Electric Vehiclesthese prices are crazy
my honda 2008 109 hp lawn mower will be hauling my ass for the forceable future
Just bought a '23 Audi e-tron with 12k miles. It was less then half it's new sticker price. My neighbors are already asking to find out if they should take the plunge.
If you consider depreciation and increasing gas prices, getting a 1 or 2 year old EV today is the best financial decision for those having that budget. It will also work for lesser budgets.
If you consider depreciation
Maybe I'm weird, but I never consider depreciation. If the car is worth anything more than scrap value, it's not yet time for a new car.
It matters if you are in a collision for the payout.
What a weird and useless metric to think of when buying a new car. They will pay you just less then the cost of a replacement, so why does buying a car with a higher book value mean anything? Like are you just picturing yourself in an crash when looking at cars?
Unfortunately, you can't ignore depreciation. It's rarely possible to actually drive a car into the dirt, as they can last for hundreds of thousands of miles if properly maintained.
Even if you intend to drive the car into the ground, you usually can't. Every time you get on the road it's a roll of the dice. Over enough time, eventually you roll snake eyes. You can be the best driver in the world, you can't beat physics. If someone pulls out of a parking lot right in front of you, you're going to crash. You can't skill your way out of minimum stopping distance.
And this happens, depreciation matters regardless of your choices. The insurance company is going to offer you a settlement based on the depreciated value of the vehicle. Sure, in theory you could say, "well, they gave me the value of a 10 year old car, so I'm just going to buy another copy of the same car I just totaled!" But that rarely works in practice. Once they get that old, you really have to worry if the old owner took care of it properly or not. Driving a car into the dirt works well when you can be the original owner and know that the maintenance has been kept up with.
Tell that to my 40 year old daily driver. Just fix your stuff....
In the context of OP, depreciation means that a “$50K when new” car may only be worth ~$35K if you choose to buy it 1-2 years later.
So it’s not so much about it’s residual value at any point in time, but rather how EVs tend to have a steeper depreciation curve at the beginning - making lightly used models a more attractive bargain.
I drove a 20+ year old car up until I had a kid, and suddenly I started to care about those safety features from the previous 20 years (like airbags and crumple zone improvements).
Can cost you more to maintain it though.
EV cost more to maintain then gas?
I mean not replacing a 20 year old car can cost you more than a monthly payment of a newer car. My ev has been going strong.
True that. Just got hit with a 2k maintenance bill for my 20 yo vehicle and looking to pivot to an EV. It helps that I don't drive much and work from home but I'm certain that my wife would prefer to drive the EV to and from work rather than her hybrid.
Yeah, my friends are complaining about $50 a week for gas and I'm around $40 a month for electricity.
I got a new 2025 ID. BUZZ for 63k a few weeks back. Any EV with that many seats is expensive and hard to find on our used market here. I think that was a decent price considering initially it retailed around 90K
Ordered a LWB earlier in the year, still waiting on delivery - currently due mid-Nov., but with the Suez Canal looking to be off-limits due to the conflict in Yemen - not sure if/when it’ll land here in Australia. 😭
How’re you finding it, in these first few weeks? Any quirks/niggles you weren’t expecting, or adjustments you’ve needed to make?
Yeah some.
Personally I hate that it (and this is probably a fact for ALL new vehicles) is the level of tracking and data collection. Hard braking? Hard acceleration? A collision? Don't worry, insurance knows. VW collects this and much more info and shares it with third parties 🙃. Just read the app ToS.
Level 1 charging is working okay, needing to too up at a paid charger once in a while but it's still night and day cheaper than gas or diesel.
It's super comfy and roomy. Overall I'm quite happy with it.
The charging connectors an unexpected quirk though. Once it's charging you can't release it. You need to either use the app, turn on the ignition and dig through the touch screen settings, or click your fob unlock button.
But this is my first ev and first vehicle I've ever owned that's newer than 2010 so... Ya lol
Hello fellow Buzz owner. I also bought a 2025 buzz new a couple of weeks ago. So far love having the EV kid hauler
Exactly 🤣. Make sure you get your electrify promo if you're in Canada. Something like 1400 or 1600 kWh free charing over a few years.
I don't have a stage 2 charger yet...
Signed up for that. We also had to get a lvl2 installed right away, the kids school is just too far away for daily lvl1. 14-50 outlet + whole home surge protector $1200 installed
EV prices falling to 50K 🫠 I'll keep my shitty diesel for now, I'm afraid.
Same, gotta keep my paid off 2011 Silverado for now. At least I can use E85 in it 🤷
Decent EV 3 years old 15 to 20k mileage with warranty run between 15 to 30k. Almost no maintenance and depending on the vehicle half to a tenth the price of gas. You can easily save 5k a year on maintenance and gas. Plus you aren't killing people with air pollution.
I don't use it that much to save those 5k.
2 year old Polestar is $25k.
I cannot afford it.
Yeah, its more ICE shitboxes for all I am afraid. Average car budget I know of around here is $5,000 to $10,000 CAD, no EVs in that range.
That's not what it says
Average EV price is closer to $55K
what country is this? EV prices are lower
USA is. Bought an EV last year for 19k, today I could buy the newer version used for probably 18k and my vehicle has a trade in value of 16.5k. last year maintenance was the cost of wiper fluid. This year I don't see any maintenance costs. The car is new enough it still has a warranty.
The best part is I charge it at home @8 to 12 cent per KWH. Meaning I pay an average 6 cents per mile, depending on charge time and driving. Plus the electric company is 100 percent solar.
