Hi All,
I've just got a new job which will involve a 26 mile round trip most of which will be on the M4. I cycle to work at the moment so I need to buy a car but being the carbon conscious type I really don't want to buy an ICE car. Based on my research over the past week or two a used Nissan Leaf 24k seems to be the best bet as even a 3 or 4 years old car should have plenty of range for my commute even in the winter. I'm totally on board with the idea of getting a Leaf - I love the idea of never having to go to the petrol station, they sound like fun cars to drive and, best of all, they are much cheaper to run and more reliable than normal cars. On top of that, our house already has a 3.3kw home charger that the previous owners used for their plugin hybrid.
The problem is, having looked at what's available on the market the prices seem quite high at the moment and I'm a bit nervous about whether paying 10-11k for a 2014 or 2015 leaf with 20-30k of mileage and 88-90% battery represents good value. (As an aside, it's a nightmare trying to get info on battery SOH from dealers). The relatively high price does affect the overall cost comparison between getting an equivalent ICE car, say a 15 or 16 Fiesta or Focus - there would definitely be a premium for owning electric even with the cheaper fuelling and maintenance costs. I'm happy to pay a small premium to get all the above benefits but I also don't want to be throwing money away if the prices drop back and I want to sell in 2-3 years. I've spoken to EV specialist dealers who have said that used prices have gone up over the past year or so and that this should reassure me in terms of depreciation but I'm concerned that the rise may be temporary due mostly to delays in getting new cars to market. Once the newer, longer range cars are more widely available, surely my leaf value is going to drop quite a bit? Do you think it would be better to get a fuel efficient ice car and wait for prices to drop again?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated - my heart is sold on getting a used leaf but my head isn't quite there yet. Thanks!
I've just got a new job which will involve a 26 mile round trip most of which will be on the M4. I cycle to work at the moment so I need to buy a car but being the carbon conscious type I really don't want to buy an ICE car. Based on my research over the past week or two a used Nissan Leaf 24k seems to be the best bet as even a 3 or 4 years old car should have plenty of range for my commute even in the winter. I'm totally on board with the idea of getting a Leaf - I love the idea of never having to go to the petrol station, they sound like fun cars to drive and, best of all, they are much cheaper to run and more reliable than normal cars. On top of that, our house already has a 3.3kw home charger that the previous owners used for their plugin hybrid.
The problem is, having looked at what's available on the market the prices seem quite high at the moment and I'm a bit nervous about whether paying 10-11k for a 2014 or 2015 leaf with 20-30k of mileage and 88-90% battery represents good value. (As an aside, it's a nightmare trying to get info on battery SOH from dealers). The relatively high price does affect the overall cost comparison between getting an equivalent ICE car, say a 15 or 16 Fiesta or Focus - there would definitely be a premium for owning electric even with the cheaper fuelling and maintenance costs. I'm happy to pay a small premium to get all the above benefits but I also don't want to be throwing money away if the prices drop back and I want to sell in 2-3 years. I've spoken to EV specialist dealers who have said that used prices have gone up over the past year or so and that this should reassure me in terms of depreciation but I'm concerned that the rise may be temporary due mostly to delays in getting new cars to market. Once the newer, longer range cars are more widely available, surely my leaf value is going to drop quite a bit? Do you think it would be better to get a fuel efficient ice car and wait for prices to drop again?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated - my heart is sold on getting a used leaf but my head isn't quite there yet. Thanks!