Sold At a Steep Discount - 2014 BMW i3 Long-Term Road Test

Comments

• daryleason TexasPosts: 501

  January 2016 edited January 2016

  And this is why I don't recommend EVs to people. At least not new. You can get an ICE car for at least 2/3 of the cost that'll get 35 mpg or better, and it'll still have a better resale value. Frankly, value-wise, ICE is still the leader. Diesel follows closely behind, except the increased fuel and service cost hurts it long-term, although the higher resale value helps make up the difference. Plenty of people think "200,000 miles is just breaking a diesel in" when they go to buy.

  0
• iamthestig Philadelphia, PAPosts: 85

  January 2016 edited January 2016

  Why didn't the $7,500 federal tax credit figure into your calculation? That would have given you a depreciation of 35%, and it would have been in line with other i3 owners who also received the federal tax credit.

  0
• desmolicious Posts: 671

  January 2016

  So are you going to correct the TMV and adjust it down from $33000 to $26000?

  1
• banhugh Posts: 315

  January 2016

  Good riddance!

  0
• ebeaudoin NE IllinoisPosts: 509

  January 2016

  http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/default.html?id=12801268&AVi=1&No=0&Rp=R&D=90&zip=60014&N=4294963045+4294959325&Q=6afc2770-5737-4dc0-a7ab-a40ae8a9fdea&Ep=search:results:results page
  
  Is that the car? They clearly listed it with a $6,998 profit margin so they can incrementally discount it and still turn a profit. Very interesting.

  0
• desmolicious Posts: 671

  January 2016 edited January 2016

  ebeaudoin said:

  http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/default.html?id=12801268&AVi=1&No=0&Rp=R&D=90&zip=60014&N=4294963045+4294959325&Q=6afc2770-5737-4dc0-a7ab-a40ae8a9fdea&Ep=search:results:results page
  
  Is that the car? They clearly listed it with a $6,998 profit margin so they can incrementally discount it and still turn a profit. Very interesting.

  They must be using Edmunds' TMV.
  

  3
• moridin2 Posts: 4

  January 2016 edited January 2016

  Depreciation should be based on the cost you paid for the vehicle, which is $10,000 less than the negotiated price with the two incentives (Federal and CA state). That is representative of what everyone pays for the vehicle on the market at the moment. It is also the reason why the residual value is so low, because it represents a relatively normal depreciation from the low initial purchase price.

  0
• ebeaudoin NE IllinoisPosts: 509

  January 2016

  moridin2 said:

  Depreciation should be based on the cost you paid for the vehicle, which is $10,000 less than the negotiated price with the two incentives (Federal and CA state). That is representative of what everyone pays for the vehicle on the market at the moment. It is also the reason why the residual value is so low, because it represents a relatively normal depreciation from the low initial purchase price.

  An interesting argument. However, it's difficult to track, because vehicle transaction prices aren't public record, like, say, a house or property. If there were a way to see how much the previous owner paid for a vehicle and then base the depreciation and negotiation off of that, I know I would be interested to see.

  0
• kirkhilles1 Posts: 863

  January 2016

  The cost is understandable given the complexity and battery cost, but lets face it, a 5 series starts at $50k (although I'm sure it goes to 2x that knowing German vehicles) and this car doesn't look like a higher-end BMW. But, of course, depreciation is a 2 way street just like anything. Buying it at $25k might be appealing, presuming that maintenance and repair costs were reasonable.

  0
• throwback Posts: 445

  January 2016

  No surprise EVs have terrible depreciation. The second buyer doesn't get the tax credit, so would you buy a $33,000 EV? Assuming these cars are durable, an off lease 3 year old i3 may make more sense if you have to have one.

  0
• cameronr Posts: 37

  January 2016

  ebeaudoin said:

  http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/default.html?id=12801268&AVi=1&No=0&Rp=R&D=90&zip=60014&N=4294963045+4294959325&Q=6afc2770-5737-4dc0-a7ab-a40ae8a9fdea&Ep=search:results:results page
  
  Is that the car? They clearly listed it with a $6,998 profit margin so they can incrementally discount it and still turn a profit. Very interesting.

  Yes, this is the i3 we sold to CarMax

  0
• longtimelurker Posts: 455

  January 2016

  cameronr said:

  
  

  ebeaudoin said:

  http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/default.html?id=12801268&AVi=1&No=0&Rp=R&D=90&zip=60014&N=4294963045+4294959325&Q=6afc2770-5737-4dc0-a7ab-a40ae8a9fdea&Ep=search:results:results page
  
  Is that the car? They clearly listed it with a $6,998 profit margin so they can incrementally discount it and still turn a profit. Very interesting.

  Yes, this is the i3 we sold to CarMax

  So, Cameron...why is your proprietary TMV so far off from reality?
  
  

  0
• bankerdanny Posts: 1,021

  January 2016

  longtimelurker said:

  cameronr said:

  
  

  ebeaudoin said:

  http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/default.html?id=12801268&AVi=1&No=0&Rp=R&D=90&zip=60014&N=4294963045+4294959325&Q=6afc2770-5737-4dc0-a7ab-a40ae8a9fdea&Ep=search:results:results page
  
  Is that the car? They clearly listed it with a $6,998 profit margin so they can incrementally discount it and still turn a profit. Very interesting.

  Yes, this is the i3 we sold to CarMax

  So, Cameron...why is your proprietary TMV so far off from reality?
  
  

  I'm sure its because the comparable data set is small. The fewer data points the less accurate the prediction.

  0
• darthbimmer Posts: 606

  January 2016 edited January 2016

  throwback said:

  No surprise EVs have terrible depreciation. The second buyer doesn't get the tax credit, so would you buy a $33,000 EV? Assuming these cars are durable, an off lease 3 year old i3 may make more sense if you have to have one.

  For this car I would compare any used price to $40k new -- the full negotiated price minus the tax credits. That means $33k represents a savings of $7k/17.5% versus new. Is that enough to justify buying lightly used? It seems about par for the course; fair but not great. Normally I would go for a slightly older car when buying used. Like you suggested, I'd look for a good condition 3 year old, and I'd aim to save 40% off new.

  0
• gslippy Posts: 514

  January 2016

  This site always expresses surprise that its proprietary TMV calculator is wrong.

  0
• desmolicious Posts: 671

  January 2016

  bankerdanny said:

  longtimelurker said:

  cameronr said:

  
  

  ebeaudoin said:

  http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car/default.html?id=12801268&AVi=1&No=0&Rp=R&D=90&zip=60014&N=4294963045+4294959325&Q=6afc2770-5737-4dc0-a7ab-a40ae8a9fdea&Ep=search:results:results page
  
  Is that the car? They clearly listed it with a $6,998 profit margin so they can incrementally discount it and still turn a profit. Very interesting.

  Yes, this is the i3 we sold to CarMax

  So, Cameron...why is your proprietary TMV so far off from reality?
  
  

  I'm sure its because the comparable data set is small. The fewer data points the less accurate the prediction.

  
  But this is part of the data set. And it seems that the data is ignored.
  Either correct the TMV, or require a sufficient population size before publishing a TMV.
  

  0
• ebeaudoin NE IllinoisPosts: 509

  January 2016 edited January 2016

  Or look at auction reports, because that's what a used car buyer/dealer is going to look at.
  
  

  0
• ryster Posts: 571

  January 2016

  iamthestig said:

  Why didn't the $7,500 federal tax credit figure into your calculation? That would have given you a depreciation of 35%, and it would have been in line with other i3 owners who also received the federal tax credit.

  Not everyone qualifies for the entire $7500 tax credit. If your tax liability is less than $7500, you can only claim up to your actual tax liability. The tax credit is also non-refundable (you do not get the difference if you only use, for example, $5000 of the credit) nor can any difference be applied to future tax liability. Everyone's situation is different. High income buyers might be able to use the full $7500, where as lower/middle income buyers might not be able to claim the full $7500. Therefore, the tax credit's impact on depreciation will vary by buyer.

  0
• casey912 Posts: 1

  February 2016

  Huge percentages of this car were leased, not purchased. We leased. Our reasoning was that EV technology is just moving too fast. That said its a very good lease price for us and a very nice discount for whoever buys when we turn it in.

  0