Hertz is trying to sell its Tesla cars to renters as it desperately tries to unload its electric vehicle inventory after a massive drop in value.
In 2021, Hertz made a major move to electrify its fleet, ordering 100,000 Tesla Model 3s and later adding Model Ys. This Tesla fleet boosted Hertz’s customer satisfaction, but issues soon arose when Tesla cut prices on the Model 3 and Model Y in 2022 and 2023, sharply reducing resale values.
This hit Hertz hard, as it relies on fleet value for its financial health. While the Model 3 held up to 90% of its value within three years as of 2020, more recent declines saw nearly 50% of that value erased, with Model Y values dropping even more.
To mitigate losses, Hertz announced plans to sell about 20,000 Teslas early this year and ramped that up recently.
You can get some exceptionally cheap Tesla vehicles on Hertz’s website. Of course, they have high mileages over short periods of time and they have been farted in by god knows how many people, but for as low as $17,000 and still under powertrain warranty, it’s not necessarily a bad deal.
But it looks like Hertz is having some issues selling those used Tesla vehicles.
The car rental company has started a new program to reach out to people who are renting its Tesla vehicles to try to get them to keep them.
A recent Hertz renter shared on Reddit an offer that the rental company sent him about keeping his Tesla Model 3 after his rental.
Hertz offered him to buy the 2023 Model 3 with 30,000 miles for just short of $18,000:
More people have received similar offers as per social media posts. It looks like a new program from Hertz to try to unload their Tesla inventory.
Electrek’s Take
These are not necessarily bad deals, but you shouldn’t expect “like new” cars. People tend not to take good care of rental cars.
But it might be a good solution for used car buyers looking to go electric.
At the cost and with fuel savings, this is basically a $12,000 vehicle over a few years.
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