Depreciation of Tesla (rant because I am too poor)

Get a cheaper compact car with good mpg and reliability ratings, DIY the maintenance as much as practical. If that's not in the cards: public transit.

 

Many states charge about as much EV tax as you would pay for gas in a cheap econobox like a Mirage.

as long as this continues I will likely keep my registration free “collector” hybrid


That said Chevy Bolts start at $10k as do I3 REX, still gotta pay those same EV fines even though they have less utility compared to a Tesla

 

Used CPO Hydrogen Mirai is a great deal if you live in California. Not sure what deals you have in Holland.

 

Usually, subsidies speed up depreciation, as a new one's effective price is lower than the MSRP.

Then some things just hold their value for various reasons. 5 years ago, what new BEV had the range of a Tesla? The Bolt might have been coming out around then, but Europe got very few(might be using the old EU Volt's name). Likely nothing the size of the Model S or X.

 

We have a black Tesla Model 3 SR+ with 11k miles. Trade in value on KBB (not higher private party) as of check a couple days ago is $36,678, less than $1k we paid pre-incentives. Was surprised it is still worth about the same as new.

 

Most if not almost all posters here would live in America or Canada and the advice you get is based on our culture and experience. I am no exception.

In America we have a variety of BEV's and PHEV's. An individuals own situation determines the best fit. For many here a Prius Prime or one of the many other Plug In Hybrids offer an outstanding compromise. If a fellow wanted an all electric vehicle he could choose between a Tesla (excellent choice), Niro BEV ( car of the year) a Leaf (excellent compromise between cost and performance) as well as many others.

While in the service I had the pleasure to spend time in Europe and to visit much of it. I was stationed at Mildenhall RAF AFB and lived in Newmarket in Suffolk England.

In my opinion what you are running into is one of the downfalls of Europe's Socialist bent. Not many choices and a situation where the government determine winners and losers which limit your choices for a true economic decision based on value. The government will determine which vehicles make sense not the true value and practicality of the vehicle. Your situation and choices are going to be dramatically different than ours in the US.

I really enjoyed my time in Europe and its wonderful cultural heritage but even in the late 1970's could begin to see the many problems Socialism was beginning to cause.

I smiled when I saw your frustration with changing the Prius wheel bearing. I owned a 2008 Prius that I traded in on a new PHEV in 2019. I changed the front wheel bearing out a couple of time and am very familiar with the frustrations of this job. Our Prius had over 150,000 miles on it when we traded it in and it still would average over 50 miles per gallon of gas. In our case I have a number of female drivers in the family and at 12 years old and over 150,000 miles on it I had to look at getting something more modern and reliable. It was showing its age and seemed to be always having something that needed attention.

It is wonderful to hear from people in different parts of the world. You post bought back many pleasant memories and I hope you get the help/advice you need and continue to post here.

 

Little off topic - but here in the USA we are denied many great cars that are not allowed to roam the roads from Europe and Japan. So it’s no different than here. California is the worst.

 

THIS is not a given.

It depends on a lot of things, the first being the specific chemistry used to make the batteries.
That does not mean the type, necessarily, but the actual formula used to create the battery in question.
Then there is the environment where it is used. Heat KILLS batteries; all of them.
And lastly, some of the capacity loss is just due to age, regardless of the use or non-use.

In general, the higher the "new" cost, the higher the initial depreciation.
But the market for used ones has a big bearing too.

 

tesla don't depreciate. i would only buy new.

 

Explain please.

 

risk/reward
when you look at the used prices, it's not worth the miniscule savings and potential problems.

 

In the US, the average ev five year depreciation is well over 50% with the Nissan Leaf dropping a whopping 89% in five years - obviously making everyone look bad. By those metrics Teslas look ok, especially the lower cost, low supply Model 3s who are currently losing only 10% in three years. But all used cars are dramatically up because of the slowdown in new car manufacturing, sales and trade-ins this year. Most of the Model 3 advantage is low supply as evidenced by the large Chevy Bolt September numbers.

The Model S also loses about 50% in five years. I think Tesla S depreciation is caused by high initial costs ($100k), concerns about battery lifetimes (real or not), poor quality fit and finish (real), poor service (real), poor parts access (real) and unfulfilled expectations like autopilot. Most of which are better on the Model 3.

 

Can you tap the French EV market? Perhaps a Zoe?

Bob Wilson

 

Renault was doing battery leasing only for awhile, which brings up issues with used sales.

 

That would apply only with cheap U.S. gasoline, not with the much higher European fuel prices that OP must pay.

 

Model S price (only available with 100kwh now) has dropped down to $79K. So yeah, hard to sell ANY $100,000 car for $90K when you can buy new for $20K less.
As for battery concerns? From the warranty Tesla web page;

Most of the traction packs will easily pass 200k miles & still have around 80% capacity remaining. So it'd be interested to know who is saying otherwise.
.