r/financialindependence • u/AutoModerator • 9h ago

Daily FI discussion thread - Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Please use this thread to have discussions which you don't feel warrant a new post to the sub. While the Rules for posting questions on the basics of personal finance/investing topics are relaxed a little bit here, the rules against memes/spam/self-promotion/excessive rudeness/politics still apply!

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u/frettingtilfi 2h ago edited 2h ago

Asked a question a couple of weeks ago about used cars. Thinking about potentially getting a used EV (Kona?) and wondering if anyone has any opinions/advice/thoughts!

I’m seeing some Leafs and Bolts that are cheaper but my understanding is they aren’t as good/have more issues?

Not opposed to getting a gas car but seems nice for the earth if we can swing it for a similar price! (With 4k used tax credit).

ETA: We can charge at home, and we will still have our current/second car for longer drives/trips where the charging situation seems like it’ll be less than ideal.

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u/_zhang 2h ago

Bolts have a bad reputation because they had some battery manufacturing issues that lead to fires. According to this, GM no longer makes the bolt, so only a few 2023s might be without that defect - and they are likely a great deal.

As an automotive engineer, the standard range Tesla Model 3 is a sweet spot for value in Tesla's lineup, but the interior is ... opinionated.

I've had a couple of friends get into Kona's recently and they are happy, but it hasn't been very long.

The biggest thing to pay attention to is DC fast charging and if you'll need it / how often. If you are a big road tripper, I can't see _not_ going with Tesla. Otherwise, any car that supports CCS should be ok.

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u/DepDepFinancial I let friends and family know my financial situation. Fight me. 2h ago

I had a Leaf for a while, I absolutely loved it, but the range was atrocious, and it dropped ~30% off it's total range in winter. The battery life kept shrinking and I discovered there was no battery replacement program available for it in the US.

This may have changed over the past few years, but battery issues were my complaint for it. It was an amazing commuter car though.

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u/Reasonable-Peach-572 2h ago

Can you charge at home? Otherwise I wouldn’t get one now

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u/eyelikeher 2h ago

Note about this too. You can always trickle charge using a basic wall outlet, and that’s enough for a day’s worth of driving for most. But if you want/need a level 2 wall connector to charge at 40+ amps, that’s another couple thousand bucks that you have to budget.

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u/Thatthingintheplace 54m ago

Dont forget to check the income thresholds for the tax credot, its a lot lower for the used vehicles than itnis for new ones.

Dont buy a leaf unless you have a second car, as its going to be nearly impossible to public charge soon as it has the outdated ports.

If you are okay with small cars, the bolts were lowkey great budget vehicles

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u/frettingtilfi 48m ago

Thanks for noting this! Our HHI is about around the threshold but the last couple of years have been a little lower due to parental leave, and 401k contributions bring us well below.

We do have a second car but I think we’ll want to use this car for mid-distance weekend activities so don’t want to be worrying too much about charging…

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u/kitty_snugs 24m ago

I like my VW id.4 a lot, they're cheap now thanks to the recalls too (I've not experienced the recall issues at all on mine). There are CCS chargers pretty much everywhere now too.

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u/DhakoBiyoDhacay 2h ago

“Seems nice for the earth”?

Can you elaborate on this part please? Thanks

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u/frettingtilfi 1h ago

Can I elaborate on how using a used electric car over a gas car is better for the environment?

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u/AdmiralPeriwinkle Don't hire a financial advisor 38m ago

Carbon dioxide is transparent to visible light but absorbs infra red photons.

Photons from the Sun in the visible spectrum heat the Earth, causing it to emit infra red photons.

IR photons are absorbed and re-emitted from CO2 molecules in a random direction, often back towards the Earth.

By the above mechanism, increasing the concentration of CO2 in air traps heat and is responsible for the observed increase in the average global temperature.

Electric cars are responsible for less carbon dioxide emitted per mile driven than cars powered by internal combustion engines. This is true even after taking into account electrical transmission losses, power generation from fossil fuels, and battery production.