You Can Buy A 469-Horsepower Audi E-Tron GT For The Price Of A New Nissan Leaf

It sucks that we’re still stuck in an era of elevated used car prices. If the chip shortage and all that didn’t happen, the general trend of the Manheim index for used car wholesale vehicles was on track to be substantially lower than it is now, which would’ve directly translated to cheaper cars. Now, it’s all screwy. Take late-model Toyotas, for example. Nearly-new ones are expensive enough on the used market that you’d usually be better off going new and taking advantage of captive finance rates. However, if you know where to look and are willing to plug in, you could still find a spectacularly depreciated deal. Something like the Audi E-Tron GT.

While this sedan shares a few familial cues with its combustion-powered siblings, it cuts a silhouette nothing like any other Audi, and there’s a reason for that. Underneath the single-frame faux grille, it’s effectively a reworked Porsche Taycan with more buttons on the inside. Same sort of 800-volt architecture for a DC fast charging peak transfer of 270 kW, same clever two-speed gearbox on the rear drive motor, same habit of exceeding its EPA-rated range. Alright, so it might not drive quite as sharply as a Taycan, but its dashboard is far more user-friendly with touches like physical climate control switches and a dedicated iPod-style wheel for stereo volume and track-skipping. That has to count for something, right?

Also shared with the Taycan, an eye-watering sticker price. When the E-Tron GT launched for 2022, it started at $100,945 including freight. Any trim, any configuration, it’s a six-figure car when new. However, because the badge on the front consists of four rings rather than a crest, it’s depreciated harder than its Stuttgart-fettled brother. In fact, you can now pick up an E-Tron GT for the price of a new mid-range Nissan Leaf.

Alright, so at $35,725 in mid-range SV+ trim, the new Leaf does officially hold an upper hand over the E-Tron GT in the form of range. As-specced, it’s rated for 288 miles of range, whereas the E-Tron GT has an official rating of 238 miles. That’s 21 percent more range, a number you’ll probably feel. However, in Edmunds range testing, the E-Tron GT did manage 273 miles on a charge, so the real delta might be closer than the numbers suggest. Still, the Leaf isn’t exactly a rocketship, and that’s where a used E-Tron GT could satisfy.

Take this grey 2022 example, up for sale in New Jersey. It’s done a mere 25,436 miles and is still just new enough to have a few months of factory bumper-to-bumper warranty left. Plus, it has a squeaky-clean history, yet its being unloaded for $33,499. That’s a 469-horsepower German sports sedan for small crossover money. In other terms, this car’s depreciated by $70,991 since it was first sold, which almost works out to an entire Nissan Versa a year, or $2.79 per mile. That’s an excruciating figure, but it’s certainly beneficial for whoever buys this E-Tron GT next.

Now, grey isn’t everyone’s color, even if it has a bit of a glacier tinge to it. Greyscale everything can make you feel blue, so how about a blue E-Tron GT as a bit of a lift? This 2022 example’s up for sale in Pennsylvania with 35,585 miles on the clock, a clean one-owner history, and the optional Performance Package. What’s in this package? Among largely cosmetic sundries, four-wheel-steering, variable assistance power steering, and torque vectoring. All this for $34,990.

Willing to travel for a really cheap example? This white 2022 E-Tron GT is up for sale in Missouri for a mere $31,900. Granted, it does have 69,253 miles on the clock, but its history report comes up clean, it’s had one owner, and it still looks properly fresh. Not a bad way of drawing bewildered stares from the neighbors as they wonder how you managed to put this sort of car in your driveway.

Now granted, a complicated, depreciated luxury sedan won’t be as reliable as a relatively simple new crossover. You usually won’t have a balance of factory bumper-to-bumper warranty, and that makes a difference for body electrics. Rear spoiler actuation was a known issue on early E-Tron GT models, and a replacement unit retails for around $520 plus fitting. Software glitches were also widely reported early on, although most of those, including one that led to a non-responsive accelerator pedal, should be patched now via software updates. As with many power-hungry cars, premature 12-volt battery failure isn’t unheard-of, but that’s largely the extent of widespread issues. Just keep a budget in reserve for that pesky spoiler, spare batteries, and tires.

So yeah, you can buy a four-year-old Audi E-Tron GT for the price of a new mid-range Nissan Leaf, and if you’re willing to put up with a few software gremlins and some minor potential fixes, it’s a whole lot of car for the money. Quick, posh, fast-charging, and with a few years of battery warranty remaining for peace of mind. Normally, these used-luxury-car-for-new-regular-car thought exercises are best left theoretical, but this one might actually be worth looking into.

Top graphic image: Audi