[BuzzBomb]

We have had the FIAT 500e, and currently have an eGolf, but I think I need an additional EV so I can get somewhere a little sooner in the HOV lane.
I looked at pricing over the 2014-2017, and the prices change dramatically. Besides the higher capacity battery in the later cars, if I focus on 2014-2016, The benefit is left over warranty time in the late 2015+. The thing is, I've seen 2014s that are ridiculously cheap. Is it all because of the out of warranty issue? If not that, is there any reason not to consider a low mileage 2014 if its thousands less than a similarly optioned 2015/16?

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by BuzzBomb

We have had the FIAT 500e, and currently have an eGolf, but I think I need an additional EV so I can get somewhere a little sooner in the HOV lane.
I looked at pricing over the 2014-2017, and the prices change dramatically. Besides the higher capacity battery in the later cars, if I focus on 2014-2016, The benefit is left over warranty time in the late 2015+. The thing is, I've seen 2014s that are ridiculously cheap. Is it all because of the out of warranty issue? If not that, is there any reason not to consider a low mileage 2014 if its thousands less than a similarly optioned 2015/16?

MY'14-16 will have the smallest 22 kWh (18.8 usable) battery, good for ~81 miles on an average day. 2014-2015 will be out of factory 4 year / 50K mile warranty by now. I would imagine that will depress their prices significantly.

MY'17-18 will have the larger 33 kWh (27.2 usable) battery that's good for ~114 miles on average.

I would consider owning i3 BEV out of warranty, but only at a price where you would throw it away if anything brakes. Dealers don't know how to work on them, and no-one else will. Any minor issue will likely run into 4-figure repair bills.

I would not touch a REX with a 10-foot pole, in or out of warranty.

a

[BuzzBomb]

Originally Posted by afadeev

I would not touch a REX with a 10-foot pole, in or out of warranty.

a

What is it about the range extender that has you so against it?

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by BuzzBomb

What is it about the range extender that has you so against it?

I had leased a REX i3 as my first EV.
It had clocked 60+ days at the dealer during the 24 month lease period. If memory serves, for all of the following: recalls, check-engine lights, driver-train malfunction errors, code updates that went wrong, waiting for parts from Germany (e.g. 1 bolt took ~1-2 weeks to arrive), waiting for instruction from BMW NA since no-one at the dealer "saw that problem before", etc, etc.

It's a maximum complexity drive-train arrangement that has not been properly debugged.

a

[jmg]

Originally Posted by BuzzBomb

We have had the FIAT 500e, and currently have an eGolf, but I think I need an additional EV so I can get somewhere a little sooner in the HOV lane.
I looked at pricing over the 2014-2017, and the prices change dramatically. Besides the higher capacity battery in the later cars, if I focus on 2014-2016, The benefit is left over warranty time in the late 2015+. The thing is, I've seen 2014s that are ridiculously cheap. Is it all because of the out of warranty issue? If not that, is there any reason not to consider a low mileage 2014 if its thousands less than a similarly optioned 2015/16?

Not sure what state you are in but in CA older cars that have already had the carpool sticker are not eligible for new stickers nor are the old sticker valid any longer.

[SunnyD]

Originally Posted by afadeev

I had leased a REX i3 as my first EV.
It had clocked 60+ days at the dealer during the 24 month lease period. If memory serves, for all of the following: recalls, check-engine lights, driver-train malfunction errors, code updates that went wrong, waiting for parts from Germany (e.g. 1 bolt took ~1-2 weeks to arrive), waiting for instruction from BMW NA since no-one at the dealer "saw that problem before", etc, etc.

It's a maximum complexity drive-train arrangement that has not been properly debugged.

a

Interesting...I'm actually in the market for a used REx, and I've leased a BEV in the past. I personally would never buy a BEV to avoid range anxiety (it was like having an oversized golf cart w/ similar range), but that's good to know.

[PBNB]

We have had our 2015 Rex for almost a year now. The car came from San Raphael with only 12,000 miles (20,000 km) and was imported to Vancouver a year ago.

We use the Rex occasionally and I have the Hold SOC enabled so I can run the Rex whenever I want so long as the batteries are below 75%.

I use non-ethanol fuel for the Rex to help prevent build up of the fuel system. We try to run it every other week for about 30 minutes.

I have also had it serviced by BMW up here in Vancouver where they just did an oil change and checked it over.

We also purchased an extended warranty from BMW Canada to go to 7 years or 100,000 kms. This gives up a bit better feeling about the technology repairs if something should go wrong.

So far we really like the car and are happy that we bought it.

[BuzzBomb]

So I found a clean 2015 BEV CPO at a dealer but the dealer is over five hours away. I guess I could plan a trip- fly up, take possession, then drive down the 5 going from charging station to station, having hours long layovers with nothing to do. Not very fun sounding. Or pay $400+ to have it delivered to a local dealer. Not sure what is worse sounding. Nothing romantic about it.

[ric124]

Originally Posted by BuzzBomb

So I found a clean 2015 BEV CPO at a dealer but the dealer is over five hours away. I guess I could plan a trip- fly up, take possession, then drive down the 5 going from charging station to station, having hours long layovers with nothing to do. Not very fun sounding. Or pay $400+ to have it delivered to a local dealer. Not sure what is worse sounding. Nothing romantic about it.

I would suggest paying the $400 to have it delivered. At highway speeds you will probably get 50-60 miles at most and then at least 15 mins at each quick charge stop.

[BuzzBomb]

Ok, it's over. I found a '14 BEV, interior I wanted, options I wanted, color I'm so-so about, CPO'd in '17 so the dealer liked it. $13,300 delivered to my front door by the 500 miles away dealer. I'm 38 miles from work, and I have a level 2 charger that i'm going to install there. Going to send in my HOV sticker application as soon as I get my registration hard copy. We'll see how this all goes, hopefully without drama.