How do lots of people afford the brand new luxury cars ?

There's a big market for repurposed batteries as the capacities are so big that a house won't notice a battery that has less than 80% capacity.

Typically only specific cells due but that doesn't render the entire battery useless. They can be repaired by just replacing the faulty cells, so very recyclable.

Interesting as the i3 forums are saying different, with BMW honouring their 8 year battery warranties.

But I guess you only see the ones outside of the 8 year warranty as the ones they're honouring will be taken care of by BMW.

Strange how they'd shoot themselves in the foot on future sales, just when they need customers to buy into electric cars.

Which unfortunately feeds into the throw away culture. A limited amount of the battery can be recycled, with some suggestion they can be used as a sort of mass storage. I’m not entirely sure how that works if the batteries themselves aren’t performing well.

the environmental issues are hugely complex. Like wrapping fruit and veg in plastic, yes it’s bad. But it preserves the product so there’s less wastage, which means less resources producing more. So which is worse?

If this is the case then this is a good reason NOT to buy but to lease.

I am motor trade at a garage specialising in electric vehicles. It is the i3. The hybrids have had similar battery issues, with bmw just shrugging their shoulders of the issue.

Which BMWs are these? The only BMW EV that's just coming out of warranty now is the i3 (from 2014 onwards) and I've not heard of many issues on i3 forums or the internet in general.

Toyota was good as long as I remember. We had few. Still all very fondly remember our Corolla. Already was known as extremely safe car 15 years ago.

It's like with everything though. The more technology you have in something, the more things can go wrong (not aiming at Toyota here). Like tvs and fridges etc.
My GM had candy fridge bought VERY VERY long time ago and it failed only few years ago.

Yes. Really. I’ve worked for toyota. Their warranty is the best in the business. Lots of manufacturers have long warranties now, but Toyotas is one of the few worth the paper they’d re written on.
I could write you a long lengthy post about their hybrid technology actually being so good because it was designed in the early 2000’s. As I say, cars now, are not designed to last as long as they were.
Toyota are struggling a bit due to their technology being older, that does bring more of a proven track record. It’s bodywork that will bring an end to the Toyota before the hybrid engine fails.

bmw electric cars are having huge issues at the moment as their batteries are commonly failing just after the warranty period which leaves the owners with a costly bill to replace the batteries (which frequently go on back order / are unavailable) or write off a fairly new car.

We don’t have one but lease options through my place of work are very very reasonable - when our Audi dies we will lease an electric one via that route I expect

*typo 100,000 miles.

No they aren’t designed to last a long time anymore. Peak car longevity is probably late 90’s - 2008ish.

Really, well all Toyota`s are covered under their relax warranty, meaning every year they get a service you get an extra years warranty upto 10 Years / 10,000 miles and 15 years on all their Hybrid/EV batteries.

So your warranty is covered for upto the first 15 years at least. Seems like a decent deal for my initial investment.

We get deals via work and can swap every 6 or 12 months
I don't, I have a 8 year old polo that's fine, 40k on it and had it since new
Occasionally I drive a work car which will be one of the brand new ones you see about. The majority are on finance/pcp/lease

You are right - I have 2 years left on my EV lease, and I'll be surprised if it still makes sense to take out a second one.

I don't really think it should either - tax breaks for higher rate taxpayers to drive 50k cars isn't something that makes sense, generally. Except in the current context - of creating a 2nd-hand market for EVs, by filling it with 3yo ex-lease cars.

When I sold my previous car, I set the money aside as the deposit for my next car, as I realised that I probably won't be leasing forever. That said, I love my EV, and the rapidly evolving technology and increases in battery life mean that I would probably err towards leasing, as I don't think it is clear yet what the depreciation pattern will be for EVs.

You also need to be able to actually afford to buy a 52k car as well, of course.

Leasing does make sense to some people in some instances, not in others. It's certainly not 1 size fits all.

No they aren’t designed to last a long time anymore. Peak car longevity is probably late 90’s - 2008ish.

Even recycling the majority of the vehicle at the end of life the resources used in that process are obscene. Manufacturers are aware the money is in subscription providing now, not selling one car every 10 years. It’s keeping a turn over, keeping that £400 a month coming in.

You are right in saying that this doesn't apply to me. You are guessing about people based on one friend.

I don't believe that most cars made in 2023 will have same possible lifespan like 90s or early 2000s cars tbh

The thing is technology changes and cars now are not necessarily designed to last for years and years. I've said this several times on here now but the aim with many manufacturers is now environmental , sustainability and recycling of cars whilst embracing the new technology of hybrids and all electric. Most people don't seem to have much knowledge of this.

Where I live many people are employed by big car factories, they get deals and can change their cars every 6-12 months. Everyone near me seems to have the big new cars.

If I had leased my car throughout the time I have owned it, it would have cost £57,288. I bought it cash for £52,000 at the time and have had service charges of £9k so I'm slightly worse off ... but I do still own it and would arguably get about £20k back if I sold it privately.

Lease is a great idea if you can keep it up, but the minute you stop you don't own anything.

Maybe they have a good wage and do want to fork out lots.

Yes that's true. Road tax is already being introduced in a few years time and other costs will rise accordingly. I can see costs steadily rising up till 2030, when sales of ICE only vehicles end. After that I'd expect costs to be about the same, although I'm not 100% how it'll be achieved. Some lucky people will be able to charge cars via solar so am guessing road tax or some other vehicle tax will have to be introduced.

But in the short term it's still possible to save money, which I guess is better than nothing, if you're fortunate enough to buy an EV.

Thankfully we haven’t encountered these issues. Managed to order the one we want, it will be delivered in June (which is when our current lease ends), and my company are covering half of the cost of having a charging point installed.

Ta. You've inspired me now, I'm off to MSE!

Not long at all. Also getting hold of one that you want is the other issue,as is the charging infrastructure currently.

DH is waiting for an electric company car, which to lease (with the high mileage he does) would be over £600 per month with a £5k+ deposit. His car allowance is only £3.5k a year and personal cars must be less than 5 years old, so it didn’t make sense to use our own car (which we’d have had to replace as it was coming up to 5 years old).

If DH changed job (to one with no car), we’d go back to what we had before, buying a 4/5 year old car for c £15k and keeping it until it died.

I don’t understand people who pay hundreds a month, effectively forever as they’ll never own it, “for peace of mind” when so many are failing to save enough for a pension.