U.S. car rental giant Hertz Global Holdings has started selling used Tesla vehicles on its website, months after it announced plans to reduce the size of its electric fleet. Hertz's inventory currently shows about 518 used Tesla vehicles for sale, including about 455 Model 3s. What remains is the electric carmaker's best-selling Model Y.
The lowest price of a Tesla car in Hertz’s inventory is $20,700, which is a 2021 Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Edition with a pure black appearance. This car has 86,929 miles on it and is located in Florida.
The lowest-priced Model Y is a 2022 Model Y long-range version that has traveled 85,490 miles and sells for $31,100.
For customers looking to purchase a Tesla vehicle if they don't mind the vehicles having been previously leased, Hertz's inventory offers attractive options, as a customized Model 3 now starts at $38,990 and a Model Y starts at $43,990. Most of these vehicles are also covered by the battery warranty set by Tesla.
While the rear-wheel-drive version of the Model 3 has a battery warranty of 100,000 miles, other versions of the Model 3 and all Model Y models have a battery warranty of up to 120,000 miles.
During its third-quarter earnings call, Hertz announced its intention to shrink its fleet of electric vehicles, particularly Tesla vehicles. The company said the higher cost of crash and damage repairs for electric vehicles compared with conventional vehicles hurt third-quarter results and had a negative impact on EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization).
Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr explained at the time that the manufacturer's suggested retail price of electric vehicles, especially Teslas, had declined throughout 2023, causing the fair market value of Hertz's electric vehicles to be lower than the previous year. This reduction resulted in larger losses and higher burdens, negatively impacting EBITDA. Schell emphasized that if the entire fleet were conventional combustion engine vehicles, third-quarter EBITDA margins would be much higher.