Predicting the 3 year residual value on a BMW i3
Discussion
I'm thinking about buying an i3 as a family run about, as I have always kind of wanted an electric car. Also it would be perfect in my mind for the school run etc.
With a few options and the range extender it seems the price will be around £35k, which is a bit expensive for what in terms of space and performance would probably compare with a £25k new car.
When I buy a car I do give some thought to the lifetime ownership costs, so I need to decide on an estimate of the likely residual value on the i3 after 3 years with circa 20k miles.
I was told that the original bmw RV estimate was only to retain around 30-35% of the initial cost. However, I hear that in the US, bmw have increased the expected RV to circa 50%.
Plus demand seems to be stronger than expected for the i3 which should help RVs.
Has anyone here gone through a similar thought process? I would be very interested to hear what you expect the i3 to retain.
The RV estimate is quite important because, if the RV is around 50%, I think it could make sense for me to buy one. If the RV is only around 30%, it it getting too expensive imo for the kind of car that it is.
With a few options and the range extender it seems the price will be around £35k, which is a bit expensive for what in terms of space and performance would probably compare with a £25k new car.
When I buy a car I do give some thought to the lifetime ownership costs, so I need to decide on an estimate of the likely residual value on the i3 after 3 years with circa 20k miles.
I was told that the original bmw RV estimate was only to retain around 30-35% of the initial cost. However, I hear that in the US, bmw have increased the expected RV to circa 50%.
Plus demand seems to be stronger than expected for the i3 which should help RVs.
Has anyone here gone through a similar thought process? I would be very interested to hear what you expect the i3 to retain.
The RV estimate is quite important because, if the RV is around 50%, I think it could make sense for me to buy one. If the RV is only around 30%, it it getting too expensive imo for the kind of car that it is.
JPJPJP said:
I wouldn't buy an EV just now, I would lease / PCP one where the total cost of ownership over the period is known
If I bought one, I would be gambling on future values and I might end up a bit better off than I expected or a lot worse off than I hoped...
I did consider leasing an i3, but the finance companies are using a low RV, so the lease deals are comparatively expensive. And that is for base spec cars, before adding any options. If I bought one, I would be gambling on future values and I might end up a bit better off than I expected or a lot worse off than I hoped...
(The i3 is one of those cars which imo needs a few options to make it nice. These would make the lease costs very expensive over a 2 or 3 year lease.)
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