This week's EV bargain that I'm not buying

In terms of asking prices and haggling, the last two cars I sold on done deal both buyers did not haggle on price at all and possibly overpaid compared to the same cars for sale outside if Dublin for less.

So many buyers do overpay, don't haggle and possibly wander into local garages and buy whatever they have for whatever the asking price is.

Dealers, in particular main dealers have a vested interest in keeping prices high, especially if they know there are dozens of cars coming in from pcp and trade ins, and they can agree amongst same brand dealers to all keep the same prices and often buyers will only go to a name brand dealer and avoid done deal and off brand back street traders/garages. People probably incorrectly assume buying from a main dealer gives better quality, service history, come back in case of an issue etc. People are willing to pay thousands more for fancy showroom and free cup of coffee.

Buyers also are sometimes under pressure to buy now. They may have sold old car, old car may be giving trouble, circumstances have changed, new job needing a car, new baby, kids outgrowing small car, pcp deal on old car up and decision needs to be made etc.

So buyers are often under pressure. One reason I sold and bought was in a falling market you need to sell old car for slow sale relatively high price but then you have no car and are under pressure to buy quickly. Many buyers can hang around for 6 months and don't have 20+k in cash lying around.

Definitely prices are going to fall but don't expect dealers to jump feet first in with drops. Lots of private sellers will delay sales when their cars don't sell for their hopeful price.

In terms of watching done deal prices fall, I have found no good automated system for tracking asking prices. After having sold I have been contacted by others asking actual sold price. I expect many of these are others with a similar car for sale with no bites.

Along with true number of days it's for sale. I have seen cars go up for sale, then seconds later the price is dropped, looking like price has dropped when ad was only put up seconds earlier.

In order to get best deal you need cash ready. You need to watch all the cars for sale, price, mileage, spec, age, price drop. You need to set up alerts on done deal. Get the correct hardware dongle for checking the battery (LElink odb), get leaf spy app and learn how to use it, test drive a few cars and learn the differences in battery size and battery quality of different years, what to look out for when buying a used leaf. You can also factor in nct just passed, a years road tax, distance/time to go see it, and then see if you want to wait months or years for prices to drop. Factor in fuel costs , hassle etc while waiting.

At the low end of the market you might save 1000-2000 by waiting 6 months and jumping at the right car at the right time. The best bargains don't appear here, they are often sold before discussed here, or are discussed here but best bargain is sitting back until price drops more.

I don't think a cheap very used, very old EV is a good plan for 10 years. While you will travel little distance rust will still happen if parked outdoors. Batteries also degrade with age and use. Then there is the relatively high risk of running an EV out of battery and drivetrain warranty. Things will wear, things will age, if you start off with a 10 year old high mileage EV don't expect to get to year 20 without a high risk of main battery issues, wear and tear like electric windows failing, cabin heater failing (common issue). Fine if you are willing to coax the car along and risk a major expensive fault possibly making the car worth more for parts than fixing. I think the sweet spot is probably 4-8 years old for ownership, where you skip the new depreciation, but it relatively cheap and get rid of it before it's out of warranty and everything plastic starts to break. It means switching vehicles more often but very few people drive 15+ year old cars as daily drivers even for local trips.

Pcp swaps are expected though in the hundreds / thousands