look at Your Trade-In? This article has a complete checklist for you to check before delivery. Check it out!

Negotiate the Price with Other Retailers

You can take your Tesla offer to other car retailers like Vroom, Carmax, Kelly Blue Book, or Carvana and offer price negotiations with them. They will also try to outbid one another.

It is more of a hassle to deal with them with all the paperwork, but that is the price you have to pay for not dealing with Tesla.

Sales Tax Reduction

Depending on which state you live in, you might get a sales tax reduction if you trade-in.

Find out what your options are and also try this handy Trade-In Sales Tax Savings Calculator.

Request a Reappraisal

You can always email them back with a free quote from Carmax and kindly request a reappraisal to increase the trade-in value.

They might just increase your trade-in price by a few bucks, but hey, it’s something.

Get Your Tesla From A Third-Party Dealer

You might also get lucky and find a used Tesla from a third-party dealer. These dealers usually have room to play and can offer you a better price. And they don’t always know the true value of FSD and Autopilot, so you might find a gold nugget here and there.

Be cautious though and do your homework, as this can have its own set of problems.

Buy A Certified Pre-Owned or Demo Tesla From Their Inventory

You can try this hack just before the end of every financial quarter. They are usually in a rush to get rid of these cars and you might find a Tesla that has been returned after a week of ownership (which is rare but does happen).

You can also find additional information about Tesla Trade-Ins in this related article that I wrote called: How Does Tesla Value Trade-Ins? Car Retailer Comparison

EV Speedy’s Take

It’s very unfortunate that Tesla decided to cancel any sort of price negotiations, as this was an essential part of the whole Tesla experience.

I can only assume that Tesla wants to streamline all their processes to move as many cars as possible in the shortest amount of time.

Unfortunately, this adds up to many bad customer experiences and frustrations. With notoriously bad service from Tesla, they might have to reconsider this decision in the future.

Then again, it does provide some comfort knowing that you only deal with Tesla, and you get what you see.


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Erwin Meyer
Erwin Meyer

A renowned Tesla enthusiast, and successful entrepreneur, enlightens global audiences through his compelling EV narratives. Discover more about his electric journey on his About Me page. Venture to read Erwin's incredible story that's reshaping the future of motoring. Want to spark a conversation with Erwin? Visit his Contact page, and let’s electrify the world together.