Help, need some ideas

stesaurus

So I'm currently still in my 330e but looking at possibly changing. I'm moving job soon and will need to do a lot more driving. 160km each day and unlikely to charge while at work. I'll easily do about 40,000km over the next year.
I'd like to change back to an EV but trying to find the best value. So resale, depreciation, running costs are all playing a part. My budget is limited as I'm saving for a mortgage and need to have zero finance outstanding. So at most I'd out €10k into it. With that in mind I'd put the following as options but open to other suggestions. After a year I'll be looking at going to a model 3 or similar, I hope.
So my options. Stay in the 330e: I'm currently getting about 60mpg but I'd expect that to drop to maybe 40 as my commute will be all motorway. So a comfortable cruiser but looking at petrol expense, servicing, tyres etc. Maybe €5k to run for a year.
Change back to a full EV.
42kWh BMW i3, range should be fine even in winter. Loved my previous i3 but just hated the range in winter.
MG ZS, exclusive model seems to be readily available and has plenty of spec. Cheap as chips and seems ok. Range is fine but servicing would need a trip over the border.
E-Golf range would be very tight in winter without a charger at work. Otherwise seems ok with recent price drop.
Leaf, Ioniq, Kona and eNiro are way overpriced for what they are. Not sure there's much value in changing to one of these.
Mini EV, not available until March and might struggle to do the range. Good price though.
Zoe, eCorsa, e208, all a bit small. Would like something in the next segment.

Anything I'm missing from the list or any general opinions?

unkel

Aren't you a bit optimistic with what your budget is? How much do you reckon you will get for your 330e - a 2017 m-sport, from memory?

A 42kWh i3 new is €36k base without any options

If you can get work charging, that would cut about 20-25km of petrol use out every day. Not an option?

stesaurus

Yep a 172 M Sport. I've been offered €25k for it so say a max budget of €35k. It doesn't have to be new, say anything 2019 etc. Happy to bring in something from the UK also. There's a few i3 that could be landed for €30k ish. Even an i3 S for £28k but it's red.
Joe Duffy have 2 i3 S also for €36k with probably some small wiggle room. So it should be possible for the standard model also.

unkel

stesaurus wrote: »

Yep a 172 M Sport. I've been offered €25k for it

I'd jump at that offer. Was just looking at importing one from the UK last week (purely for flipping) and you can get them an awful lot cheaper than that over there. With a very low VRT bill to pay. I think I spotted a 2017 330e for GBP12k (€1k VRT)

ewj1978

My commute is just under 150km. I'm never going back to an ICE. The savings you'll make are huge in a EV.

Kramer

I had the pleasure of putting 1300km+ on an i3s during the summer of 2018, over the course of a (very) long weekend.
I really liked it, it was top of the list for me for BEVs at that time.
One thing that irked me though was its motorway performance. It had a frequent "shimmy" or vertical oscillation at motorway speed, depending on the road undulations. I think it was a combination of the lowered & stiff suspension, coupled with the ultra low profile tyres.
It was quite uncomfortable & was felt through the whole body, a rapid vertical undulation or bounce, of the whole chassis, lasting several seconds.

It did tend to move far more than other cars too in crosswinds on exposed sections.

For me, it would not be a 160km/day or frequent long distance motorway cruiser, but other than that foible, a great car.

kanuseeme

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202001236489492?postcode=bs16qf&sort=price-asc&advertising-location=at_cars&radius=1500&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&make=TESLA&page=1

Tesla Model S (2016)
E 70 CVT 5dr
28,640 Pound sterling equals
34,057.63 Euro

You mentioned new cars, why not 2nd hand? Would you suffer from the high depreciation on a year old car with 40000 km on it ?

Would Tesla offer a better price for a trade in on one of their own cars? Thats if you go for a M3

stesaurus

Kramer wrote: »

I had the pleasure of putting 1300km+ on an i3s during the summer of 2018, over the course of a (very) long weekend.
I really liked it, it was top of the list for me for BEVs at that time.
One thing that irked me though was its motorway performance. It had a frequent "shimmy" or vertical oscillation at motorway speed, depending on the road undulations. I think it was a combination of the lowered & stiff suspension, coupled with the ultra low profile tyres.
It was quite uncomfortable & was felt through the whole body, a rapid vertical undulation or bounce, of the whole chassis, lasting several seconds.

It did tend to move far more than other cars too in crosswinds on exposed sections.

For me, it would not be a 160km/day or frequent long distance motorway cruiser, but other than that foible, a great car.

I owned an original i3 for over 2 years and regularly traveled long distances by motorway. I found it very comfortable but never noticed any issues like you mentioned. Crosswinds a little though.
Did you mention it to the dealer at the time, maybe something more going on that needed attention?

stesaurus

kanuseeme wrote: »

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202001236489492?postcode=bs16qf&sort=price-asc&advertising-location=at_cars&radius=1500&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&make=TESLA&page=1

Tesla Model S (2016)
E 70 CVT 5dr
28,640 Pound sterling equals
34,057.63 Euro

You mentioned new cars, why not 2nd hand? Would you suffer from the high depreciation on a year old car with 40000 km on it ?

Would Tesla offer a better price for a trade in on one of their own cars? Thats if you go for a M3

Could be a runner! No issues with going second hand except warranty really. Battery is 8 years, I think, but can you purchase an extended warranty on a 2nd hand private purchase for everything else?

I haven't been following Model S prices lately. How have they been since the 3 started deliveries. Any thoughts on future depreciation etc

ELM327

kanuseeme wrote: »

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202001236489492?postcode=bs16qf&sort=price-asc&advertising-location=at_cars&radius=1500&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&make=TESLA&page=1

Tesla Model S (2016)
E 70 CVT 5dr
28,640 Pound sterling equals
34,057.63 Euro

You mentioned new cars, why not 2nd hand? Would you suffer from the high depreciation on a year old car with 40000 km on it ?

Would Tesla offer a better price for a trade in on one of their own cars? Thats if you go for a M3

LOL
No no, they offer terrible tradein!

unkel

ELM327 wrote: »

LOL
No no, they offer terrible tradein!

Unless you got a quote from a hungover trader (who is no longer employed) who gave €20k for a 2016 Leaf

kanuseeme

unkel wrote: »

Unless you got a quote from a hungover trader (who is no longer employed) who gave €20k for a 2016 Leaf

I read about that one, and the terrible offers on trade-ins but I was of the opinion that like any main dealer you would get a slightly better deal when trading in the same brand or do they not have any faith/pride or value on their own brand?

Did I not read somewhere they were guaranteeing future values on their cars? (maybe that was in the states)

Perhaps they know more nerfing is in the pipeline

Has any one traded a Tesla for another Tesla?

unkel

kanuseeme wrote: »

I was of the opinion that like any main dealer you would get a slightly better deal when trading in the same brand

Nah. Tesla don't do any trade-ins at all. If you really want to get rid of your car, they will ring a few of their numbers of traders and just give you the highest figure that those traders give them. Tesla will handle the paperwork, but they won't even touch your car.

Kramer

stesaurus wrote: »

I ................never noticed any issues like you mentioned. Crosswinds a little though.
Did you mention it to the dealer at the time, maybe something more going on that needed attention?

It was a brand new car at the time & the owner did accept the ride was a little harsh. I never noticed the phenomenon in a regular i3 so would assume it was particular to the i3S & its wheels/tyres/lowered & stiffened suspension.

It was occasional & only at high speed on the motorway - not a real issue most of the time & wouldn't prevent me from buying an i3S, I really liked the car.

stesaurus

I've just sold the 330e and put a deposit down on an MG. Cheap Chinese plastics here I come!

I'll probably be the sole member of the Irish MG ZS EV owners club.

Kramer

stesaurus wrote: »

I've just sold the 330e and put a deposit down on an MG.

Jees, no brand loyalty with you :P.
Well wear with the MG :pac:.

unkel

Good man, well done on the sale. MG ZS is an honest car that does what it says on the tin. People have come from the likes of Tesla Model S and bought one and were happy with it. I.e. James & Kate, Bjørn Nyland.

Wasn't easy to find a new EV that can do that commute and stay within your budget. No doubt you'll get a better EV in due time, but for now the car should serve you well. Well wear.

Out if interest, did you buy from a Belfast dealer? Are you getting the UK grant, but not the Irish SEAI grant and what way is it working out financially? I'd have thought you'd get stung doing this sort of thing now with sterling being so strong?

unkel

And if the job doesn't work out, you could always start selling bananas :pac:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c58BWEplDc

stesaurus

It was a pain if I'm honest. No dealer would sell something new as I don't have a UK address. That's fair enough I guess. So next step was to find an already registered on plates, non white Exclusive model. Then after that convince said dealer that I'm not lying about needing to buy the car less VAT. I'll pay that when I register here.
Honestly I was ready to keep the BMW but finally found one today.
Sterling is a killer alright but managed to negotiate a good deal on it being a demo. Cost to change will be about €2k plus boat etc.

So I'll be saving money over the course of a year in petrol. I'm betting the MG is also worth more than I could sell the BMW this time next year also.

unkel

Yes, I told you to accept that offer on your 330e. You did well there. You got a good bit of time out of it for little money as you did well bringing it in.

Do you mind sharing how much the MG was in GBP (with no VAT)?

stesaurus

unkel wrote: »

Yes, I told you to accept that offer on your 330e. You did well there. You got a good bit of time out of it for little money as you did well bringing it in.

Do you mind sharing how much the MG was in GBP (with no VAT)?

The 330e only cost me about €3k in depreciation. Not bad for 2 years in a BMW.
MG less VAT is £19k, I may have lied to him about the number of other options I had