Home » Why My Electric Car Is So Hard To Sell

Why My Electric Car Is So Hard To Sell

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Right now I’m selling an awesome electric car for what I would think is an insanely good price, and yet it’s a hard sell for complicated reasons that really only apply to electric cars. Here, allow me to explain my experience selling my first electric vehicle.

Back in the spring of 2023, I bought the cheapest BMW i3 for sale (by a dealer) in the country: A dark gray 2014 model with 135,000 miles on the clock for $10,500. For a carbon fiber car with a world-class interior, backup camera, self-parallel-parking feature, and an extremely good quality build, I thought it was a fantastic deal.

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But the deal just got better. Because the California Air Resources Board requires all hybrids to have batteries covered for 10 years, 100,000 miles, BMW actually replaced my high voltage battery (which had dropped below the 70% state-of-health threshold) absolutely free. So now I have a fantastic range-extended electric car with a brand new battery, and I only paid $10,500. Over the past year, I’ve fallen in love with the i3, so much so that I subsequently decided to buy the ultimate version of the car, a 2021 i3S Giga World.

But it gets better. Now I’m having my car’s AC compressor replaced, also thanks to that CARB warranty, meaning the two major failure points on the BMW i3 are brand new. My i3 is basically a brand new car if you consider the value of the new components compared to the value of other wear components on a 145,000 miles vehicle, and if you get in and drive my i3, you’ll see that it feels like a new car, too.

Of course, now it’s time to sell the car (since I don’t need two i3s), and the process has been… different. Certainly different that I’m used to, as I’ve had to navigate some things that just don’t apply to ICE-powered vehicles.

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Obviously, selling the car for the same price that I bought a 135,000 mile i3 with an old battery and compressor seems a bit silly. Yes, a year has elapsed and EV values have crashed, but the car has clearly gained value. And if you look at other i3s on the market, you’d conclude that, too.

[Note: Because discussions about money tend to get folks riled up, just know that this article is a discussion about some of the complex factors that go into selling my particular car — things I’ve never dealt with before in an ICE. In the end, the market will decide the value of my car, and I’m not really concerned about that. I am still learning about a few elements of the used EV market (esp. in regards to warranties, EV incentives, and tax rebates), and I’m sharing some of those learnings here. -DT]. 

It’s All About Mileage

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The issue is trying to communicate that to buyers for whom EVs are a new concept. The average American car-buyer looks at a car’s miles and uses that to assess condition (I do to a certain degree, as well). My i3 has 145,000 miles on it, so the average consumer naturally thinks: “Uh, there are 10 i3s with half as many miles for less money; why would I buy that one?”

The answer, to us car enthusiasts, is obvious: A new high-voltage battery is a huge deal. And a compressor is also a huge deal. Those combined obviously outweigh the benefits of having 70,000 fewer miles on the suspension and brakes. Especially since it’s not clear that my 145,000 mile car is going to have more suspension/brake issues than a 70,000 mile car. At least, you would think.

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Impressing this upon buyers has been a challenge. Getting folks away from the “miles are everything” mindset that they’re used to is just not going to happen because there was really never an equivalent before. Even selling a car with a brand new engine isn’t quite the same, since ICE cars have complex drivetrains that wear out with miles. With EVs, drivetrains are simple, so a new battery really goes a long way towards refreshing a car. What’s more, a new engine often indicates that an engine was poorly maintained, whereas a new battery just means… time has elapsed and the car got a new battery.

To be sure, miles don’t not matter; if all things are equal, they tend to indicate wear of certain components like suspension and steering and brake parts, plus they also are used to stand in as a representation of how much time the car was in service. And since time tends to degrade things like blower motors and other long-term-wear parts, miles are no doubt a worthy part of the “what condition is this car in” calculus.

But clearly a car with 145,000 miles and a new $30,000 battery and $5000 compressor is a better buy than a car with even 50,000 miles on a worn out battery and a compressor that can kill the whole car any second. But that’s a hard thing to impart upon someone, especially when cars tend to be valued by major valuation entities by mileage on the odometer.

But is is not my only issue.

Things Are Complicated: Tax Credit

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The lack of understanding when it comes to the sheer value of a new battery/compressor is among my primary problems, but arguably as problematic is the way the government has set up the used EV tax rebate. It really, really hurts my sale prospects.

You see, an electric vehicle’s eligibility for the used EV tax credit (which is 30% of the sale price up to $4000) does not depend upon whether or not the vehicle has been used for the credit previously. My BMW i3, for example, has almost certainly never been used to receive a used vehicle tax credit because I’m fairly sure I’m the second owner.

And yet, I cannot offer a buyer the used EV rebate because of this unfortunate rule:

To qualify, a vehicle must meet all of these requirements:

  • Have a sale price of $25,000 or less. Sale price includes all dealer-imposed costs or fees not required by law. It doesn’t include costs or fees required by law, such as taxes or title and registration fees.
  • Have a model year at least 2 years earlier than the calendar year when you buy it. For example, a vehicle purchased in 2023 would need a model year of 2021 or older.
  • Not have already been transferred after August 16, 2022 to a qualified buyer.
  • Have a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 14,000 pounds
  • Be an eligible FCV or plug-in EV with a battery capacity of least 7 kilowatt hours
  • Be for use primarily in the United States

The bold print above may lead you to think “oh, it says qualified buyer, and you weren’t qualified for the rebate when you bought it.” Unfortunately, “qualified buyer” basically just means any buyer. And since I bought my car in April of 2023 (eight months after that August 16 date), the car is no longer eligible for a used EV rebate. Ever.

This is a huge issue when trying to resell an electric car. Why buy my i3 at my $12,000 asking price (or even at my own purchase price of $10,500, which is what I listed it at before the compressor went in) when you could just try to find a $15,000 later model and knock off $4,000? You basically get a $15,000 car for $11,000 instead of a $12,000 car for $12,000.

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But there’s more.

Things Are Complicated: CARB Warranty

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But there’s more to my plight here beyond just struggling to get buyers to understand how big of a deal a new battery/compressor is, and beyond being unable to offer buyers that tax rebate. To people who live in CARB states, my new compressor may not actually be a huge selling point.

The battery is still a huge deal, and who knows, maybe an educated buyer will understand that and buy the car for 12G’s (it is likely the cheapest, loaded Giga-World i3 with a guaranteed good battery in the country). But here’s the thing: If a CARB-state buyer picks up a BMW i3 with significantly under 150,000 miles on the odometer, they really don’t have to worry about the compressor. At least, not for a while.

That’s because the compressor — in CARB states — is covered by a 15 year, 150,000 mile warranty. My i3 will be out of warranty in 5,000 miles; if someone were to buy the aforementioned hypothetical 75,000 mile BMW i3 for less than my i3, they can be comfortable knowing that if their compressor goes bad, BMW will cover it until their car is 15 years old or has 150,000 miles on the clock. Their battery, too, has a 10 year warranty, so if a buyer picks up a 2015 or 2016, they could theoretically get a new battery should theirs fail.

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But see, that’s a big if.

If a buyer were to pick up, say, a 2016 BMW i3 for $9,000, they’d be thrilled that they got a newer car with way fewer miles for $3,000 less than my car. But there’s a good chance their battery will not drop below the 70% threshold by year 10, and there’s a chance that compressor will hang on for 15 years.

We’ll ignore the compressor/15 year warranty since that’s six or seven years out, and buyers don’t care about that. But the battery thing is a big deal. When that 10 year-warranty passes in the next year or two, the buyer could be stuck with a car that has a 75% battery state of health. With my car, instead of driving a vehicle with an eight year-old battery that has 75,000 miles on it and probably an 85% state-of-health, you get a brand new battery. And if you’re worried about the 145,000 miles spelling the end of that 15/150 warranty, never fear, for the compressor is brand new.

[NOTE: Here’s an i3 for sale on Carvana. It costs $13,590, and it clearly has a worn-out battery, showing 39mi of range while full. Yikes!].

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Again, it’s a bit complicated to explain.

My i3 Is A Great Deal To A Very Specific Customer. Very Specific.

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So here’s the thing: Yes, it’s hard to convince buyers how valuable a good battery and compressor are; and yes it’s gonna be tough to sell the car at $12 grand given that it’s not eligible for the used EV rebate; and yes, CARB-state customers are going to say their car is still in warranty anyway.

But to a very specific customer, my 145,000 mile BMW i3 perfect. But that customer is very, very specific.

BMW i3 customers are already rare given that it’s a relatively low-range small car in a country that loves big trucks, has range anxiety, and is overrun by increasingly-cheaper Teslas with more range. But even among those folks looking specifically for i3s, I need to find a customer who a) Doesn’t live in a CARB state and b) Isn’t eligible for the IRA rebate.

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For example, imagine a single person making over $75,000 AGI (or perhaps they already took a used EV credit within the past three years) and living in, say, Texas, looking for a budget-friend i3 for commuting from a suburban ranch to a workplace in town. If this person wanted a loaded i3 Giga World with a guaranteed good battery, they’d have to buy a 2017+ i3, since the 2017s had great batteries that degrade minimally. But then they’d still have the concern about the compressor; if it goes out, they could be legitimately hosed.

For this out-of-stater who doesn’t have the security of the CARB warranty and who also isn’t looking for an IRA rebate-eligible i3, you could argue my i3 is the best deal in the country. But my god is this a ridiculously specific person I’m looking for.

Yikes.

Anyway, I just thought I’d share that, since some of these issues are ones I’ve never had before when selling ICE cars. There was no IRA rebate to factor in, there was no ridiculously long CARB warranty, there wasn’t a massive knowledge gap in the general public about EVs.

Maybe I just need to be patient, or maybe I just keep the gray car and let the Grail go. If it’s between that and letting a perfectly good i3 go for a song, the cheap bastard in me will probably win out… It usually does.

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NebraskaStig
NebraskaStig
7 days ago

Wait…

Is this still available?

Jokes aside, I truly appreciate this article as it does give a lot of thought about what the majority of used cars in the not so distant future will be. Battery performance test results are going to be stat we see listed next to mileage in the ads. Kudos for things to evaluate and selling/buying points of view.

Ford_Timelord
Ford_Timelord
7 days ago

A couple of things.
A/ Everyone needs to chill out about this. David is presenting something that in the future is going to be a quite common predicament. The fact that we are all reading and commenting on it says something.
B/ Was the ‘Texas buyer’ a snide reference to the first arcticle where ‘a subscriber’ from Texas used this forum to get deep into red/blue politics and complain that David was not allowed to change from a spaghetti showering parts dishwashing part tetnus rust fueled frozen Jeep wrencher?

Framed
Framed
8 days ago

Great article and vigorous comments! I think David is searching for Mr. Spock (someone who can evaluate the purchase with cold logic) who also lives in non-CARB state and is not eligible for the EV tax rebate. Unfortunately for him I think logic-driven people are not attracted to brands with slogans like “Sheer Driving Pleasure” and “The Ultimate Driving Machine.”

pizzaman09
pizzaman09
8 days ago
Reply to  Framed

My brother and I are engineers, logic driven people. We’ve been attracted to BMWs multiple times. After much consideration, the best BMW value for performance, initial cost and cost of ownership is an e36, hence why we own and daily an e36 M3.

We drove an i3 when new, it was a riot but also gave me the worst case of vertigo I’ve ever experienced all due to the aggressive regen braking. I do think the i3 is a fine car, but it’s also outclassed by most other EVs so people looking for a cheap EV with some performance are flush with better options.

Last edited 8 days ago by pizzaman09
H T
H T
8 days ago

This has really got me thinking about the difference between high-mileage, older ICE cars vs. EVs.

Consider the same situation: 10 years old, 145K, but an ICE vehicle with new engine instead of EV with new battery. I think the EV is considerably more valuable. I think I run screaming from the engine swapped ICE.

Great, thoughtful article, thank you David. I don’t understand why you’re getting some of the flak you are getting here in the comments.

Also, as Usernametaken said, you may want to just take a bath on this one. You have to value your time and effort in selling things.

Mercedes Streeter
Mercedes Streeter
8 days ago
Reply to  H T

Yeah, whenever I see a high-mileage car with an engine replacement in its description I immediately close the ad. Why did the original engine fail? Was the replacement done correctly? Is the “new” engine even any good? Assuming the answer to the first question could be neglect, what other things are going to break?

So, to me, someone saying they have a 145,000 mile car with a replacement engine does nothing to the value at best, lowers it at worst. I don’t know if corners were cut in the engine replacement or if parts that shouldn’t have been reused were put back in.

I would apply the same logic to EVs, but with a caveat. If the battery was installed by some guy in his garage, or the battery was restored by cracking it open and replacing dead modules, that’s not worth anything to me. But David’s situation of a fully brand new battery installed by experienced techs and there’s still a little bit of a warranty left? Ok, now I’m on board.

I’d buy a 500,000-mile Phaeton with an actual brand new engine in a heartbeat. Wait, no, Mercedes, that’s a bad idea. lol

Col Lingus
Col Lingus
8 days ago

Mercedes.
Consider this before auto closing the ad.
Many new engines are just that, or rebuilt by good shops, or people at home.
A new engine comes with a warranty. As you mention in your comment.

But to be honest here, an engine (used) installed by the guy in his driveway is usually something I approach with a lot of doubt.

Mercedes Streeter
Mercedes Streeter
8 days ago
Reply to  Col Lingus

Very true Col! The cars I’m usually buying high-mileage have depreciated so far that a legitimately new engine is worth as much or more than the car itself is…and you’re still left with a 145k-mile VAG product when you’re done. lol

So, whenever I see a “new” engine advertised in, say, a 150k-mile first gen Audi TT, it usually means “junkyard engine” or “taken out of a parts car.” But I would buy a used car with a legitimately new engine, but I’ve never seen that in the market I buy in.

I offered to buy DT’s i3, too, but I’m even more of a cheapskate than he is, so even the $10,500 he originally paid is more than I’d pay.

Col Lingus
Col Lingus
8 days ago

I have bought some used stuff with junkyard or owner rebuilt engines a few times. But have always felt like I was perhaps driving a ticking bomb. Being able to see receipts, etc. can make it a lot less stressful.

And as an aside, I enjoy your camping stuff a ton.

SarlaccRoadster
SarlaccRoadster
8 days ago
Reply to  Col Lingus

I’d trust a junkyard engine swap a lot more than the unknown-guy-rebuilt-in-his-garage engine.

The junkyard engines all come with a (short) warranty, so if the first one is bad the junkyard would replace it (yes, the labor is on you, but that’s the main gamble with the used engines), while a rebuild can end up bad in a thousand different ways, even if done with extreme care by an experienced engine builder (not to mention all the different things that get replaced/renewed or not, as part of the ‘rebuild’).

Last edited 8 days ago by SarlaccRoadster
Col Lingus
Col Lingus
8 days ago

Agreed.
I have been doing my own rebuilds for 50 years now. Stuff that I don’t have the tools for gets farmed out. Like heads, block, etc. Guess I’ve been lucky because have never had any issues with my engines.

Junkyard engines scare me because you don’t know anything about them, unless it’s still in the car. Then one can examine the car to get a general idea of what kind of owner it had.

And I never trust how someone else rebuilds an engine in their garage. Have actually torn down some of them, and discovered some really stupid crap. But that’s life.

Anoos
Anoos
8 days ago

$10,500 is what he paid a dealer. He’s now doing a private sale and somehow thinks he’s owed an extra $1500 for 10k miles worth of engineer farts and two trips to the dealership for warranty repairs.

Anoos
Anoos
8 days ago
Reply to  David Tracy

You’re literally ‘I know what I gotting’ because the market is very unlikely to value the car as highly as you are.

Your $10.5k purchase price was before the surge in cheap used model 3’s and very cheap leases on Hyundai / Kia EVs.

You want to explain to people that somehow ~145k miles is pretty much the same as much lower mileage. Even though it may be true as an ownership experience, it is definitely not the case when it comes time to sell.

This car has essentially ALL the strikes against it when it comes to a used car.

  1. Out of Warranty European car
  2. High Mileage European car
  3. Used EV
  4. BMW without any of the prestige
  5. Has ALREADY had two major expensive components fail
  6. Old. (Ten years old is OLD for a used vehicle)

I wish you luck with the sale, and hope that the fact that your reach can help you find the oddball buyer you require, but for a non-published civilian selling this vehicle your price is going to be a bit high.

Anoos
Anoos
8 days ago
Reply to  David Tracy

I’m sure I will read all the updates. I hope you make me eat my words.

Random Shots
Random Shots
7 days ago
Reply to  Anoos
Boulevard_Yachtsman
Boulevard_Yachtsman
8 days ago

I also have that same reaction for most newer cars, but exceptions can be made for older ones as illustrated by this actual conversation from when I bought my ’82 Jaguar XJ6:

Me: So, what was this engine out of?
Seller: Not 100% sure, I think it was a Camaro. It’s a 350 – there’s some paperwork that comes with it, but I’ve never went through it.
Me: Any idea of how many miles are on it?
Seller: The engine? No idea. Same with the car – the odometer’s broke. I can say the oil only has around a couple hundred miles on it, although it’s been several years since I changed it.
Me: Any other overall issues with it?
Seller: Just the electrical – the lights all work, but that’s about it.
Me: So… if I try to drive it home tonight, what’s the best you can do [asking price: $3500]?
Seller: Uh.. idk, $2300?
Me: Sold!!

We did make it home even though we couldn’t open the windows or sunroof and it was 90+ degrees out that evening. I’ll never forget my daughter, who was six at the time, drinking a comically big Gatorade and sweating like crazy saying “Dad, this is the coolest car ever!”

We still have that Jaaaag. Fixed the electrical (most of it was one bad relay), put over 25,000 miles on it, and used it for quite a few of my daughter’s driving lessons. Sometimes you have to roll those dice!

Kyree
Kyree
6 days ago

Also, when manufacturers replace engines under warranty or extended campaign, it’s often just the long block…not anything attached to it. This can give people a false sense of security, because they think they’ve got an all-new engine and should start their maintenance schedule all over (if they do any maintenance in the first place).

When my sister’s 2014 Soul threw a rod due to the 2.0-liter defect and Kia replaced it, they transferred all the hoses, belts, pulleys and accessories from the original engine. It was the same for my mom’s 2012 Sonata Limited 2.4, which also threw a rod due to an assembly defect.

AlterId
AlterId
7 days ago
Reply to  H T

…you may want to just take a bath on this one.

Better yet, a shower, since it’s just about lunchtime in L.A.

Freelivin2713
Freelivin2713
7 days ago
Reply to  H T

“take a bath on this one”
I think he prefers showers
(w/ spaghetti)

JDE
JDE
7 days ago
Reply to  H T

the big question then is if you say swapped a 100K LKQ engine for an original 279K motor would you disclose this or let the buyer think they just have really good running 1/3 million mile car.

anAutopian
anAutopian
6 days ago

Isn’t the Helene helping?

Sklooner
Sklooner
6 days ago

I got 1258$ a bag of weed and a manual swapped volvo 850

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