The Expert Podcast

You need to be very careful when buying a used electric vehicle, but you could get a great deal. Here are two articles from today that talk about how used car electric vehicle pricing is really volatile. According to one dealer, some cars have a shelf life of days, meaning that the prices are dropping every single day. There are rumors that Tesla is having to write checks to leasing companies to cover residual values that are deficient, meaning that the leasing company put a value on the car for lease turn-ins that was a lot higher than what it turned out to be. The leasing companies are having to eat the difference.

If you're in the market for a used electric vehicle, you may find some great deals, but you probably need to double, triple, or quadruple check the condition of the car. Recent EV models run into 79% more problems than gas cars, according to Consumer Reports. This is an unbiased magazine, and they don’t do advertising. Also, you're going to find that it's difficult to test the batteries on these cars, so you want to get a good EV checkup on the battery.

Between the risk of mechanical problems and the risk of valuation problems, the used electric vehicle market is risky. But if you're a savvy buyer, do your homework, negotiate a good deal, and you might find a way to get a very, very cheap car that serves the purpose of what you're looking for.