I'm on the forecourt right now. 2021 Audi etron EV £21k 30k miles.
It's lovely. Big car overall, big boot.
Is it a money pit?
It's lovely. Big car overall, big boot.
Is it a money pit?
Thinking of getting an EV
- Thread starter danlightbulb
- Start date
It's too small!
I just looked at the Enyaq and the etron. I don't want to go smaller than Enyac.
What's not for real about this thread is struggling to get strong answers and advice. I'm all over the place trying to figure out how to cut my costs or risk and don't seem to be getting through to any solution.
It is astounding to me, that I'm saying that it currently costs me £400 per month to run my 19 year old BMW, that I could save £160 a month in petrol costs by going EV, and potentially have the lot funded pre tax on salary sacrifice, and yet despite all that I still can't beat or equal £400 per month in running costs.
I don't want to be a pain but I desperately need some help here. It is giving me a real headache and making me ill.
But people were telling me it's dead money and I should buy used instead....
The mg5 is still a relatively small car. The seats don't go anywhere near flat. And it looks like it's on stilts. Why shouldn't I want something better?
I go look at used cars and come across Audi etron. Great size and space, premium finish and looks. A £70k car now down to £20k at 3 years old! I get criticised for considering it.
It's a joke, almost all the EVs are over 40k list price. That's going to add £30 a month to every EV bought whether lease or privately funded.
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What happens to value when EVs battery warranty runs out?
The guy at the dealership said that he thinks the price will plummet once the cars reaches at 8 year/100000 mile level, and that's why I should PCP it rather than buy with a personal loan.
Obviously he wants to sell finance of course, but what do you think?
Take the Audi etron as it's a good example here. It was a £70-80k car new and is now say £20-25k at 3 years old/30k miles. That is huge depreciation. If bought over 5 years with a loan, that means the car will be 8 years old and around the 100,000 mile mark - battery warranty expired. Would you expect to be able to sell the car and what for?
Also what kind of repair risk would you be carrying at that point? Electric motors X2 in that car, all the suspension tech, all the HVAC parts, the screens... How risky would all this be compared to an 8 year old ICE?
The guy at the dealership said that he thinks the price will plummet once the cars reaches at 8 year/100000 mile level, and that's why I should PCP it rather than buy with a personal loan.
Obviously he wants to sell finance of course, but what do you think?
Take the Audi etron as it's a good example here. It was a £70-80k car new and is now say £20-25k at 3 years old/30k miles. That is huge depreciation. If bought over 5 years with a loan, that means the car will be 8 years old and around the 100,000 mile mark - battery warranty expired. Would you expect to be able to sell the car and what for?
Also what kind of repair risk would you be carrying at that point? Electric motors X2 in that car, all the suspension tech, all the HVAC parts, the screens... How risky would all this be compared to an 8 year old ICE?
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I could get a loan but that it would be more money than what it currently costs me for the old car or for the cheapest EV on lease (mg5). But I would own the car at the end.
The polestar 2 doesn't look to have a big boot neither does the i-pace. I havent seen either in the flesh though.
I wouldn't buy the 50 no, I could look at the 55? If it's a bargain in terms of the amount it's dropped from a new price of 70-80k, and for what you get for the money?
That's going to be the same on all EVs though isn't it? How much is an electric motor on an Enyac or Ioniq 5 after 8 years? Or a battery replacement? It's probably scrappage level money on any car?
Can I start again from the beginning please. Things are getting out of control, here and in my head.
My current car is a 19 year old BMW 3 series touring, petrol, on 120,000 miles. It costs me:
I consider that the risk of owning this car is too high. I worry every day if its going to fail on me and when it does it could be a car lifespan ending failure and its then worth nothing but scrap value. Ive already done some engine repairs, its still using oil, its starting to consume coolant, it idles rough on start up, and if its cold the exhaust spits out a lot of vapour. I could be only a short time away from some kind of engine failure. The rear wiper is siezed, the passenger door lock doesn't work, the radio display doesn't work. And I pay £400 a month to run this car, half of which is petrol.
I need a decent size boot and the option to put seats down for more space. I carry camping gear, a mountain bike, scuba gear, diy stuff. Not all the time of course, 99% of my miles are going to work and back up the M6, but I need to carry those things several times a year and when I do I need the space. I also need a car that is comfortable on the motorway, nice to drive, not cramped. In an ICE car this has to mean automatic, and it would be good to have things like adaptive cruise.
I'd like a car that isn't too bland and dull. I'd like nice alloys, a sporty look, a nice interior, some modern technology.
1. Is it possible to replace this car and keep my monthly costs to no more than £400 a month in total, including the cost of the car itself? This is why I was looking at EVs, because its the only option where I can cut out the petrol cost from the budget.
2. Am I being too stingy? Perhaps £400 a month to run even an old car like mine is actually quite cheap and I need to consider spending more. How much are your car running costs?
It is so easy to get up-specced. The Audi Etron was a really nice car to sit in, it felt absolutely lovely inside, and looks great (I think) from the outside. Its also got a great size boot and really spacious when the seats go down. Its also got good performance. Its £25k though (down from £70-80k new, so appears a bargain on that basis), and higher on insurance and carries the repair cost risk of a luxury car (but is also a lot newer than what I currently have).
I just put this here for comparison, Im not considering it any more, as its too expensive and still carries with it a level of risk Im not happy with.
One thing I would like to do is not carry any big risk for repairs. ANY car I buy myself would carry that sort of risk and the only option to remove it completely is to lease.
Here is the MG5 option on lease:
In almost every respect its a good option. I get a brand new car, carry no risk whatsoever. But despite the fuel saving AND the salary sacrifice, its still costing me more than £400 a month. That is crazy. Its a nice car, but not a great car. Its still not that big inside, the load space is not great either, and it doesn't look very sporty.
My current car is a 19 year old BMW 3 series touring, petrol, on 120,000 miles. It costs me:
I consider that the risk of owning this car is too high. I worry every day if its going to fail on me and when it does it could be a car lifespan ending failure and its then worth nothing but scrap value. Ive already done some engine repairs, its still using oil, its starting to consume coolant, it idles rough on start up, and if its cold the exhaust spits out a lot of vapour. I could be only a short time away from some kind of engine failure. The rear wiper is siezed, the passenger door lock doesn't work, the radio display doesn't work. And I pay £400 a month to run this car, half of which is petrol.
I need a decent size boot and the option to put seats down for more space. I carry camping gear, a mountain bike, scuba gear, diy stuff. Not all the time of course, 99% of my miles are going to work and back up the M6, but I need to carry those things several times a year and when I do I need the space. I also need a car that is comfortable on the motorway, nice to drive, not cramped. In an ICE car this has to mean automatic, and it would be good to have things like adaptive cruise.
I'd like a car that isn't too bland and dull. I'd like nice alloys, a sporty look, a nice interior, some modern technology.
1. Is it possible to replace this car and keep my monthly costs to no more than £400 a month in total, including the cost of the car itself? This is why I was looking at EVs, because its the only option where I can cut out the petrol cost from the budget.
2. Am I being too stingy? Perhaps £400 a month to run even an old car like mine is actually quite cheap and I need to consider spending more. How much are your car running costs?
It is so easy to get up-specced. The Audi Etron was a really nice car to sit in, it felt absolutely lovely inside, and looks great (I think) from the outside. Its also got a great size boot and really spacious when the seats go down. Its also got good performance. Its £25k though (down from £70-80k new, so appears a bargain on that basis), and higher on insurance and carries the repair cost risk of a luxury car (but is also a lot newer than what I currently have).
I just put this here for comparison, Im not considering it any more, as its too expensive and still carries with it a level of risk Im not happy with.
One thing I would like to do is not carry any big risk for repairs. ANY car I buy myself would carry that sort of risk and the only option to remove it completely is to lease.
Here is the MG5 option on lease:
In almost every respect its a good option. I get a brand new car, carry no risk whatsoever. But despite the fuel saving AND the salary sacrifice, its still costing me more than £400 a month. That is crazy. Its a nice car, but not a great car. Its still not that big inside, the load space is not great either, and it doesn't look very sporty.
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On my salary sacrifice scheme the budget would be as follows:
This is over £300 a month more than my current outlay and is really more than I wanted to spend. I also don't think the model Y has a particularly practical boot. Surely I can do better than a Tesla, I don't really even like the look of them.
On a private lease looking at the Tesla website, 2 year term is the only option, and either 10k or 15k miles a year so I need to choose 15k. With no deposit down it is £583 a month. I would then need to insure it etc. Insurance quote is more than the Audi Etron- £1250 a year or over £100 a month.
So total cost lease + insurance + £20 charging + £10 breakdown cover + £20 home charger installation would be £733 a month (same as the salary sac scheme) and Im not sure what my servicing obligations or tyre requirements are in that either.
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I have a website I can go on and pick different cars etc. I have to then take that gross figure and put it into my own tax calculator spreadsheet to work out the net cost to me, because I also have a salary sacrifice pension and the website isn't clever enough to work that out.
I need 12k miles per year.
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Here is the monthly budget on this:12k is probably into the expensive lease category tbf. You're covering the bulk of depreciation with your monthlies.
I'd go something like this on a loan:
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Still talking nearly £300 more monthly cost than what I currently have. Don't you think this is a bit crazy, that I am saving so much on fuel and not allowing anything for repairs, yet still coming in nearly £300 a month more than current? It feels like Im missing something.
And at the end of my personal loan period that car will be out of battery warranty. I have no idea what that means in terms of risk, or loss of capital value of the car.
Do you think £400 is unrealistic then, completely? I mean, it certainly looks that way, is everyone else here spending way more than £400 a month for their motoring? It is a lot of money and Im not even running a modern car.
I am skewed by what happened to my previous car (engine failure on 115k miles) and the fact that this one is also showing signs of trouble. I am also interested in EV from the point of view of not paying any fuel costs! But, I still need a decent size car there is no getting away from that. I haven't seen anything suggested that is keeping the cost reasonable whilst meeting the criteria.
I don't necessarily need an estate, the Audi Etron I saw today is an SUV and was enough load space for me in both volume and floor area. But whether estate or SUV, I need a decent load space.
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Can you expand on the car cost itself please. Was this a loan for the full amount, or some kind of PCP/lease arrangement on the used car? £276 per month is only about a £14k loan over 5 years, you can't get an i-pace for that. You must be looking at a balloon payment at the end?
I would be quite happy paying an extra £100 on top of what I currently pay to get a much newer nicer car, thats about the amount that I think is reasonable. Any more than that starts to become expensive.
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The reason I haven't pushed the button on the MG is because of how it looks.
The Tesla styling isn't really my bag. I prefer the chunky overtly sporty styling of the German brands, rather than the 'Porsche' like curvy styling on the Model Y. Anyway, I cant afford the Model Y.
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Yes that sounds like the same situation as me. Would you mind sharing the PCP APR rate, and the balloon payment at the end? If not, no worries.
The PCP quotes I have done had me paying as much for the car as taking a loan out and buying it myself. The rate they quoted me today was nearly 12%, when a personal loan is more like 6.2%.
Im aware the car would have a residual value, but I also have to think about monthly affordability as well. I mean, there could be a car out there that costs £100k and in 5 years time would still be worth £100k. Net costs zero. I still couldn't afford to buy it because I can't afford a £100k loan. Im sure you understand the point, I need to consider affordability as much as, if not more than, residual value.
The second issue with the residual value is that its an unknown what impact the EV element of this would have. What residuals are we looking at, it could be next to nothing if it turns out batteries are falling apart after 8 year warranty period is up.
Thanks for sharing. My concern with an arrangement like yours is just how little is paid off the car. You're only paying £3k off it but paying £200 a month. What will you do when the PCP ends and you have to meet that £17k balloon payment?
Ok, I haven't really looked at any PCP options yet because I don't understand it very well.
If I was setting a monthly budget for the car itself at around £300 a month, similar to what Tr1p is paying, then what could I get for that sort of money?
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Those are new cars I would need to look at used cars on PCP.