California Used i3 Prices Coming Down Soon? HOV Lanes / New Rules 2019

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aztecsurf

New member
Joined
Sep 24, 2018
Messages
4
With the new California Carpool law coming into effect Jan 2019, I am wondering if the current used i3 pricing is getting ready to drop?

For those that may not know, California passed a new law that takes effect the first month of next year. All EV/hybrid vehicles that were made (prior) to 2017 that have HOV lane access (Carpool) will be pushed out and only the (Red Sticker) (2017 and newer) models will qualify.

This includes Green/White sticker vehicles made prior to 2017.

Here in California this is a big deal. Not having carpool access in the busy parts of our state during rush hour will greatly impact future sales of used vehicles that no longer qualify for HOV access.

With this new law coming in fast I would imagine the used EV car values made before that date are about to drop when this kicks in.

This is bitter sweet as I have a 2015 i3 that will no longer be able to access carpool, however I am looking to get another used i3 for the home and the prices could drop next year.

We will see...
 
I believe used electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles can qualify for HOV sticker renewal after 1-1-2019 if not previously registered for HOV stickers. This may actually make used "virgin" vehicles go up in value.
 
They are ridiculously low already, so low people are buying them internationally and exporting them from the US. I expect some stabilization.
 
I believe you are correct. If the car never had the stickers you can apply for them after that date.
 
I found many i3 models in states near by that don’t have stickers. As long as I can verify the car for sale never had HOV issued I could buy from that area and have it shipped. I will check it out.
 
Yes - I bought my 2014 from Fresno, CA knowing there was no reason for anyone there to have registered for HOV stickers.

After I drove it back to Oakland, CA I registered and received the HOV stickers. Which I'll need to renew in January, butthen they will be good for two more years. Which is about how long I'll keep the car.
 
A bit late to this party - but can confirm; just got my sticker in the mail; for a 2015 car. You can call the DMV and check if a particular car you’re interested in ever had a sticker issued; all they need is the vin (which is typically listed in the “for sale” ad).
 
There are early model i3's for sale as low as $14k USD and I've heard some cases even lower than that. The i3 has a very unusual circumstance that has brought the used prices to the way they are which have a higher impact than the HOV sticker issue.

I've outlined them in a separate thread as to why the prices of the i3's are so low so I won't create redundancy here, but the point is that the situation has a lot to do with the misunderstanding of the amount of range people need. There's still a sense from the public that EV's need to have range as high as their gas counterparts. They're all missing the point of charging when convenient. It takes the car 4 hours to charge, it doesn't take the person 4 hours to charge it. In the 8 seconds it takes for me to plug in the car at home, I could do that all month every day in the 5 minutes it takes for someone to get gas once and stand around waiting for the tank to fill.

It's not our job to convince non EV people to drive EV's. The ignorance keeps the prices of low range EV's down which is great for the rest of us who recognize what the true need is for our cars. Too much education also will increase demand for these cars and reduce the number of open public charging spots available to us.

As it is though, I still don't see the i3 coming down below $13k USD to be worth buying. It'll be out of warranty, have high mileage and probably an unhealthy battery. Lower price doesn't translate to better value. The best value i3's now are in the $20-21k range for a 2015 with under 20k miles with 2 of the 3 packages. It was better a year ago when warranties were still in effect.

The ugliness of the car (don't yell at me, i love how the car looks) turns people away.
The BMW badge itself turns people away. I never looked at it prior to last February b/c I just figured they were expensive before I saw them for $17k used.
The small size from the outside turns people away before they get a chance to dig deeper. I just read a thread about a 7' guy weighing 350lbs who loves the fit of the i3 for him. He's one of the smart ones who took the time to do research and evaluate the fit for him. Very happy for that guy.

There's a lot of ignorance with the i3. People don't bother to get to learn about it and so the demand drops "bigly". It will always be a POS car to majority of people which keeps the prices within reach for those of us who love and recognize what we're getting - and more importantly, that it's a perfect fit for us.

So if you want an i3 and it's a good match, get it. The value is there in a big way. There's lots of reasons the prices have dropped big that we may not see again. For instance those on the Tesla list were sitting on their hands waiting to buy a car they never bought. So the demand was low for EV's b/c they were all waiting. The inventory of 2015 cars from the lease returns in 2018 flooded the market. We're not going to see that again. The newness of EV's, particularly at that time combined with the misunderstandings of EVs/i3's created an even larger gap of inventory vs demand driving prices down so far that CPO cars can be had at better prices than private sales.

What you're losing in experience with a car you'll love by buying it later rather than sooner will be more costly than the $500 to even $1,000 that you're saving by waiting for the better deal. The milestones have already happened. Just buy the car if it's a match. It's not for everyone, but it's for more people than who will admit.
 
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