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83 Posts
Greetings,
As an owner of a 2015 Gen1 Premium, my recommendation on those two options only, is to go with the 2014 model at (with taxes included) over $10k cheaper. The 2016 Gen2 Volt is, by most paper measures, the superior car, but is it greater than $10k better? I have my doubts. That said, you could buy a brand new 2017 Premium in a month or two at a net cost less than that used 2016, assuming that your tax situation allows you to take advantage of the full $7500 tax credit (the $1500 from CA is currently on hold until the Assembly replenishes the EV coffers). By around September, you should expect GM to offer a 17-20% discount off MSRP, with the dealer likely kicking in another $3k-$4k-ish. 20% of $40k is $8k, and adding in $3k gets you down to $29k pre-Fed/CA incentives. Post incentives, you're looking at right around $20k. And you get to pick from dozens to hundreds of models sitting on NorCal dealer lots, not just one as in your example. If you've got a GM Card with lots of rebates attached, you can get that price down even more, and you may be able to stack a few additional incentives (Costco, Farm Bureau, ???) on the final price. The only reason to go used on the Volt based on your price quotes is if you cannot recapture any of the $7500 tax credit and CA never honors the $1500 rebate due to funding issues.
Personally, I would hammer the 2014 price down a few grand and call it a day. You're not going to see a whole lot of depreciation in the next few years versus what you'd experience buying a new car. Also beware of what might happen to new and used EV pricing when a manufacturer's tax credits start to phase out and then expire completely. For GM and Tesla and Nissan, that's likely to happen in 2018. For the laggards and fence-sitters, a few years later.
Good luck with your decision, and be sure to let us know how your negotiations went
As an owner of a 2015 Gen1 Premium, my recommendation on those two options only, is to go with the 2014 model at (with taxes included) over $10k cheaper. The 2016 Gen2 Volt is, by most paper measures, the superior car, but is it greater than $10k better? I have my doubts. That said, you could buy a brand new 2017 Premium in a month or two at a net cost less than that used 2016, assuming that your tax situation allows you to take advantage of the full $7500 tax credit (the $1500 from CA is currently on hold until the Assembly replenishes the EV coffers). By around September, you should expect GM to offer a 17-20% discount off MSRP, with the dealer likely kicking in another $3k-$4k-ish. 20% of $40k is $8k, and adding in $3k gets you down to $29k pre-Fed/CA incentives. Post incentives, you're looking at right around $20k. And you get to pick from dozens to hundreds of models sitting on NorCal dealer lots, not just one as in your example. If you've got a GM Card with lots of rebates attached, you can get that price down even more, and you may be able to stack a few additional incentives (Costco, Farm Bureau, ???) on the final price. The only reason to go used on the Volt based on your price quotes is if you cannot recapture any of the $7500 tax credit and CA never honors the $1500 rebate due to funding issues.
Personally, I would hammer the 2014 price down a few grand and call it a day. You're not going to see a whole lot of depreciation in the next few years versus what you'd experience buying a new car. Also beware of what might happen to new and used EV pricing when a manufacturer's tax credits start to phase out and then expire completely. For GM and Tesla and Nissan, that's likely to happen in 2018. For the laggards and fence-sitters, a few years later.
Good luck with your decision, and be sure to let us know how your negotiations went