NortBay or EastBay area owners: trade cars for a few days?

[gra]

My wife wants to wait another couple years and get an EV with better range.

I was thinking the same thing, but got a great lease deal of $85/mo, including taxes, with, in essence, $450 down. Even with $360 shipping from SoCal, the car is literally a free car, when you subtract the gas savings. In fact, I will likely make money on the car over the course of 3 years - including PG&E, insruance, EVSE install, etc. etc. I've done the math and at current gas prices, it's dead even. Free car. So... why not!? It'll be three years, realistically, before the magical 200 mile range cars come out.

I know I recommended the OP lease in an earlier post, but a 72 mile commute, if done 5 days a week will total 360 miles/week, so if zanzabar88's wife commutes 48 weeks a year that's 17,280 miles annually just for the commute, with no miles using the car for anything else. The OP would need a 15k/year lease, more if they could get it, and with only a 15k/year lease the mileage overage charges could be substantial.

Before they lease, find out what the mileage overage charge is, and figure out how much extra that's likely to cost. It may well be uneconomical to lease, but trying to sell a used, short range BEV in a few years once the longer-range ones arrive may mean taking a financial bath. Used LEAF prices are in free-fall now (in fact, they top the list for depreciation), although I'd expect the Spark's price to hold up better owing to the better battery cooling.

 

[ezryder]

My wife wants to wait another couple years and get an EV with better range.

I was thinking the same thing, but got a great lease deal of $85/mo, including taxes, with, in essence, $450 down. Even with $360 shipping from SoCal, the car is literally a free car, when you subtract the gas savings. In fact, I will likely make money on the car over the course of 3 years - including PG&E, insruance, EVSE install, etc. etc. I've done the math and at current gas prices, it's dead even. Free car. So... why not!? It'll be three years, realistically, before the magical 200 mile range cars come out.

I know I recommended the OP lease in an earlier post, but a 72 mile commute, if done 5 days a week will total 360 miles/week, so if zanzabar88's wife commutes 48 weeks a year that's 17,280 miles annually just for the commute, with no miles using the car for anything else. The OP would need a 15k/year lease, more if they could get it, and with only a 15k/year lease the mileage overage charges could be substantial.

Before they lease, find out what the mileage overage charge is, and figure out how much extra that's likely to cost. It may well be uneconomical to lease, but trying to sell a used, short range BEV in a few years once the longer-range ones arrive may mean taking a financial bath. Used LEAF prices are in free-fall now (in fact, they top the list for depreciation), although I'd expect the Spark's price to hold up better owing to the better battery cooling.

My thinking is that i will pay off the lease when i hit the mileage limit. I think you avoid paying the taxes that way, too, so we're taking $65/mo. Even if i hit it 6 months ahead of time, it's still a free car. And if gas goes up even a little...

Problem now is it's hard to find that deal anymore.

 

[mineral]

If you want to try out the Spark EV to see if it works for you before you buy, you can rent them at Hertz. I rented one for $320 for a week before I leased one. If you have some discounts, you can do better on price. Great way to try before you buy...

 

[zanzabar88]

My wife wants to wait another couple years and get an EV with better range.

I was thinking the same thing, but got a great lease deal of $85/mo, including taxes, with, in essence, $450 down. Even with $360 shipping from SoCal, the car is literally a free car, when you subtract the gas savings. In fact, I will likely make money on the car over the course of 3 years - including PG&E, insruance, EVSE install, etc. etc. I've done the math and at current gas prices, it's dead even. Free car. So... why not!? It'll be three years, realistically, before the magical 200 mile range cars come out.

I'm sortof thinking the same thing right now. I could get one of these for myself and have three cars in the family. I have my Focus up on RelayRides and if I rent it out 2-3 times per month it gets paid for and I save a good bit of $ having the EV around to drive to pick up kids from school, etc. I might still go for one of these before the sweet lease deals are all gone.

 

[ezryder]

I'm sortof thinking the same thing right now. I could get one of these for myself and have three cars in the family. I have my Focus up on RelayRides and if I rent it out 2-3 times per month it gets paid for and I save a good bit of $ having the EV around to drive to pick up kids from school, etc. I might still go for one of these before the sweet lease deals are all gone.

I'd do it before the CARS are gone. Doesn't look like there'll be any 2016's.

By my current estimates, I'm actually making money on the car right now. I've dropped the insurance to the minimal - $20/mo - on my ICE car, and I've put it on hold with the DMV. Non-Operated Vehicle, or whatever they call it. I've only driven the ICE car once in over 3 months. If the Spark got 150 miles, real world, I'd sell the ICE car. It's tempting to as it is, but I own it outright, so I don't see a reason to.

 

[fengshui]

I'd do it before the CARS are gone. Doesn't look like there'll be any 2016's.

Do we have a source for that? I've seen mention that the 2016 model will sell to customers in Canada, not just fleets, which implies there will be a 2016, but that's not the same as an announcement.

 

[ezryder]

I'd do it before the CARS are gone. Doesn't look like there'll be any 2016's.

Do we have a source for that? I've seen mention that the 2016 model will sell to customers in Canada, not just fleets, which implies there will be a 2016, but that's not the same as an announcement.

Just go to Chevy's website right now and you'll see a bunch of 2016 models. They show the 2016 Volt. The "All-New" 2016 Spark. If there was going to be a 2016 Spark EV, I would have thought they'd mention it. It's already mid-June. Granted, they don't show a 2016 Cruze, either, so... who knows. One would think there would be a Spark EV for 2016, given the expansion in to Maryland, but... why no word?