NorthernSpark
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 25, 2015
- Messages
- 51
Hello everyone, new to the board and I'm from Toronto, Canada. I went to have a look at a used 2014 Spark EV 1LT with very low kms (<1500) and the on the road price would be about $20000, which I think is fantastic for essentially a brand new, four-door electric car. It's on hold for me while I investigate the insurance angle and think about it for a day or two.
I'm actually buying this for my wife (and it will be a surprise), who prefers smaller vehicles like the Yaris, Prius c, etc. She commutes about 40 km a day roundtrip. I love the idea of not being dependent on the oil companies anymore with this vehicle and during the test drive everything seemed fine - it's a blast to drive and has plenty of pep! In a way, I think I also like this car because it is more rare (yet doesn't look extraordinary) than the Nissan Leaf, Mitsu i-MiEV, etc. This car is currently not sold to consumers here, so it is more than just low sales numbers - even if someone wants to buy one brand new, they cannot at the moment (it is only sold as a fleet vehicle).
In theory, this is a great car that should have next to no maintenance/repairs with its simplistic powertrain. I'm only hesitating a bit due to the fact that it's a new model from a brand I've never bought from before. That plus the fact that from what I've read, this car is going to be discontinued, so how easy would it be to get parts, etc. if needed down the road (i.e. rarity is a double-edged sword)? Maybe I should hold out for the Bolt (although it would probably be quite a bit more expensive)? Also not sure how this would fare in terms of resale value if we wanted to sell it in a year or two, IF it was not meeting our needs anymore (longer commute or what have you). Any thoughts?
I'm actually buying this for my wife (and it will be a surprise), who prefers smaller vehicles like the Yaris, Prius c, etc. She commutes about 40 km a day roundtrip. I love the idea of not being dependent on the oil companies anymore with this vehicle and during the test drive everything seemed fine - it's a blast to drive and has plenty of pep! In a way, I think I also like this car because it is more rare (yet doesn't look extraordinary) than the Nissan Leaf, Mitsu i-MiEV, etc. This car is currently not sold to consumers here, so it is more than just low sales numbers - even if someone wants to buy one brand new, they cannot at the moment (it is only sold as a fleet vehicle).
In theory, this is a great car that should have next to no maintenance/repairs with its simplistic powertrain. I'm only hesitating a bit due to the fact that it's a new model from a brand I've never bought from before. That plus the fact that from what I've read, this car is going to be discontinued, so how easy would it be to get parts, etc. if needed down the road (i.e. rarity is a double-edged sword)? Maybe I should hold out for the Bolt (although it would probably be quite a bit more expensive)? Also not sure how this would fare in terms of resale value if we wanted to sell it in a year or two, IF it was not meeting our needs anymore (longer commute or what have you). Any thoughts?