71–80 of 376 posts
Thank the gods we're no longer in that weird bubble from a few years back where decent used cars were basically more expensive than new ones.
Could you tell us more? Was this in some niche segments of discontinued but popular models (like certain Subarus) or were run of the mill cars also like this?
With many countries tabling laws to outlaw the sale of diesel and gasoline cars around 2030, this is going to accelerate extremely quickly. In 5 years (2022), everyone will know it will be illegal to buy a gasoline car in just under 8 years. I think there will be very little demand for the regular old gas powered car. (excepting maybe exotics, or "pleasure drives", which much be a tiny fraction of overall sales) That…
Aren't all those laws focused on new cars? I can't imagine the backlash a government would receive by zeroing out the value of most people's most expensive possession.
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Have you seen what happens to gas stations during a mandatory evacuation or disaster? With no electricity, gas can not be pumped from the tanks. Even when it can, there is immediately a line-up of 100s of vehicles. (I see this very often in West Africa)
I saw it the other day when the eclipse came to Oregon, and the population suddenly increased by 25% for a few days. I'm guessing that if the number of electric cars surged by 25% for a few days, it would be much less of a problem. [0]: http://www.kgw.com/news/eclipse/gas-shortages-long-waits-rep...
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Yes, the laws only apply to new vehicles. It's similar to when Color TVs were invented. What happened to the re-sale value of all the B&W TVs that were already out there? They plummeted, because they had been superseded. This scenario will be even more aggressive, because laws will ban the sale of the "old tech".
No, the laws will only affect new car sales, not the old tech. That doesn't affect the secondary market for used gasoline cars in the slightest.
This may be temporary, as services like Uber/Lyft increase, and the possibility of Autonomous Vehicles driving down the cost of those services. This would cause the volume of new cars needed to dramatically fall, leading to increased cost of those new vehicles. This would increase the value of used vehicles that are currently priced in. Would love to hear differing opinions :)
Erm... A decrease in demand does not lead to an increase in price.
Interesting that this has nothing to do with ride sharing (or at least the article doesn't cite that as a reason). I think autonomy and ride sharing will drive used cars nearer to the value of scrap metal within the next 5 years.
Consider 2 similar 2015 Priuses, one with 32,000 mi, the other with 92,000 mi. The one with lower mileage will usually net a higher sale price.
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Why is it so dumb to buy a used car off the lot? I bought an Audi off lease last year. It's still under warranty, free maintenance (until 80k km), low mileage (37k km), fully loaded with options, and I saved $20k vs a new one.
Most used car dealers don't give you a warranty: https://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/ctd/d/2015-bmw-x5-35i-awd... Note the conspicious absence of the word "warranty" on this listing. If the car falls apart as you drive off the lot, you're out $35K. CPO cars have a warranty, which sharply limits your downside risk. Buying a used car from a manufacturer is a much better deal than buying it from a third party.
Obviously, cars rarely fall apart as you drive them off the lot. Yes, there could be unexpected expensive repairs. But there's basically no realistic scenario in which you're going to be out the entire $35k.
I understand that you're exaggerating for effect, but it's this kind of thinking that convinces people to purchase expensive warranties that aren't (statistically) worth the price.
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A friend who is a materials engineer told me that there aren't enough rare-Earth metals in the world to supply the demand for magnets to replace all of the current petrol based cars with electric cars. No sources unfortunately, but this thing might not scale.
That's part of the reason why practically all electric cars currently in production use induction motors, which only require copper. Yes, it would require more rare earths than are currently economically feasible to mine if we replaced every fossil fuel engine with a permanent magnet electric motor of equal power. The only real difference between the two is the design difficulty of the drive circuitry for the VFD to…
Awesome. My 20 year old car is in great shape but it is getting older and I will need to replace it sooner or later.
Awesome. My 20 year old car is in great shape but it is getting older and I will need to replace it sooner or later.
I'm kind of in the same boat, but I'd really like to get an electric model that's been produced for a few years, which means there won't be much on the used market.