Tesla Model X is the fastest-selling car in the used-car market, and that is in accordance with the latest iSeeCars Used Car Market Study. On today’s CBT Now episode, we’re joined by iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer.
According to Brauer, it’s ironic that the EV maker just canceled that car, meaning it will no longer make that model, along with the Model S. “Yet the Model X remains the fastest-selling used car,” he said.
A market unto itself
Brauer asserts that Tesla has always been in its own world, but as EV market demand declines, the EV maker has remained “a solid rock.” Looking at the numbers, Brauer and his team noticed that in Q1 of 2025 to Q1 of 2026, EV sales in the used-car market did go up by 15.9%. Hybrid sales also increased by 41.8%, which was almost three times as fast.
“If someone were to say who’s the benefactor of these recent fuel price spikes, I would have to say hybrids are the benefactor…. Certainly more so than electric vehicles.”
When examining price shifts, Brauer notes that Tesla used-car pricing from Q1 2025 to Q1 2026 changed by -0.1%, citing it as “flat.” He also noted that non-Teslas dropped by 10%, while hybrids only dropped by 1.4%.
“So most of the market is relatively stable, down by less than 3% from a year earlier on used-car pricing, except used EVs that aren’t Teslas.”
Market slowdowns
When it comes to days on market, the gap is equally striking, Brauer asserts. While Teslas are moving in about 32 days, gas and hybrid vehicles sit in the mid-50s. Brauer says non-Tesla EVs are taking around 60 days to sell, nearly twice as long as a Tesla.
Notably, Brauer believes the data points to a broader truth that the industry has been slow to accept. “[Tesla is in] a unique proposition in the automotive industry, not just in the EV world, but across the whole industry.”
He adds that Tesla has cultivated a loyal buyer base and sustained demand in a way no traditional automaker entering the EV space has managed to replicate. That contrast becomes even sharper when looking at the overall used-car inventory. Used vehicles are sitting on lots about 45% longer than a year ago, a sign, Brauer says, of a market that has lost momentum. He compared it to “a bowling ball that someone didn’t give enough of a push to.”
However, part of that slowdown comes down to sticker shock. The average one-to five-year-old used car hovered around $20,000 before the pandemic. That number shot up to $30,000-$37,000 at its peak and has since settled back to roughly $30,000, still 50% higher than pre-COVID levels. Brauer notes that consumers are increasingly choosing to hold onto their current vehicles rather than take on a larger car payment, especially as insurance costs and fuel prices continue to climb. Dealers, he notes, are reporting strong fixed ops revenue as a result.
For dealers navigating this environment, Brauer recommends rethinking inventory assumptions. Sedans and smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles have been gaining momentum, and he says dealers who can source those units at auction for less may find them easier to turn than larger SUVs, even if the margin on an SUV looks better on paper.
