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Scrapping our old car for an electric

coleen

we have a 20 year old car running fine with high tax and are considering the scrappage deal. We have priced around and only want a mid price car as we already have a 2023 petrol. We only do local driving so it would be 40 km 3/4 days a week. So the best we can get is an Opel Frontera 54kw for €24;500 or the 44kw battery 21;450. This is the standard model. We priced a few others Kia Skoda Hynduia and they were mostly €8k to €12k dearer. We have solar panels and are exporting quite a bit. We are retired so no daily commute. We need to have two cars are we are rural and both have different hobbies. We can’t decide whether to wait and see if they will do a similar deal in 2 -3 years or to go for a new car. We would be cash buyers so I’m wondering if we are getting a good deal.

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poppers

In my opioion shelling 20k-25k for a car to do less than 200km per week is madness. Unless the old car is banjaxed keep that going.

airy fairy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124534260#Comment_124534260

I agree.

Road tax being higher is your only big expense, the depreciation of the new car can't be justified in your circumstances imo.

Baybay

Servicing charges on your older car may also be a consideration. Also the ease with which you can charge at home.

tppytoppy

Grande Panda or e-c3 so you save on tax, NCT, petrol. Those cars are the same as Frontera with less boot space.

coleen

The old car is going well and usually costs very little to service. I know it would be a big pay out for a car that would be not be getting a lot of use. So I might think again about it in another year if the car gives up. It really was the scrapage deal that made me think of it. My plan before this deal was if the car started costing money I would buy a car around 7/8 years old. So maybe I should stick to that plan

Ginger83

You would lose 50% to depreciation in the first 3 years compared to 3 years road tax on your already paid for car. The fuel difference wouldn't be huge

sept09baby

MG4 Urban worth a look? 23k at present for 43kWh battery - would be another 5k off with scrappage deal

awec

What's the mileage on your current 20 year old car?

mickdw

It's not always about the figures. If it was, nobody would ever buy a new car. If you want a new car, get the new car. The twenty year old car will eventually need replacing so might be as good a time as any.

MojoMaker

Tend to agree. It's one of the perks of retirement - doing what you like and enjoying the fruits of your labour.

The 20yr old car isn't getting any younger and who knows when a major issue might strike, even if it seems to be in good nick.

coleen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124534387#Comment_124534387

200km

Buddy Bubs

Lady in work bought a 44kwh frontera recently, she is getting on great with it. You wont get more space for the money.

Its not a great looking car though, if I had my pick for that price point and didnt need a big car i would be after something more stylish, nobody has yet asked what your 20 year old car is and what your 2023 petrol car is ?

GPoint

Would you need to charge electric car to a low % from full if doing very little local mileage? Is this not an issue anymore now with all EVs that you cannot charge to full and leave it sit for e week or more?

MojoMaker

Then you don't charge to full.

Sounds like a granny charger might even cover all they need.

MarkN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124534609#Comment_124534609

no.

coleen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124534583#Comment_124534583

The petrol is a Seat Arona and the 20 year old is a petrol 1.8 Mondeo

Buddy Bubs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124534759#Comment_124534759

Would you want something bigger than the arona in an EV?

Pat734

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124534759#Comment_124534759

I'm in almost exactly the same mindset as you. Will be looking at the as yet unavailable VW Polo ( july release) as advised by a person on Boards.ie, the BYD Dolphin Surf active model, Dacia Spring, all ev's and aprox €20k less the 5k grant. I'm more on the side of getting one of these than staying with what I have which is 18 yrs old. We also have a 2024 EV so this will be for the same purpose as yourself Colleen

joe1303l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124535194#Comment_124535194

If the ID.Polo isn’t likely to be delivered until November, is there a possibility the scheme will have ended if there is big interest ?
Maybe proof of order and subsequent paperwork submitted/approved will secure the grant ?

...Ghost...

Who cares about 3 year depreciation if the car is going to be kept far beyond that?

The EV will likely be the main car, so mileage would be more. There is almost never a logical way to justify a new car, but the new grant definitely takes some of the pinch away from the new car cost.

I spent around €15k on 2014 Nissan Leaf back in 2017. I could have kept my 2001 Merc E200k going for a few years, but the tax was high. Petrol wasn’t cheap and any servicing called for the sale of a kidney.

The EV cost me upfront when funds were limited, as I was going to college as a mature student and my income became very limited. The running costs made it all worthwhile. Cheap tax, free or very cheap fuel and essentially no servicing except for tires.
It became the main car right away and within weeks, our Opel Zafira was sold and replaced with another Leaf. There weren’t many EV options 10 years ago.
If you can afford it. Go for it!

Oscar_Madison

@OP- it wouldn’t be my first choice. It will heavily depreciate compared to rivals; as you get used to an EV, you’ll want to drive it more and more over ICE.
With grant if you could stretch to 30k or even 25k you could get far better cars, with much better range and quality and resale value

I reckon you’ll be keeping this longterm? Then my advice would be buy once buy well.

Helium

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124534360#Comment_124534360

This is a good shout,well priced and good reviews.

gooner99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124535194#Comment_124535194

Daca spring not offered in Ireland since this years mid life revamp.

slave1

Go for it, the EV will soon become your main car so bear that in mind

Grumpypants

Jumping 20 years in tech is well worth it especially as you enter retirement. Id a parent with a 20 year old Yaris that recently changed and even small things like power steering and reversing beeps make life so much easier.

So I don't see an issue going new as the 5k grant makes a new EV very affordable.

The main question is if you can afford to treat yourself and not impact other areas. You've worked long and hard enough to get to this point. If you can afford it go for it.

Buying a new car at least once is a life event.

fergiesfolly

Best thing to do is get a list of affordable, practical EVs and test drive as many as you can.

If, let's say you use the Arona for longer journeys then you don't need huge range on your EV.

BYD Surf are under €20k after the new grants and Hyundai Inster and Renault 4 a little over. And that should give you 10+ years of hassle free motoring. As opposed to the Mondeo that probably won't( I have one myself, great car, but I doubt it'll see 20+years).

If it's in your budget to buy a new(er ) car, I think an EV is worth a look

mr chips

As said above, if you what you really want is to buy a new car, then go for it! There's a world of difference between driving an EV and an old combustion car.

If you're taking a more hard-headed approach and are more interested in trying to get the best value for money than the thrill of a new car, it may be worth looking at a 3 or 4 year old EV with a longer warranty, such as a Kia (7 years), MG (7 years) or Hyundai (5 years entire car/8 years battery & drive train). By that age, like any car they'll have lost about 50% of their value in depreciation, which is a lot more of a reduction than the €5k from this scheme - but they'll still have virtually the same level of warranty cover as brand-new cars from many other manufacturers, maybe even more. Just plucking figures out of the air here, but if your plan is to keep this car for a long time as well, then would getting a used one e.g. for €21k matter more to you than being the first owner of a brand-new one for €32k under the scrappage scheme?

Dayor Knight

VW Polo, orders opening in July, from about €20k. If you can get a further €5k off that for the scrappage, I'd say it would be a cracking car for €15k.

I bought an E-Up in 2024 as second car for city run-around. Absolutely brilliant little car to drive. The Polo should be a step up on that (closer to Golf for space). I can't see the delayed delivery being an issue for the scrappage.

While your Mondeo may be running fine now, at 20 years old, it would take just one problem for the costs to start kicking in….

evftw

Pretty much all of the EVs have an 8 year battery capacity warranty to 160k. Tesla also warrants the drive units and inverters etc. until 160/192 depending on the RWD/AWD on Model 3/Y and until 240k for the Model S. So the second hand EVs are a very safe choice as long as they are within the warranty limit.

oceanman

My advice would hang on to the mondeo as long as its running well, its not costing you much and owes you probably noting at this stage. I am in the same boat as yourself driving a 20 year car with 280km on the clock, have it 15 years now and other than a service once a year and a few tyres its been super reliable, just flew through the NCT last week so i will be keeping it for a few more years. If you really want to dip you toe into an E car i would go for something 3 or 4 years old with low milage and still in warranty, that way the first owner has taken the hard hit on depreciation. Anyway best of luck with whatever you decide to do.