Something tells me there might be people who want to sell a Tesla right about now.
The same instinct suggests there will likely be people very happy to buy them.
For those who own other makes, but who haven’t yet dreamed of selling their beloved EV, maybe you’re seeing new makes and models with exciting new features, longer ranges and/or four-wheeling capabilities you’d like to try out.
Could you be tempted to buy or sell? What’s it like to sell or trade-in an EV today in the Durango, CO and Farmington, NM area? I made some calls to find out. If you have bought or sold a used EV, please share your experience as a comment to this story. We require all comments be respectful to any dealers, automakers or individuals mentioned. This is not the place to vent anger or frustration. There are other venues for that. If you’ve had a bad experience you want to share, do it in the spirit of helping others avoid the problems you had by supplying the basic facts of what occurred.
Sell it Yourself?
In 2017, I bought my first EV. It was a brand new, all-electric, Nissan Leaf. Nissan offered an excellent deal on the Leaf hoping to raise their profile in the United States as a provider of high-quality electric vehicles. Other than Nissan, Tesla was the only brand of EV widely available at that time. Tesla’s “economy” model – the Model 3, had yet to make it off the production line. The only Teslas available were high-priced sports cars. Thanks to Nissan, after federal and Colorado state tax credits and the dealer incentives, I paid about $14,000, a used car price, for a new car which had a sticker price of $30,000 to $35,000.
My Leaf had a limited range of 135 miles. That was fine for all my local driving. Two years of driving electric convinced me there was no other way I wanted to drive. We wanted an EV we could use for longer road-trips.
I thought for sure my Nissan Leaf would get snapped up as soon as I put it on Craig’s List. This was not the case. I offered it for sale at $12,000, to give my lucky buyer the benefit of the tax credits I’d received. After about a month of getting little to no interest in any of my efforts to sell the car locally, a friend’s Leaf got totaled in a no-injury accident and I sold it to her. She still drives it today.
The lack of interest surprised me. The Leaf was an excellent, cheap and fun to drive car with enough range to take me to work and everywhere I wanted to go in my daily life. Apparently, it was just too early for most people to commit to an EV.
So, what’s the state of used EV sales today? In late March, 2025, I called a couple dealerships and used car dealers in Durango, CO and Farmington, NM to find out.
Used Car Dealers
Precision Imports, Durango, CO
To my knowledge, Precision Imports were the first dealer of used EVs in the Four Corners area. Owner Dorman McShan bought used high-performance Teslas from elsewhere and sold them out of Precision Imports’ Durango lot as early as 2016 and maybe earlier. Dorman has since sold the dealership to some of his employees. When I called the current owners I was informed they didn’t deal with all-electric EVs anymore. They will take hybrids, but they said they’d had trouble selling all-electric cars, that they’d “been burned” by them and they were harder to sell.
Durango Motor Company, Durango, CO
They sell both all-electric EVs and hybrids. They had a couple in stock at the time I called. They gladly accept both EVs and hybrids and they sell quickly. They have charging stations on their lot which are open for all to use.
They said the questions buyers ask most about EVs are about battery longevity, range, charging accessibility, the ratio of gas to electric for hybrids, and how long it takes to charge an EV versus filling up at a gas station. People are more interested in range than in the condition of the battery. They use Carfax to vet the cars they take in. Most people seem to have a specific EV model in mind when they arrive on the lot. The Ford Mustang MachE is popular.
AutoMax, Farmington, NM
They enthusiastically sell EVs and hybrids. On the date of the call, they had six EV or hybrid cars on their lot. They had trucks, Jeeps (a Jeep xe plug-in hybrid was on the lot at the time of call), a 2021 Ford Lariat and a Ford Mustang EV. The hybrids are very popular and sell quickly. Their customers ask about fuel economy and cost of EV charging and how hybrids work. They assist people in getting a contractor to install EV chargers at home. They enjoy selling these vehicles. The people in their community often travel long distances to go to work or school. They appreciate the lower prices of operation of EVs and hybrids.
New Car Dealers
Durango Ford – Used Cars, Durango, CO
They did not have any used EVs on their lot at the time of the call. They do sell them, but they don’t sell as quickly as petroleum powered cars. It is a good business. They are happy to sell EVs and hybrids. The Ford Mustang MachE has been most popular as a used car so far.
Buyers ask questions about range and how the car has been used. The dealer does research to determine the likely range. They said having more information about the state of the battery would be helpful. They provide help for buyers to get the Colorado state EV tax credit. Buyers must work directly with the IRS to get any federal rebates.
Morehart Murphy Regional Auto Center, Durango, CO
They had one used EV on the lot on the day I called. They take them as trades. Because there are so many EV models, and some are more popular than others, it’s hard to say if they sell faster or more slowly than petroleum cars. Most popular is the Equinox EV, because of the size, style and price point.
When asked if they view used EVs as good business, they said there is a place for them. It is a good addition to the GM line-up.
Customers number one question about EVs is what is the range. The next most asked is about charging capability. As a seller, having more information about the battery would be helpful, however, buyers understand the batteries are still under warranty. That provides some confidence about the minimum to expect from the battery. They have charging stations which are open to the public at each of their three locations.
Ziems Ford Corners, Farmington, NM
Ziems had no used EVs on their lot on the day I called. They’ve only gotten used hybrids so far. They come in fairly often. They would absolutely take an EV as a trade-in.
Hi-Country Kia, Farmington, NM
They do not sell EVs, new or used.
An Ending Note
In the course of these calls all of the people I spoke to were helpful and friendly. There was one person who asked not to be named who voiced a negative opinion about EVs and the people who drove them. I elected not to include name of the dealer out of this article because I am not sure if their opinion reflects the view of the dealership as a whole.
They said if anyone thinks they are saving the environment by buying an EV, they are mistaken. They cited the destructive nature of lithium mining and abuses at mines in Africa. They didn’t believe people did their research about the environmental impacts of EVs. They had seen information proving that a fully loaded military Humvee had a smaller impact on the environment than an all-electric EV. He said the batteries are toxic and can’t be recycled.
I responded that I am a scientist and had done a lot of research on the environmental impacts of EVs before I bought mine. I told him I was aware of the abuses of people at mines and the extent that EVs do indeed have big environmental impacts, but they are significantly less harmful to the environment than petroleum burning vehicles. I assumed he did not believe in the global warming or its impacts, so I didn’t bring it up. I did mention that used EV batteries are already being used as back-up power sources. I didn’t mention the ongoing efforts to find ways to recycle EV batteries because I knew I couldn’t cite the specifics off the top of my head at that moment.
We both dropped the issue after that. For my part, I didn’t think either of us had the time to go over each of our claims and provide support for them in a conversation taking place in the middle of the work day and in between jobs. I imagine they might have thought the same. Below, I’ve added a link to a story we did a couple years back on the environmental impact of EVs. Maybe I shouldn’t have assumed this person did not believe in global warming. I made a lot of assumptions about what this person believed. I imagine not all of them were true.
Environmental Impacts of Electric Vehicles
