Buying a used minivan or wait a few years and buy new?

That’s close to what I just bought. $41,000 3 year old car with 71k miles for $14,200. Only some makes and models can be had that cheap though. I doubt I would want the model that has dropped that much with only 40k miles.

I’m having mechanical issues with mine already, so I can’t actually recommend what I did.

That sucks about your troubles @meed18. What did you buy? That’s high mileage for a 3 year old.

I’m still going to do it I think. I have to do something soon after the insurance co cuts me a check.

There are not a lot of cars that fit the numbers I put out just now–but the ones I see are actually alternate fuel/EV cars. People leased them, and the market for used is just not good. I think it helps that they can’t get in the carpool in CA anymore.

One example is the 2016 Nissan Leaf. The car was $37-$40k. Good examples that are Nissan certified and under 40k miles are $15k. I cannot wait for the new 2018 leaf to be 3 years old and drop down to this area.

Another car is the Fusion Energi, these were $40k new, are down around $15-$16k CPO now same mileage. This car is also being discontinued so low demand already for new.

These cars also save about $1k-$2k a year in fuel. They can depreciate a lot and still be a net win after just 5-6 years.

Can also get $450 back from my utility for buying a used EV.

A Volvo V60. It was driven by a pharmaceutical rep all over the southeast. There is a technical service bulletin/technical journal about the issue I am having. I was just one of the unlucky ones where the issue crept up after the car was out of warranty.

That makes sense that those would have more depreciation than normal. I wasn’t really thinking about those models when I said that 60% depreciation in 3 years only happens on models that I wouldn’t want (but it is true, I don’t want an EV). People are indeed very nervous about buying anything used that is mainly battery powered. I have no idea if those fears are warranted or not, so if you’ve done your research and feel comfortable with it, i say go for it.

Good point about the batteries. In CA the batteries on PZEV vehicles have to be warrantied for 10/150k. That’s making me lean towards at a volt/Fusion/Cmax over the leaf. Also those cars have a regular gas tank for long drives. That means I could get a leaf (when it is 3-4 years old) in a few years as car #2.

Did you decide?

why not a MR M3 @ 46K - 7.5k tax credit? I’m Debating b/t that or a used MS around the same price…

Other option is a pacifica PHEV