Which car to buy?

I asked about te i3 at a BMW dealer today, curious to try one, He didnt have any kind of i3m and said they are no longer made,

 

Anyone tried the new Ford Mustang EV? (Called I think E-Mach,) I tried one today, I probably won''t buy that, but it was fun to drive (and looks cool).

 

Mach-E is the name . Car and Driver rates it the "EV Car of the Year".

 

Update with more thoughts as I consider what to buy. Interested in hearing input about these options. First of all, I tried a Tesla Model 3 on Tuesday. Very fun to drive, very futuristic. I liked it. Like the looks too. Many good things about them. Downsides: None available. I would have to order one (non-refundable $250 deposit) and wait for months for it to come. And I do not own a car now. At the moment I am renting a car that my insurance pays most of the cost of , but only for a couple more weeks, and after that renting (while waiting for a Tesla) would become much more expensive. (Does anyone know of a good deal for long-term car renting in the LA area?) Another downside-more expensive than the other options I looked at. (I could afford it, but is it really worth spending that much more?)

Another downside to Tesla- I dislike Elon Musk, and don't like the idea of supporting him. LOL (Of course, I don't even know who the CEOs of other car companies are?)

An option that I test drove today, I think discussed earlier here. The Honda Clarity PHEV. I couldn't find any new ones, but a dealer near me has a used one, 2018 with about 18,000 miles on it. Was a lease to one owner. Seems to be in good condition. He said it was the lowest trim of the Clarity. Priced around $24K. (Is that a good price for a Clarity of the lowest trim, that year and mileage? Can one negotiate a lower price on a used car with a dealer? Advantages- I could buy it right now, at a lower price than the $30K I received from insurance for my totaled Prime. It has a much higher electric range than the Prime. Advantage over all-electric- the gas option. Disadvantage- boring to drive, not fun at all. Also, it did not even seem like an electric car, although the salesman said he put it in all electric mode, by pushing the HV button. In driving the Prime in EV mode (to me by far the most pleasant way to drive the Prime), or test driving electric cars, there is no engine noise. Not the case with this Clarity, although the salesman told me he put it in EV only mode. Sounded like a gas engine. Anyone here know anything about that? Another disadvantage-being used, you don't know what you are getting. It looked good, and the salesman told me it is in excellent shape (certified by the dealer), but does one really know? He said the car new has a 5 year warranty, and since three years have gone by, two years left on the warranty. (And maybe another year would be added due to the car being dealer certified, not sure?) To sum up, I didn't like it nearly as much as the Tesla, but I could get it right away, not need to continue renting, at a cost less than half of the Tesla. So might be a worthwhile option?

One other option I tried today. Another used car. A Fiat 500E. 2015. The dealer said about 40,000 miles. (I don't know why, but I forgot to check the odometer.) He said $14,000. (So much cheaper than other options.) Looked and drove like new condition. But no warranty, unless I chose to buy one from them. Small range. (The salesman said he thought 100 miles. I will do some research on those myself.) Kind of fun to drive. Very retro, not like a modern car. (Even has a CD player.) (And one needs to insert a key to turn it on, no push button. No LCD screen,) 2 door, and little storage space. Good price for that car? Possible perhaps to buy it now, and later get a Tesla? (Although in selling it, I don't know that I could get a similar price for it?

I walked by a Volvo dealer, so asked if they had an electric car. They had one. Very large (I prefer small cars), and when I saw the sticker price for $60k (more than I would pay for a Tesla),I did not bother to test drive it.

I would be interested in trying a Chevy Bolt. When I called a Chevy dealer about it, she said they had none, they have all been recalled due to a battery problem.

Any input on the cars I mentioned?

 

If anyone has any input into the questions raised in my last long comment to this thread, I would be interested to hear your feedback. I need to decide soon. Thanks.

 

I liked my PP, and would have preferred it to be repaired rather than totaled, and I am sure I would have kept it for many years more. (My two previous cars I had bought new and kept for 16-17 years, until they were totally unrepairable.) However, since I now have to buy a car, I am thinking of trying something different. See my last long comment for some thoughts.

I tried the Mustang Mach-E last week. Liked it, the only other one I liked that much is the Tesla Model 3. Similar price ranges. Also like Tesla, hard to get a hold of one, likely also need to order and wait months. Yes, likely more in rebates. But one concern, that model is so new, we don't know what problems might come up in them?

I also tried the Kia last week. Didn't like much how it drove, and it is a larger car than I prefer.

New Leafs sell for $20k? I have not tried one of those, as there are no Nissan dealers near me.

 

Hi Fotomoto, I think you wrote before that you have a Honda Clarity PHEV. I tried a used one yesterday, so now have more questions about the car. (See my recent long thread of last night for details.) One thing that surprised me. Although it was fully charged and the salesman said it was in EV mode (by his pressing the HV button), it did not sound and feel like an EV, unlike the Prime in EV mode, or the other EVs I have tried. There was always engine noise, although EV mode is usually totally quiet. Do you know what is up with that? (See that mentioned long comment for more info. Thank you.)

 

Yes, proximity to service makes a difference. There is a Tesla dealership and service center near me (Ford too.) (AndToyota, and many others.)Since you mention the Nissan Leaf, I am curious to try one. However, I live near Santa Monica CA. Although there are several car dealerships in SM, no Nissan dealer. The closest Nissan dealer is in Van Nuys, from a half hour to more than an hour away, depending on traffic. That isn't too far to try out and buy a car. However then, if I bought a Nissan and it needed warranty repair, or maintenance covered by Nissan, I would not want to go so far for service. (One often has to leave a car for several hours or overnight, and very inconvenient if the service center is so far away. ) I don't understand why the major car manufacturer Nissan does not have a dealer closer to me, but that seems to be the case. (Or, does anyone know- does Nissan authorize any 3rd party repair shops to do its warranty repair or included maintenance, if there is no dealer near to one's home?)

 

I don't think so. On all the time.

 

I don;t think so. On the Prime the EV button puts the car in EV mode, and the HV button puts it in gas mode. The Clarity has no EV button. It has an HV button, which toggles HV On and HV Off. The salesman told me that HV On puts it in EV mode. But I actually tried both ways, HV ON and HV OFF, and it did not make a difference, always engine noise like a gas car.

I think the group member fotomoto has a Clarity, so I hope he sees these messages and could clarify it for us? (So that we can understand the issue with more clarity. LOL ;-) )

 

Anyone here had a Fiat 500e (discontinued now), which as I wrote about in the long comment from last night (more details there), I tried a used one (2015) yesterday. Kind of a fun tiny car, but I think very low range. (I would like to find out though, exactly what the range rating was for that year;s model). Much cheaper than other options I looked at though, $14k (from a dealer). I even thought of perhaps if I order a Tesla, to perhaps buy the Fiat to use while waiting for my Tesla, rather than renting a car while waiting. That would only make sense financially though, if I could later sell it for close to what I bought it for? (If I sell it for much less than what I bought it for, that could cost me more than renting a car while waiting for the Tesla, and be much more trouble.)

 

Yes of course there are many places where one could get maintenance done, but often a new car comes with free maintenance for a couple years (for instance, 2 years for the PP). So with free maintenance included, one would not be so inclined to pay for maintenance. But inconvenient if far away, if one has to leave the car for hours, etc.

 

Have you driven a Clarity, Trollbait? Were you able to drive it with no engine noise, like PP in EV mode, or a pure EV? What setting to get it to drive in purely EV mode?

If the car always has the gas engine running (even if just to charge the battery), one cannot turn the gas engine totally off (I don't know if that is the case, just wondering?), how can anyone know if the 40 mile EV range is accurate, if it cannot drive in pure EV mode? (And if that is the case one loses a very pleasant feature of EVs (or PHEVs in EV mode), that is driving without any engine noise?)