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A glut has used-car depreciation accelerating

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271–280 of 376 posts

Re: A glut has used-car depreciation accelerating

#271
post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Liquid cancer? C'mon, that's a bit extreme. Getting down to the point, can you imagine the political fallout from crushing the value of a gas car? It's a truck sized political landmine, and no party is willing to touch that thing with a hundred foot stick. Gas still has significant advantages that electric has yet to match. Worst gas has 53x the specific energy of the best Li-ion, and even with a hundred % efficient…

I mean... if you drink gasoline, you probably will get cancer.

I doubt you will last long enough.

Re: A glut has used-car depreciation accelerating

#272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The overseas markets can't seem to get enough of the Leafs. I've seen trucks full of Leafs delivered for export to places such as Ukraine.

Saw zero leafs during my week in London. Same with a week in Glasgow. Boat loads of prius’ though.

The UK is the third biggest market for Leafs, 20,000 sold.

http://newsroom.nissan-europe.com/uk/en-gb/media/pressreleas...

Re: A glut has used-car depreciation accelerating

#273

Sure, as far as basic transportation goes, but you can't get the vastly improved safety features in a used car that you can in most new cars today. Buy a new Toyota? It comes with automatic emergency braking, collision avoidance, blind spot detection, adaptive cruise control, and built-in backup camera, standard. Buy a used 2014? It has none of that. I just bought a new car for the first time in my life. The safety o…

>It comes with automatic emergency braking, collision avoidance, blind spot detection, adaptive cruise control, and built-in backup camera, standard. Buy a used 2014? It has none of that.

Don't run into stuff? Most of that tech is only useful if you are an absent-minded driver and even then it only covers some cases (e.g. emergency braking doesn't help if the car in front of you slammed into something and you were following too closely). They are selling this tech by exploiting your fears, don't get caught up in it.

Getting in a wreck in a 2014 Corolla is still incredibly safe due to the crumple zones and airbags. The $10k you blew on those features in the new model could easily pay for the damages to a 2014 and would cover all of the cases those features didn't (e.g. someone running into your car in the lot).

Re: A glut has used-car depreciation accelerating

#274
post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trucks are used as work, and puzzlingly, luxury cars in the US. They hold their value well because of the new standards seem to be making long term maintanince harder and more expensive. Pre-DEF Desiel engines, Normally aspirated V8 engines, Thicker sheet metal, Less sensors to replace over rough use are a great example of factors making many used trucks sell for more than new.

My hope is that electric trucks will be more popular.

The higher power requirements make them pretty crappy when it comes to range, particularly if you are actually using it to tow or carry something heavy. Compare gas mileages of trucks to cars to see what I mean.

Re: A glut has used-car depreciation accelerating

#275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And if you buy a used luxury sedan, you can have all that stuff now. Go pick up a 2006 Lexus LS430 with 150,000 Mike's on it for $10,000; they were $70k new and have all those whizbang safety features and it's a Toyota Avalon underneath. You can put 400,000 miles on them if you treat them right. You can do the same thing with the big German luxury sedans, but upkeep will be more. Those aren't Toyotas underneath. It's…

Not going to pile on the Avalon comment. But the LS430s aren't really comparable to the current gen Toyota safety systems. The LS430s have dynamic cruise control but they won't bring the car to a complete stop, the dynamic cruise control in the 01-03s is a little weird (and I think it has some reliability problems). And the dynamic cruise control is bundled with the Ultra Luxury package which has a lot of stuff to br…

Is there something special about the LS430 air suspension? I own a Town Car with rear air suspension and it is my favorite feature of that car. Parts don't seem to be expensive and there is a large aftermarket. I have been recommending rear air suspensions to others interested in comfortable road trip cars.

Re: A glut has used-car depreciation accelerating

#276
post #259

Sure, as far as basic transportation goes, but you can't get the vastly improved safety features in a used car that you can in most new cars today. Buy a new Toyota? It comes with automatic emergency braking, collision avoidance, blind spot detection, adaptive cruise control, and built-in backup camera, standard. Buy a used 2014? It has none of that. I just bought a new car for the first time in my life. The safety o…

Why is it worth 10k? Do you get in a lot of accidents? I genuinely would not want any of those things, I don't want my car making decisions for me, I'm smarter than it. On top of that it's just junk to break you can't fix. I have never been in an accident. I drive a pickup I paid sub $1000 for. Been driving it for three years no issues. That $10k could buy me ten trucks. Would I take it on a trip? No, I rent a car fo…

> That $10k could buy me ten trucks.

It's kind of hard to drive them at the same time, though.

Re: A glut has used-car depreciation accelerating

#277
post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Costco is 20% cheaper than all other stations in Toronto. So either Costco is selling at a loss (unlikely) or there's plenty of profit in gas for gas stations.

Given that you have to pay an annual membership fee to get access to that gas, it's likely subsidized by the fee and used as a loss-leader to bring people to shop at Costco.

Costco does not subsidize its gas sales. It makes money from them:

https://www.fastcompany.com/60019/tiger-costcos-tank

It's an older link, but they still do much the same. There have been court cases brought against them by consortiums of other gas stations here and there, but AFAIK Costco has emerged victorious so far.

Re: A glut has used-car depreciation accelerating

#278
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When new car sales move to electric from gasoline, you'll start to see gas stations go out of business...slowly at first but accelerating as the percentage of gas powered vehicles declines. You'll still have your car and be allowed to drive it, but the days of just finding a gas station wherever you need them will be over. Much like early days of electric cars, people will need a concrete refueling plan for every tri…

Gas stations don't make much money on actually selling gas - consumers are irrationally price sensitive when it comes to the price of gasoline, so the stations are generally selling it at or near cost. As long as people still pop into the convenience store to get a soda and a candy bar, it doesn't matter if they're filling your tank with gasoline or charging your battery.

I'm thinking gas stations will stop selling garbage and start selling actual food, since charging takes longer and people will be hanging around for a little while.

Re: A glut has used-car depreciation accelerating

#279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

75% battery life on a car that has a 90 mile range? Talk about range anxiety! I'm not sure who looks at those cars, but they sure don't use cars like I do. I don't even commute and I can't imagine the stress of driving something like that.

In the Bay Area it's never really an issue because of quick charging. 30 minutes gets you an 80% charge from 0. When you realize that point-to-point the longest possible drive around here is ~40 miles, and there is guaranteed to be a quick charger within a few miles of your destination, it changes things. I admit it's a total mindset shift from driving an ICE but I love it.

> When you realize that point-to-point the longest possible drive around here is ~40 miles

o_O

Re: A glut has used-car depreciation accelerating

#280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The overseas markets can't seem to get enough of the Leafs. I've seen trucks full of Leafs delivered for export to places such as Ukraine.

Saw zero leafs during my week in London. Same with a week in Glasgow. Boat loads of prius’ though.

As well as private owners, both places have a car club using them too [1] - I guess it’s possible the low value makes them more attractive for that use.

http://www.co-wheels.org.uk/electric_vehicles

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