For someone paying cash to buy a used car, do any of you guys have any thoughts on whether it’s worth it to take a bigger risk and buy off Craigslist vs the dealership?
And for resale value if wanted to sell it in 6 months or so, I assume Hondas and Toyotas would be the best value for that?
Yes please!
Private seller transactions tend to have a lower bid/ask spread. Sellers can get a little more and buyers can pay a little less. I think private is fine if you are very car savvy and/or have a good mechanic that you trust to check it out. If those things don’t apply, then maybe dealer is the way to go. But there is still risk there, so it’s not like you don’t have to do any due diligence.
I think you’re right wrt to the Honda/Toyota thing.
We’re having a hard time finding one we can buy. And I’m not sure ordering one would get it through before production ends. Bleh
It’s been great so far but I could see it being too small coming from an Escape. The “slow” charging might be an issue if your mom likes to road trip or something but if she just uses her car to run errands and stuff around town it’s not a problem.
It’s awesome. The only complain we have, in our use, is that I can’t fit golf clubs across it, so I have to put a seat down.
It’s small, but you can remove the floor in the trunk and it gets a lot ‘taller’. We live between Portland and Seattle and don’t have any issues going to Seattle and driving around for the day and coming home. Portland would likely require us to charge before we came back.
It’s also zippy and fun to drive, and I have super cruise when I’m on the highway it drives itself and it’s solid.
With all that said, I’m not sure you’ll be able to find one. Same with @Nononocantsleep , I’d be super surprised if you could get your hands on one now, at least a new one. They’re all accounted for.
Unfortunately, there’s no other EV in the Bolt price range. You could wait for the Equinox (and there’s a good chance I’ll upgrade to one in the next year or two), but you likely won’t be able to get your hands on one until mid-2024.
We won’t own another gas vehicle as our normal daily driver. We’ll have to have a gas truck for a while until towing a camper with an electric truck is feasible.
Thanks for the feedback guys. We are a two tesla family (me and my dad both have a Y) so my parents are fully on board with the EV lifestyle and won’t buy gas ever again either. Unfortunately this was the only EV that falls anywhere near what they can currently afford.
And now for the good news.
We found a chevy dealer 20 mins from us that had one on the lot for us to look at. They also had three on order that were unclaimed, including one that met the specs/color my mom wanted, and with no markup. No sales tax in NJ, plus a $4000 rebate that comes right off the sticker price and then the $7500 federal credit gets it down to just over $20k. Insane deal for a new car and my parents are super excited.
In and out in under an hour, no haggling, no “let me get my manager” bullshit. Super impressed as I was expecting the whole car stealership works. Car being built 7/31 and should be here mid August.
I’m incredibly jealous, congrats!
Awesome, congrats.
My mom might need a new car and if that’s a fact I might try to find a bolt for her.
Buying off Craigslist/Marketplace is going to be better especially if you’re looking at low end cheaper used cars. They’re all going to be shit, you’re just paying for marked up shit at a dealership.
Anything you buy isn’t really going to depreciate in 6 months unless the vehicle itself significantly deteriorates. If you pay a fair price now, you’ll be able to sell it for roughly the same price you bought it for in 6 months, regardless of brand.
Goddamn. Nice work!
You might want to check the subreddit for more info, I vaguely recall someone posting that orders would be open until sometime in August.
Up here in the PNW, most of the dealerships throw in a lifetime power train warranty if the used vehicle has under 80k miles (was 90k, they recently changed it).
I thought, like all warranties, this one would be bullshit, but I’ll be damned if they didn’t cover a turbo oil leak and then a complete turbo replacement (like $2k worth of work). Cost me $100 in deductibles both times.
So, maybe not a bad idea to buy from a dealer if you can find one that has a similar warranty program.
I bought a Toyota pickup in 1993 for $1200 and sold it in 1998 for $1300.
Wow - if I wasn’t in the city without a charging option, I’d ask you what dealer and head out there, lol.
Yea being able to charge at home or work is pretty crucial to EV ownership imo. I did see that Chevy is offering 50amp installation for free or some sort of credit though, so if you have any possibility of adding charging capability to your current residence that may be worth looking in to.
My plan is to drive my 2020 Forester Sport into the ground. I am enjoying a sweet zero percent interest loan. I have zero maintenance other than damage I did while offroading. It sure will be nice when that 580 payment is gone in two years though. By the time I need a new vehicle I might have a hard time finding one that’s NOT electrified in some way.
I inherited my Dad’s 2015 Cadillac ATS and just a couple weeks ago heard a grinding noise, took it to the shop and it needs a new rear differential which Cadillac wants 5k C$ for just the parts alone. Apparently all Cadillacs from 2014-2019 have rear differential issues, but they only issued recalls for the CTS and not the ATS. Going to cost me ~$6400
Yea I think the main thing I’m worried about is not being car savvy enough to know if I’m getting sold a car that’s crapping out. I don’t know any mechanics.
Damn, that’s annoying. On craigslist I’ve seen a lot of decently priced older Mercedes and BMWs that seem pretty tempting, but I’m scared if I buy one and anything happens it’s gonna cost an arm and a leg to get it serviced.
