2017 Production A Long Shot...

[3wheelin]

I am with you on buying slightly used. We are in the situation where buying new is not a problem for us financially and I still tend to look for models a couple years old. Not only to avoid depreciation but also to get major bugs and recalls worked out. An exception would be a new model that makes my palms sweat and heart pound, you know, the Elio turbo

My wife tends to only keep cars 4 years at a time and only puts around 6-8,000 miles per year on them, her trade-ins are the perfect ones to pick up used She buys new because she wants the peace of mind of being covered by the full bumper-to-bumper warranty and knowing that no one else has done weird, unspeakable things in it. Her emotional connection to her vehicles is a different connection than mine.

I totally forgot the "smell" of a brand new ride!

 

[3wheelin]

No. But my car gets a lot more than 200 miles per tank.


200 miles would, barely, work for me. This is because I could get two days of daily commute in it. So if I forgot to plug it in, I'd be able to drive it to work and back that second day. But that's assuming that I really get 200 miles a charge, and that it's not "200 miles in ideal circumstances, with everything (including the radio) turned off, and a tailwind both ways to boot", but I really only get 160 real world miles. Because 160 miles a charge means that I would not get home that second day.

For the record, I do forget to plug in my cell phone on a regular basis. But it's no big deal, because I can plug it in everywhere, including in my car and at work. I can't plug in my car at work.

200 miles... Yeah, I could probably live with it. But 300 would be much better.

Are you saying electric cars are not for "old" people because they tend to "forget"?????

 

[3wheelin]

Back in the day, they used to call it DIVORCE. Decouple?

 

[Frim]

Like Bubba's kids, denise and Denephew

At Bubba's farm defeat of deduct go over defense before detail.

 

[Jeff Porter]

I think anybody who buys a "new" car is a fool, regardless of the sticker price.

Okay, maybe that is a bit harsh. But certainly the people who buy new cars either can't do math, or have enough money not to worry about the math. I think the Elio is probably the one exception to that rule; not because it is cheap, but because I believe they will not depreciate as dramatically as other new cars. Even the truely affordable Nissan Versa (base model) at just over $12,000, is much more affordable if you get one just a few years old (around $7-8000 for a 2013 model with over 35k miles, or about the price of a new Elio).



I'll take that bet I admit I'm basing my assessment on my own purchase experience. When the 2012 Nissan Leaf came out, it was about $35,000 before tax incentives. When we bought ours in May of 2015, it was only $14,000. And this exemplifies a strange phenomenon with EVs: sold new, you pay for the premium price of the batteries, but sold used the market treats them like any other equivilant car. Thus they depreciate at a much greater rate than ICE cars.

Good grief Seth! I found a 2012 Leaf with 31,000 miles for $8,995 in south-central NE. What ideas do you have for it being relatively cheap, other than demand might be a bit low in rural NE? https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/669511721/overview/

Edit: found another one in suburban southeast NE (Lincoln) for $8500 with only 26,500 miles.

 

[Sethodine]

Good grief Seth! I found a 2012 Leaf with 31,000 miles for $8,995 in south-central NE. What ideas do you have for it being relatively cheap, other than demand might be a bit low in rural NE? https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/669511721/overview/

Edit: found another one in suburban southeast NE (Lincoln) for $8500 with only 26,500 miles.

The primary difference is that I live in Western Washington state, not Nebraska. For the age and mileage on the car (3-years old with 25k on it) the $14,000 sticker price was about the same as we would have paid for an equivilant car from a dealership. Especially when you consider that we didn't have to pay sales tax on it (there was an EV incentive going on at the time, but that phased out in June 2015). So we saved $1200 on sales taxes.

If, in the future, I am looking to purchase a used EV I might be willing to spend $1000 on flying across the country and ship it home. But we were just looking for a reliable car at the time. It was quite a plunge for us to risk buying an Electric car, but it turned out to be one of the best car buying decisions we've ever made.

And yes, I do think the price on EVs is depressed a bit in midwestern states due to it being rural, the low penetration of charging station infrastructure, and perhaps general local attitudes towards EVs. One of the other forum members here got a screamin' deal on a Leaf in Colorado, as well.

 

[JEBar]

I think anybody who buys a "new" car is a fool, regardless of the sticker price.

Okay, maybe that is a bit harsh. But certainly the people who buy new cars either can't do math, or have enough money not to worry about the math. I think the Elio is probably the one exception to that rule; not because it is cheap, but because I believe they will not depreciate as dramatically as other new cars.

I can do the math and I don't agree with the blanket statement anybody who buys a "new" car is a fool. .... first of all, its none of my business what's right for anyone else .... historically we have bought both new and preowned vehicles .... both have advantages and disadvantages .... when we buy a vehicle we look for one to meet a specific need and expect it to last us for 10 to 15 years .... we currently have a 2000 Buick Park Avenue (109,000 miles) .... a 2005 Chevy Trailblazer (110,000 miles) a 2006 Freightliner Sport Chassis (138,000 miles), a 2011 Chevy Silverado (88,000 miles), and a 2016 Chevy Camaro (2,000 miles) .... we have no plans to part with any of them, anytime soon .... for us an Elio will most certainly be an "and" vehicle .... the longest I ever kept a vehicle was a '78 Jeep J10 pickup that we kept for 23 years and put over 250,000 miles one it.... because we do keep vehicles of a long time and we do put a bunch of miles on them, we usually buy new .... we want to know for sure how they have been maintained and the details of their history .... I've never been burned in buying a new vehicle or boat with factory warranty .... I've most certainly been burned in buying used vehicles and boats ... that isn't to say you can't find good used vehicles but it is to say that one has a higher percentage of being able to do so with a new one

 

[Sethodine]

I should have known my comment would have stung some folks, and I apologize for offending the fine fellows I've met on the forum here.

A new car will lose 1/3rd of it's value after 3 years, and the other 2/3 over the next 15. If you can afford it, then I suppose peace-of-mind doesn't have a price tag. But neither my family nor myself has, in my lifetime, ever been in a position to afford that kind of peace. Thus, my viewpoint is skewed by a life of poverty and frugality. That doesn't excuse my unkind words, just informs them.

As a side note: most miles a car has gotten in my family was my dad's 1987 Toyota Corolla; he bought it at 120,000 and got up to 440,000 on it before it would no longer stay in third gear and he was tired of driving while holding it in gear. He sold it to a guy who rebuilt the transmission and kept driving it. The most I have personally gotten is up to 220,000 I put on my 2002 Jaguar S-Type (it had 85,000 when I bought it). I've heard that's good for the Ford-made Jaguars. My 1996 Toyota Rav4 is still young with only 185,000 miles.

I am going to drive my (very well maintained) Elio into the ground, aiming for a 300,000+ mile lifetime. We'll see.

 

[JEBar]

I am going to drive my (very well maintained) Elio into the ground, aiming for a 300,000+ mile lifetime. We'll see.

sure hope you can get that kind of mileage out of it ..... it will really be interesting to follow the performance/longevity of the flame sprayed cylinder walls

 

[3wheelin]

I should have known my comment would have stung some folks, and I apologize for offending the fine fellows I've met on the forum here.

A new car will lose 1/3rd of it's value after 3 years, and the other 2/3 over the next 15. If you can afford it, then I suppose peace-of-mind doesn't have a price tag. But neither my family nor myself has, in my lifetime, ever been in a position to afford that kind of peace. Thus, my viewpoint is skewed by a life of poverty and frugality. That doesn't excuse my unkind words, just informs them.

As a side note: most miles a car has gotten in my family was my dad's 1987 Toyota Corolla; he bought it at 120,000 and got up to 440,000 on it before it would no longer stay in third gear and he was tired of driving while holding it in gear. He sold it to a guy who rebuilt the transmission and kept driving it. The most I have personally gotten is up to 220,000 I put on my 2002 Jaguar S-Type (it had 85,000 when I bought it). I've heard that's good for the Ford-made Jaguars. My 1996 Toyota Rav4 is still young with only 185,000 miles.

I am going to drive my (very well maintained) Elio into the ground, aiming for a 300,000+ mile lifetime. We'll see.

Like I said, buy what you can afford to drive, not pretend to afford what you drive!