depreciation of the i3

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Kiwi

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 15, 2015
Messages
80
Location
Auckland
I'm strongly coming to the conclusion the 2018 i3 & S will devalue a lot faster due to its been around since 2012 and I'm seeing some really low second hand pricing. BM\W should have sold the sports vision from the start but it was a learning curve for BMW and now their is only 2-3 years before the i3 is canned then the value will reply drop.
 
When I bought our i3 Rex I knew full well that I would have to keep it for at least 5 years to ride out some of the depreciation. Three years into now owning it outright, I think we'll keep it for at least another 3 years. Despite the higher purchasing price, it has so far been a very economical car, saving us around £800 per year in fuel cost.
 
You are correct as gone has the days of trading in every 3 years. Depreciation is killing companies like BMW who are manufacturing to many vehicles.
 
Main reason why I bought it second hand......2013/2014 is exactly the same car as 2017. Only the new 2018 is slightly different.
Just not sure what the 44kw version will do.....that one gets into the "enough range" category to stay interesting over time.

And by the time aftermarket battery pack upgrades are available at good prices ..... the i3 will be a classic by then.


p.s. I save a lot more fuel per year (but came form a lexus V8 as daily driver).
 
Kiwi said:
I'm strongly coming to the conclusion the 2018 i3 & S will devalue a lot faster due to its been around since 2012 and I'm seeing some really low second hand pricing. BM\W should have sold the sports vision from the start but it was a learning curve for BMW and now their is only 2-3 years before the i3 is canned then the value will reply drop.

The first model year i3 was 2014, not 2012. They did make a couple thousand of them in the last three months of 2013, but they were 2014 model year vehicles. I don't think the 2018 i3 will depreciate any faster than previous years have, but only time will tell. :)
 
BMW delivered some i3's in other markets late 2013 as 2014 MY, but the first ones sold in the USA started to show up here as 2014 MY in April of 2014.

Some of the perceived depreciation is the fact many people in the USA were able to take a $7500 tax credit, lowering the effective price of the car...so, comparing the price of a new one with that incentive verses an old one where it is not available puts an immediate $7500 lowering of the resale value to compensate. That may or may not change once those credits start to expire. It's likely that GM and Tesla may start to see their credits start to evaporate (scaled down) before the end of this year. Those states that have their own will still help, but those are not all unlimited, either.

I do not know if any of the state incentives apply to a used car, and if not (as I expect, but do not know), take that amount off of the price of a new one can tip someone to buy new with all of the incentives verses a used one where there are none, unless the used price is significantly lowered.
 
I would wish for the 2018's to drop in price like we experienced with the earlier models, but unfortunately that won't be the case. There's a few reasons for the price drops of the 2015 models being the most extreme and best value with newness and low miles:

1. It's the range. I elaborate in a different thread about this, but the idea is that people are demanding EV's with more than 100mi which makes the ones sub 100mi "poop" in their eyes. The new end of the year 2018 models will have 150mi range on just the battery and that hits the sweet spot for people in the know and completely out of the know as far as EV's are concerned. People will be a LOT less likely and a LOT less in a hurry to get rid of their 150mi range i3's compared to their 81mi range ones.

2. Also with pricing expectancy to be higher on the 2018's, people will feel a bigger loss if they sold (and will therefore be more likely to hold onto them) it which will lead again to lower inventory of used 2018 i3's compared to used 2015 ones.

3. Because electric cars are still considered new technology (hasn't been around long enough to see a number of batteries fail), many people who have never leased a car before lease EV's. This led to a ton of lease returns on the 2015 i3's. As people get more comfortable with electric vehicles and a particular model, they won't be as scared into leasing and therefore the inventory of lease returns will be a lot fewer.

If you're waiting for a deal, you can buy the 2018 model in 2021. In other words, if you know you're going to get it for sure and don't mind waiting, It'll be a deal but it'll be nothing like the deals we see now with the 2015 models here in early 2018.

I've seen a 2014 i3 REX with all the packages sell for under $15k with 46 miles on it. That's high mileage and 2014 is too close to nearing the warranty period ending. Although it's super cheap, the value isn't as good as a 2015 for a few thousand more which buys you a car with fewer miles and a longer warranty, plus a car that doesn't have the bugs of the first edition 2014 model. 2015 really is the sweet spot. So if you're going to get one, look and buy. I can help. Just reach out.

The only reason I got a 2016 was b/c it was a rare one produced only between April and June of that year that had the Deka World interior (which wasn't released officially into mass product until 2017 models) and mileage on mine second hand was super low at just shy of 13k miles. if it wasn't for my love of the Deka World interior, I would've gotten a 2015 i3 Rex for sure. It's the best deal out there right now if you know you want an i3. No matter how good the deal is, you should turn away if the i3 isn't for you. Don't waste your money on something you don't really want just b/c it's a good deal.
 
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