I sold my mum’s Tesla Model 3 – did I make a huge mistake?

I needed to sell my mum’s Tesla Model 3 – but how easy was it to sell and what car did she get to replace it? Read on to find out more.

I’ve been back on the road again with my mum who wanted to sell her Tesla Model 3, a car she’s had for three years. This confused me at first because she loves the Tesla. It feels solid, the visibility is great, and she described it as a “jolly good car.” But there was one thing about this EV that overshadowed everything else she loved about it: range anxiety.

So, I set off to find my mum a new car that wasn’t electric. But before I could fully commit to anything, I had to sell her Tesla to put towards a new car. Here’s how it went down.

Remember, you can sell your car right here on Carwow. We’re here to help you through every step of your car-changing journey.

Selling my mum’s Tesla

I’ll be honest, the selling process had a bit of a rocky start. In the three years mum had her Model 3, she managed to damage three of the plastic wheel covers. So, I had to replace those before heading to my local We Buy Any Car branch.

For context, I bought it for around £42,000 when it was new. And in the three years my mum’s had it, it’s been in pretty mint condition and has only done about 14,000 miles. So, I was shocked to find that We Buy Any Car valued it at a disappointing £11,000, meaning it would’ve lost around 70% of its value if I were to sell it through them.

Thanks, but no thanks. That’s when I turned to Carwow. I popped onto the website and started by entering the car’s registration and some other details and got an immediate valuation of £17,533. That’s about £6,000 more than what We Buy Any Car was offering me.

The process to sell through Carwow was really simple. I took some snaps of my mum’s Tesla, sent them off to Carwow, and they asked me to set a reserve price – the minimum amount you’d be happy to sell it for – before the Tesla was presented to thousands of dealers through an auction.

One thing that’s really helpful is that you can call up our customer service team to change the reserve price, if you wish. I cheekily originally put the reserve price as £1 to test this out, and they were happy to change the reserve price to £17,000. You can also cancel the sale later if you’re no longer happy with the price. That’s even after the car’s gone through the dealer auction.

But how much did I get for the Model 3? By the time the 24-hour auction ended, the bidding reached £17,670. That’s higher than the original valuation I got from Carwow and it’s almost £7,000 more than what We Buy Any Car offered me. I was pretty pleased with this.

What car did my mum get to replace her Tesla Model 3?

Once I sold the Tesla, it was now time to find my mum a replacement car. And after searching high and low, and multiple test drives, we landed on the Volkswagen Golf R. We splurged on the Black Edition version which features a blacked-out trim, a 12.9-inch infotainment screen with ChatGPT AI built in, heated front seats, and three-zone climate control.

She wasn’t sure about the Golf R at first. I got one without the adaptive dampers, which was a £700 add-on, and she felt it quite bumpy on the road. However, after having the car for three months, she’s really grown quite fond of it.

My mum finds the Golf R a pleasure to drive and thinks it’s much more responsive than the Tesla. She just loves it as she says it’s a better size for her, and she likes how the nice powerful engine helps her nip out at busy junctions. And most importantly, the range anxiety is gone.

But would she ever go back to a Tesla, or another electric car for that matter? Well, she quips that “this will do me until they’ve got the EV charging infrastructure sorted.” But overall, my mum adores her new Golf R.

Car change? Carwow!

Looking for a new set of wheels? With Carwow you can sell your car quickly and for a fair price – as well as find great offers on your next one. Whether you’re looking to buy a car brand new, are after something used or you want to explore car leasing options, Carwow is your one stop shop for new car deals.

Click here to follow us on WhatsApp, where you can keep up-to-date with all the latest news, reviews, advice guides and videos.