So, the Slate price is out. And I qualify for a ton of Colorado incentives, brining my price down over $10,000! On the other hand, some $15,000 is still some $15,000 that I could better put towards more important things. And I don't have much use for a 2 seater pickup. I am trying to save fuel, but I've been combining that with addressing health issues by riding a bicycle instead. Oh well. Maybe a meteor will come crashing down on my Avalon tomorrow (hopefully without me in it) and I'll be in the market for a Slate. Or I'd try to save some money on a $5,000 Toyota with 365,000 miles on it.
A neighbor just a couple blocks up the road has a 58 VW Bug fully restored that I'm tempted to buy. $15,000 w/a freshly built 68 dual carb engine. Parts so simple you can fix anything yourself. Decisions decisions They are so light it could be towed behind our RV unlike many modern vehicles.
...and you need to! Just remember, you're doing a valve adjustment every 3k, setting dwell and or replacing points every 6k, plugs every 12k, suspension lube every 15k, repack the wheel bearings every 30k... That's not the whole schedule, but it should give you some reminder of what it was like. You probably wouldn't need to put that many miles on it, but make no mistake, there's a heck of a lot more maintenance to do on those, precisely because they are from the era of cheap labor and expensive parts. The opposite is now true, proceed carefully.
Yes - in high-school auto shop, we (team of 4) took apart & rebuilt a similar VW engine - that had a piston that had gotten punched thru due to getting speared by a valve.
@hill . And where exactly is this neighbor, or maybe a phone number? Just kidding! I loved my Bug. I rebuilt the engine on it. I even got the heater system working well enough to stay warm, even in the negative zero temps we get around here. Man! I miss my Bug. But I got to keep focused on what's practical and most important. Housing and health are kind of ahead of fun cars on the list of things to attend to.
Good question. I didn't ask seeing how I have over 50 years being a Colorado resident. Part of the qualification is also income. And I don't make a lot, which helps me meet the income requirement. And the nice thing about the Slate is if it's under some $30,000 or so then they add on another couple grand. And I inherited an older gas guzzling vehicle (full-sized SUV from 2006 pushing more than 230,000 miles). And they'll knock of another few grand if I hand that over, kind of like the cash-for-clunkers thing. But I guess I'll just have to wait. I can't see me buying one even though I want one.
So, apparently I was wrong. I cannot get the deal from a Slate because I can only do it at a certified dealership. However, I can get the deal on a Chevrolet Bolt or a Nissan Leaf, brining those down to about $17,000, more or less.
I believe under some rebate schemes (which change every year) you had to keep it in your name past the tax period , others it was a year. Buy one, enjoy it the minimum duration required and I will buy it for your all in :0 Off topic but I’ve seen on official forums that had direct discussions with slate officials begging for a bench option. (Aka almost 3 seats, so I would have a dog position) Slate is thinking about a bench but likely not year 1. Years ago my father had a specially shaped dingus that wedged between the front buckets giving you a bench (likely very illegal)
I miss bench seats. They make a lot of sense. You get to hold one other person in a vehicle that otherwise has a rather useless center console that takes up a bunch of space, as if there were a giant transmission under it, even when the car is FWD or BEV and definitely doesn't have a transmission under there.
Unfortunately, the $14,000 Slate pickup is the same as the mythical $35,000 Tesla was about 10 years ago. IF you're able to cut in line, and IF they start punching out Slates, and IF they are priced as currently advertised you're looking at a $27,000 truck BEFORE TTL. I'll pass for now, thanks.
+1 on comments above ... and there are already many great cars at that price point.... 2026 Hyundai Elantra Toyota Corolla Toyota Camry Ford Maverick ...and far too many more to mention ...or.... You could do like a couple of us did when I was stationed at Nebraska OFFUTT AFB which was to wait for a Government Auction of surplus vehicles from agencies like the Soil Conservation Department, Agriculture Department (or any local Government Agency) and then buy one of the available trucks at auction price ... my first vehicle I bought was a 1969 Chevrolet Step Side C10 truck with a 4-speed manual transmission and 250 inline 6-cylinder engine for $1,500 which was probably a little high but I wanted that pickup so I would have transportation.
But none of those meet the original $15,000 goal. So I guess none of them are within my budget. And that puts Toyota completely out of my budget, new or used, because you can't even find a 100,000 miles Yaris for as low as $15,000 these days. I might be able to snag a brand new Leaf or Bolt for about $17,000 if I factor in the $9,000 VXC rebate and the current Colorado $750 + $2,500 tax credit. I don't know if I'd have to make those kinds of taxes though to qualify. I definitely don't pay anywhere near that much in Colorado income taxes in a year. These vehicles also meet the Big Beautiful Bill written-off interest credit, which would amount to around $90 off for the first year. Whoopy...
my comments had nothing to do with anyone's goals or personal finances they were to point out there are already many good established vehicles around the $25,000 mark. ...however did mention this fact that worked well for me "...or.... You could do like a couple of us did when I was stationed at Nebraska OFFUTT AFB which was to wait for a Government Auction of surplus vehicles from agencies like the Soil Conservation Department, Agriculture Department (or any local Government Agency) and then buy one of the available trucks at auction price ... my first vehicle I bought was a 1969 Chevrolet Step Side C10 truck with a 4-speed manual transmission and 250 inline 6-cylinder engine for $1,500 which was probably a little high but I wanted that pickup so I would have transportation." ..you could still see Missouri Department of Soil Conservation on both the doors where the Paint was colored differently from the rest of the vehicle - my girlfriend at the time was fascinated by that for some reason...
