Valuation/depreciation of i3

[MDM]

I'm pretty new to this forum site and recently posted questions regarding tyre life and highest mileage recorded with an i3. I should have taken the trouble to read through previous postings as most of my questions were answered there! Sorry.
Out of curiosity, I recently went on the ( we buy any car.com) site. Here you can enter your Reg.no, mileage,and general cars condition and they come back with a valuation. I've used this facility on previous cars I've owned and the valuation always leans towards the low side as you would expect, but not too unrealistic. Anyway, I entered my i3 details (non extender,2.5 years old, 6000 miles,excellent condition and was rather shocked when they came back with 5,950 GPD!! Now I've never seen an i3 for less than 17,000 pounds on the AutoTrader site so I will be interested to read what you guys make of this? I note that there is no valuation given for i3's in the Parkers guide so perhapse even the trade is having problems valueing these cars.

 

[PluviaPlumbum]

WBAC obviously have no interest in the vehicle hence the ridiculous low ball price offered. They want mass market vehicles to sell at auction as they are in reality a trading arm of British car Auctions. I would not really worry yourself unless you are desperate to offload your car. Just enjoy it. If you want lots of friendly UK oriented advice on ownership they try the i3 Uk facebook group, always lots of discussion & banter.

 

[janner]

The i3 has stronger residuals than a BMW 3-series at the moment.

 

[psquare]

I'm not too fussed about the depreciation. I bought my car as a company car from new and benefitted from the government grants on the vehicle & EVSE. I have a lower BIK and can also fully deduct it in year 1 of company ownership.

The intention is to keep the car for a long time (min 5 years), which means the effect of depreciation will tail off. If you replace your car every 1-2 years, then depreciation can be a concern.

For comparison, in its first year, the i3 has saved us almost £800 in fuel, as most local company/family journeys were done using it. Even without the company car aspect, an i3 (or any EV) is a good money saver if you do plenty of miles in it locally.

 

[jadnashuanh]

The majority of my driving is short range. Where I live, there are essentially no sidewalks, and public transport is not very frequent, so driving is the primary means of getting around safely. As a result, my car is nearly two years old, and since it's used for local trips, has less than 5K miles on it. So, not much exposure to wear and tear. But, one of the main reasons I bought it to supplement my ICE is explicitly, all of those short trips, which are hell on an ICE which needs a good distance to fully warm up and purge contaminants and especially moisture from various bits. The i3, especially the BEV, needs almost no maintenance. Just had the 2-year service done - essentially a brake line flush, new wiper blades, and a cabin air filter, plus a look at things (required the engine mount bolt service campaign and associated software update). Lots of short trips on an ICE can kill it early. Not an issue with an EV. While people do take extended trips in them, while I find it fine for short trips, I wouldn't want to ride in it for hours on end...my ICE is much more comfortable, and I can go more than an hour before needing to recharge/refill the 'tank'. As designed and used - a city car, it is perfect for my needs. Not so much as an only car. I prefer not to compromise, which at least for now, requires two vehicles to be available. I could probably rent one when needed, but that sort of kills the spontaneity of it. It would almost certainly be less expensive, though. Here's hoping a single, primarily EV solution shows up sometime, and I'll trade my two vehicles in. I do not see CCS or hydrogen stations becoming available easily in the USA anytime soon, if ever. Some places are better than others, but it's over 3,000 miles from one side to the other...that's lots of need for infrastructure, with some very sparsely populated areas in between, that may never see that support. Europe is more densely populated and has a better chance, plus, fuel is taxed much more heavily, making EV support more likely to continue to expand.

 

[thefuturenow]

The KBB values for a 2014 are brutal. I am curious to see if dealers are able to move these off-lease at a profit. Once the i3s on lease are turned in their KBB value will be relatively nothing for a perfectly good vehicle.