Adventures in an all electric vehicle.

[Robotstar5]

Me

Me too. I've used Credit, mortgage and a couple of small, thought-out, affordable borrowings that I wouldn't kill me if things went pear-shaped..... but the culture of "buying what you cannot afford" on the drip.... hell no.

As I said before "the only gamble worth taking - is the one you can afford to lose". Also hocking up to the eyeballs to own ANY new "consumer disposable" vehicle, with the "keep out" maintenance restrictions - is not my idea of a sensible fiscal policy.

Reminds me of when I worked for Austin Rover, I bought a new car as we got employee discount which cost £6k, as AR were doing interest free HP I paid £5k cash and had the other £1k on HP, when I read through the paperwork it said the HP company own the car until it's fully paid off, I thought this was a bit rum as I'd already paid for 80 odd percent of it myself.

 

[Maker]

Why do we "NEED" a next generation?

We don't.

Do we really need the current generation? Why don't we all just kill ourselves now and save us the bother of dying old.

 

[daleyd]

Thank god car manufacturers made all those ready made second hand vehicles previously, seeing as no one has ever bought anything new

 

[premmington]

Thank god car manufacturers made all those ready made second hand vehicles previously, seeing as no one has ever bought anything new

That is/was the retail motortrade chain - new car buyers need/needed to trade their used car in - to part fund there new car...

Then PHP came and changed it all - big finance houses now wanna sell/rent the same car several times - over and over again.

You will notice I did use the work "rent" in the above sentance...

 

[bricol]

Do we really need the current generation? Why don't we all just kill ourselves now and save us the bother of dying old.

It would certainly assist in reducing useage of the earth resources, reduce emissions of greenhouse gases etc.

Although of course, the jet fuel emission to get to Switzerland or Canada might outweigh the benefits ?

And think of the extra space on the roads to enjoy what's left of the fossil fuels? No need for expensive EVs afterall.

 

[daleyd]

That is/was the retail motortrade chain - new car buyers need/needed to trade their used car in - to part fund there new car...

Then PHP came and changed it all - big finance houses now wanna sell/rent the same car several times - over and over again.

You will notice I did use the work "rent" in the above sentance...

Irrespective of the “method” of buying them the fact is that since the invention of cars someone has been buying new ones. Secondhand cars don’t magically appear.

 

[sako243]

Although of course, the jet fuel emission to get to Switzerland or Canada might outweigh the benefits ?

Plenty of big bridges and cliffs to jump from. Just make sure you do a good job

 

[reb78]

Irrespective of the “method” of buying them the fact is that since the invention of cars someone has been buying new ones. Secondhand cars don’t magically appear.

Aren't second hand car prices currently artificially high because of a shortage of new ones...? Cost of living crisis etc... if new cars are unavailable and unaffordable then secondhand ones will be less common in a few years unless the current stock is kept on the road. Given that and the high cost of repair of much of the new stock I would wager that the second hand market will become smaller still in future years.

Work has just agreed to write off a car we bought for £5k as a pool car about six years ago. We paid £5k for it. Insurance payout was £4895.... on Monday this week. It was a crappy Mitsubishi Mirage.

 

[cheb]

Plenty of big bridges and cliffs to jump from. Just make sure you do a good job

Welding gas for the win, just pick one with no oxygen nor carbon dioxide component.

 

[daleyd]

Aren't second hand car prices currently artificially high because of a shortage of new ones...? Cost of living crisis etc... if new cars are unavailable and unaffordable then secondhand ones will be less common in a few years unless the current stock is kept on the road. Given that and the high cost of repair of much of the new stock I would wager that the second hand market will become smaller still in future years.

Work has just agreed to write off a car we bought for £5k as a pool car about six years ago. We paid £5k for it. Insurance payout was £4895.... on Monday this week. It was a crappy Mitsubishi Mirage.

Supply and demand so yes, I guess so.

That wasn’t my point though, all I seem to have read about the last few pages is that you’d have to be an idiot to buy a new car blah blah blah…. And yet without such buyers there wouldn’t be a pool of secondhand cars to buy from. As you say, the pool would in fact shrink, making secondhand cars more expensive.

 

[not done it yet]

Welding gas for the win, just pick one with no oxygen nor carbon dioxide component.

Non comprendez. Please explain the significance of the CO2. The lack of oxygen to the brain tissues is the key.

 

[Maker]

Non comprendez. Please explain the significance of the CO2. The lack of oxygen to the brain tissues is the key.

Carbon dioxide makes you feel like you're suffocating. The urge to breath doesn't come from a lack of oxygen in your lungs, it comes from too much CO2. A few breaths of argon and you'll feel short of breath and pass out before you know what's happened.

 

[not done it yet]

Most second hand cars come from companies/businesses that have already reclaimed as much tax rebates/ depreciation/etc or need to spend money to avoid taxation on prfits. Accountants run firms, these days

 

[daleyd]

Most second hand cars come from companies/businesses that have already reclaimed as much tax rebates/ depreciation/etc or need to spend money to avoid taxation on prfits. Accountants run firms, these days

Not sure about most, certainly a good number. But private is still around 50% of the market iirc....

 

[GRW]

Irrespective of the “method” of buying them the fact is that since the invention of cars someone has been buying new ones. Secondhand cars don’t magically appear.

Up till say the turn of the 21st century, maybe as far as mid-noughties.... buying a new car made more sense to a lot of (more?) people (despite the depreciation)..... because you could expect to be investing in a car that was a genuine step better in terms of performance and reliability than its predecessor.... and a ready market for the reliable vehicle being traded-in or sold.

After that, cars in general have been built with a shorter "design life" and ever-more "hands-off, take it to your dealer & get fleeced" electronic systems - so the car offered trinkets & gadgets but no real-world benefits (more like higher costs & less value, more issues) than its predecessor.

Now, people are increasingly wary of buying a modern used car with no warranty - as the price is still hefty, but worse - the odds of "buying expensive trouble" are increasing, not decreasing.

The huge gamble of buying a used EV or PHEV just doesn't bear thinking about. The price would be strong (due to the extortionate new cost) - but a failure of battery pack, motors, electronics or inverters, can mean a huge uneconomical added cost, or mean writing off the car (& a great deal of money you can't afford).

Like I said - these new vehicle choices being forced on us (buy electric/hybrid or take the bus) will kill the used vehicle market, and make the costs of motoring much higher for anyone else who can afford to keep driving.

As @premmington says - the future is clearly heading to make the vehicle a short-term lease item, not a purchase item (again more expensive), with a rolling contract where the vehicle gets replaced every 3-years or so.

The way motoring is being steered by Govt & the Industry has sod-all to do with saving the planet, but a helluva lot to do with screwing a great deal more revenue out of each vehicle.

 

[daleyd]

You’d expect to see the average age of cars in the uk going down then?

 

[GRW]

You’d expect to see the average age of cars in the uk going down then?

Maybe not that noticeably for a few years yet.... but as age, mileage and thr relentless hounding by legislation sees the older, reliable ICE's fall to the axe, then the younger average age of cars will gather momentum exponentially (increased also by the fact that the newer cars have a shorter lifespan, thus increasing the rate of turnover of vehicles, and by definition meaning the vehicles must get "newer".

Lower reliability, higher mtce costs & a shorter design-life equals less older cars on the roads (by design). It's not rocket science.

 

[daleyd]

So it's not backed up by figures then? The best you can say is that it's what you think will happen, and in the meantime EV's with battery/drivetrain warranties of up to 10 years suggest the manufacturers are quite optimistic.

 

[brewdexta]

Here's a report from the International Energy Agency on EVs. Covers sales, light and heavy duty EVs, battery trends etc. etc.

Global EV Outlook 2023 – Analysis - IEA

Global EV Outlook 2023 - Analysis and key findings. A report by the International Energy Agency.

www.iea.org

 

[GRW]

So it's not backed up by figures then? The best you can say is that it's what you think will happen, and in the meantime EV's with battery/drivetrain warranties of up to 10 years suggest the manufacturers are quite optimistic.

You cannot see the relentless, obvious trend?
"There are none so blind" etc.
It's inevitable.
In say the next 10-years, listen carefully wherever you are..... and you'll hear me inside your head saying "I told you so".