We found a 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 SEL sitting on a California car lot for $13,995, which is under a third of the $45,600 MSRP that Hyundai wants for a new one.
We Can’t Find a Catch on the Listing
So, what’s wrong with it? Honestly, not much.
It shows a clean title, and the Carfax reports prior damage roughly 95,000 miles ago, but no airbag deployments reported. Clean inside and out from the pictures, a sweet little ride and just over 2 years old.
So what gives? The used market buyer just really, really disagrees about what an EV is worth once it drives off the lot.
Some folks on social are confused by why this is newsworthy. If that’s you, click here!
It’s the math!
Cars lose value at a known rate. That depreciation factors into everything from insurance payments to how much you’ll get back when you sell your car used.
Edmunds has a handy infographic with stats for what to expect on a typical (gasoline-powered) car in terms of depreciation: https://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/how-fast-does-my-new-car-lose-value-infographic.html
This car depreciated faster than expected based on age. Based on miles, we’d expect it to be worth ~50% of its original price. It’s much lower value than that, and it hasn’t even sold at the lower value.
The Ioniq 6 is a Great Car (Yes, Even the Looks, And I Will Fight About It)
The styling is controversial (in a way that really works for me), like a concept car that escaped containment. The driving experience is anything but half-baked, based on our time behind the wheel. The ride quality is plush, the car feels quicker off the line than the spec sheet suggests, and the battery health report on this example claims more real-world range than the EPA’s original new-car estimates.
We test drove this model and a full writeup is coming, but to make a long story short, it feels like driving a laser beam. It just flies.
Also, this is not some one-off dealer stunt. There are more than a dozen 2023 Ioniq 6 showing up at less than half the new model’s MSRP, according to the used listings from Visor. This one just takes the cake for the most stratospheric depreciation. Speaking of which…
Depreciation Means Used EV Deals, But It’s Also A Warning to Industry
Broadly speaking, the American EV market has a pricing problem. A new 2025 Ioniq 6 SEL starts around $45,600 before title, tax, and fees, per Hyundai’s own configurator.
When examples are trading for a fraction of that at 2-years-old-and-change, it tells you something about what buyers think these cars are worth on the used market. Depreciation matters. For a lot of folks, a car is the biggest purchase they make all year, maybe all decade, and they expect it to hold some value.
Right now, the market is saying EVs can’t hold on to that value for the long haul.
