Hello! Someone smashed into my parked car Thursday night... Luckily they left their info and their insurance is covering the expenses!
Totaled car: 2013 Hyundai Elantra (Paid $9300 in 2015)
KBB value: ~$6101 - $7740. (assuming "good" condition)
We will see what the insurance company offers me...
I've always been attracted to electric cars. I love the technology/newness of it.... But finance is king....
Work has free charging stations, which I plan to work here for at least 2 years. I spent ~$1k on gas last year.
I drive around 10k a year. Grocery/work/gym within 3 miles from home. I do visit friends and family that are ~60 miles round trip on weekends.
#1
https://cars.ksl.com/listing/5815567?ad_cid=5Nissan Leaf 2014 S with a new battery. $7100. Online says 84 mile range, pictures show 69 miles (Not exactly sure if that picture shows fully charged). I am worried on weekends I won't be able to do a roundtrip to a friends house (especially winter time).
#2
https://cars.ksl.com/listing/5805010?ad_cid=32013 Chevy Volt. $9450 with 75k miles. I like the idea of having 38 mile range, then it switches to gas. that 38 mile range will cover 75-85% of my driving (guessing).
3.
https://cars.ksl.com/listing/5701825?ad_cid=62013 Toyota Prius. 50mpg? 148k miles (should I be worried?).
4. Kind of serious.... 2019 Nissan Leaf S: $31690. - $7500 (fed rebate) - $3500 (utility rebate) = $20,690. kbb.com value of a 2018 Nissan Leaf S with 15k miles is $21,332.... Could I potentially buy a new car and resell summer 2020... and repeat? I don't see any wording whether an individual can reuse fed/utility rebates...
Taxes is 6.85% (UT); so a $2170 bill... I won't be "breaking even", but losing $1-2k a year in depreciation is what I was getting with my previous car. Maybe I'm oversimplying the numbers here.
Anyway.... Would love some suggestions/advice! What would you do if you were me?
Edit: an EV that has ~150 mile range would eliminate my stress over my car dying on me. I can see 2018+ leafs (leaves?) are 150+. But I also get buying new is stupid. I've also thought about buying a car that will last me 3-4 years, then sell off to buy a used 2018-2019 Leaf for ~$7k (assuming they follow the same depreciation trend as previous models).