Confused of Bedfordshire - £10/11k
Discussion
MorningCurrent situation is that our trusty Freelander 2 died just before Christmas and I've had it carted away. We we're going to look to replace it in March/April anyway but it must have heard us, as we wanted to look for a slightly smaller/more efficient second car.
We have a Disco 4 that does perfectly for long trips and when we need to lug stuff, so I don't have worries about range or pure capacity in that sense.
Wife is pregnant so won't be doing lots of miles in the near future, and school run is approx. 10 mile round trip, and her work a few times a week is about a 17-20 mile round trip, so I'm thinking an EV could be a great choice for us. Low costs as well compared to the maintenance roulette that I've willingly signed up to as a Disco owner (I love the car)
I can get the car on the drive and potentially granny-charge in the immediate future, with maybe looking at a 'proper' charger at some point but not a necessity at all.
Main concerns at the moment are looking for something that can take at least the frame from an UppaBaby Vista and then a baby seat in the back.
Any thoughts? Looking like either a Leaf or black MG ZS EV, although not many about, around a 21/71 plate.
I am confused about the best approach. I've got a notional budget of £10/11k-ish that's already stretching upwards in cash. As we've just moved house and going down to one income for a while I wanted to keep it either so we've still got cash in the bank, or take a small loan and use less cash and service it from the savings so it's not an immediate impact on the household finances.
However, I'm not sure if this right approach. I am honestly confused about car finances etc and wonder if there's a more sensible approach rather than buying a used EV of this age. Mrs had a lease Qashqai before and although it served a purpose, having a small child and transporting a dog on occasion always filled us with a bit of fear about potential damages.
I got a cheapish used EV, three-pin charged at home, and I'd agree that it's been a great second car for local use, really nice to drive as well as saving money.
I'd consider also:
Hyundai Ioniq
Mazda MX-30
VW e-Golf
MG5
Maintenance wise there's no engine or gearbox to worry about, and the battery should be guaranteed up to 8 years / 100k miles.
The main cost is depreciation, maybe £1k a year over the next three years or so. Obviously the less you spend the less you're likely to lose. But any newer car you buy to replace the Freelander will depreciate, so this isn't really a factor unless the alternative is an air-cooled 911 or something
In general a newer car will cost more money as it depreciates, regardless of whether you pay that up front in cash, or monthly via PCP or lease. So the '21 plate used car is likely the cheaper way overall, especially as it shouldn't be that costly to maintain.
The exception might be if you can find a super cheap lease, either an EV that the manufacturer is desperate to shift (MX-30) or if either you or your wife have a 'salary sacrifice' car scheme available, where you basically don't pay income tax on the cost of the car. In these cases the lease (which could be either brand new or used) could end up competitive on cost.
We previously had a Discovery 4 - a great do it all car but always used to cost £1k minimum for someone to lift the bonnet...
We currently have a Discovery Sport, although one of the 2.2 diesels rather than the IngeniBoom engined ones.
I've had a number of cars over the past couple of years, including Volvo V50s, A6 Avant, Skoda VRS etc, all under £5k.
We moved house last year and included were solar panels, Tesla battery storage, and an Ohme car charger. Based on inheriting all of these we thought we'd try an EV and managed to pick up one of the Hinda e:Ny1's that Honda were heavily subsidising on a PCP at £179/month for 2 years, 6k miles p.a..
I'd either wait to see if you can get one of these heavily subsidised deals or go for a used Nissan Leaf, as they appear to be the used EV of choice, failing that a BMW i3.
Even though we've only had the car for 5 months, I don't think we'd have ordered one without have an ICE car as well. In-laws live in the Lake District and from the south coast its a lot of hassle in an EV, especially as ours doesn't like a Tesla charger. The range has been an eye opener dropping from 250 miles in September to 160 miles recently, and that's without putting the heating on!
If you get a charger fitted switch to someone like Octopus for your electricity, as we are actually better off feeding our excess energy produced into the grid and charging overnight... which I struggle to get my head round
We currently have a Discovery Sport, although one of the 2.2 diesels rather than the IngeniBoom engined ones.
I've had a number of cars over the past couple of years, including Volvo V50s, A6 Avant, Skoda VRS etc, all under £5k.
We moved house last year and included were solar panels, Tesla battery storage, and an Ohme car charger. Based on inheriting all of these we thought we'd try an EV and managed to pick up one of the Hinda e:Ny1's that Honda were heavily subsidising on a PCP at £179/month for 2 years, 6k miles p.a..
I'd either wait to see if you can get one of these heavily subsidised deals or go for a used Nissan Leaf, as they appear to be the used EV of choice, failing that a BMW i3.
Even though we've only had the car for 5 months, I don't think we'd have ordered one without have an ICE car as well. In-laws live in the Lake District and from the south coast its a lot of hassle in an EV, especially as ours doesn't like a Tesla charger. The range has been an eye opener dropping from 250 miles in September to 160 miles recently, and that's without putting the heating on!
If you get a charger fitted switch to someone like Octopus for your electricity, as we are actually better off feeding our excess energy produced into the grid and charging overnight... which I struggle to get my head round
Yeah, I'm absolutely not expecting the EV/or whatever vehicle we choose as the second car to do the heavy lifting, that's what the Disco is for. Main criteria is those shorter day to day journeys where being able to put the pram in the back is needed. So it rules out the smaller EVs, and I don't need anything with huge range.
I'd be happy with either the MG ZS or Leaf, obviously with the public charging potential issue on the leaf it ever did need to pull duty on a longer journey, but that's not it's intended use.
Part of my questioning is whether the outright purchase is appropriate, or there's other financial measures that make more sense. Like the costs of a lease are probably a bit less than the outright cost, but we have to then find another vehicle at the end. Conversely a vehicle of the budget I'm looking has no real warranty other than the battery, and from reading up on both models, that's not really a concern, it's the other bits that might be an issue.
I'd be happy with either the MG ZS or Leaf, obviously with the public charging potential issue on the leaf it ever did need to pull duty on a longer journey, but that's not it's intended use.
Part of my questioning is whether the outright purchase is appropriate, or there's other financial measures that make more sense. Like the costs of a lease are probably a bit less than the outright cost, but we have to then find another vehicle at the end. Conversely a vehicle of the budget I'm looking has no real warranty other than the battery, and from reading up on both models, that's not really a concern, it's the other bits that might be an issue.
Peedeebee said:
Part of my questioning is whether the outright purchase is appropriate, or there's other financial measures that make more sense. Like the costs of a lease are probably a bit less than the outright cost, but we have to then find another vehicle at the end.
As far as I can see, the total cost of a lease on a new EV, adding up the initial payment plus all the monthlies, come out at around £13k or more for four years. Whereas there are plenty of used ~2021 EVs you can buy outright for less than that. So buying used is cheaper than leasing new, even before you consider the value of the car you've bought at the 'end of term'.Yeah, that's definitely something I've considered. It was more if there's a way to be cleverer with the money or offers and get something new/er that still has some warranty. Even the MGs I've been looking at only basically have the battery covered, which 8s more than likely going to be fine, it's all the other bits of that could be an issue. I've heard of issues with the head unit and that's not necessarily a cheap fix.
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