My BlackWing has been relieved of its duties...

[Jameson's Viggen]

I have made it about two years now with my BlackWing as my work commuter. I have subjected it to two winters.

It's been very comfortable and capable.

But man, I drive this thing like a grandma in at 6am, barely ever over 2k RPMs. I still struggle for 22mpgs. Can I afford it, yep.

But I also pay about $2150 to insure it.

Grundy wouldn't allow me to insure it under my collectors policy as I don't have enough dailies.
They also have it depreciating as it's not a collectors policy, so it was down to $58k of coverage.

Some sane people would sell the BlackWing.

I love the BlackWing and I am dumb.

So my solution?




Well work offers free EV charging. I spend about $240 a month on gas commuting. If I got a $0 down lease that was sub $240 a month, the car would essentially be free.

What about insurance?

Well, the BlackWing with collectors agreed value at $68k is $354. EVs were $1500-1800, combined...yep, no additional cost to what I'm already paying. Free car.

I'm also going to put less miles, less wear and tear, less maintenance and no more salt on the BlackWing.

That's a lot of upside isn't it?

I am not an EV early adopter. I am not doing this for politics, to save the world, to make a statement.

This is a free car for my household. Another car my wife can drive. It keeps my BlackWing nicer and better protected.

So I see this Jalopnik article. The cheapest lease in the country is a $42k Hyundai Ioniq 6. $239 a month, $0 down, 12k miles a year. Well shit, that's got me written all over it.

I live in Michigan. Good luck finding the RWD SE this lease offer was based on.

I find one 10 miles away and start a text with a salesman.

Typical, of that car is sold. All I have left is an SEL AWD. That's a whole different ball game. Dual motor, 0-60 in 4.3, tons of features and now a $50k+ MSRP. This where they say some stupid high numbers.

But I am in the best position. I don't NEED this car. 4 cars for me, 5 with my wife's car. We're DINKS.

I link the article again and say $1 more than that offer is of no interest to me.

An hour later he says I got the managers ok, he'll do the deal on same deal on the SEL AWD.

Wait, what?

I was a bit in shock.

I started making things official, but waited for the ball to drop, the gotcha moment. Some hidden fees. Some upsell.


Nothing.

I wasn't transferring a plate, so I paid for it. That was it. I got there the next day(yesterday) and had done everything over email/text so it was here's my debit card and drove off. No up sells. In fact I told him I'd do wheel & tire insurance because of the 20" wheels in Metro Detroit. He knocked $100 off that when I winced a bit.

This thing is fantastic. Way nicer than it needs to be for an appliance that I'm not even going to garage. Charging it ONCE a week for free at work covers 1-2wks commute thanks to a near 300 mile range. I also get 2yrs of free charging at Electrify America locations.

It's a polarizing car looks wise. I'm glad it's not anonymous looking like a Tesla 3, they went for it. Interior is excellent, build quality excellent. I'm glad a sedan exists. When I grabbed his last i6, my two buddies came today where the guy gave him my same deal for an i5 "SUV" for a few bucks more.

 

[Joespenard]

E Z math

 

[Finally-a-V]

Good for you. I get it. I wish we'd go back to the day of cheap leases. There's not much that appeals to me right now (suv wise) and a cheap 2 or 3 year lease would get me off this dang fence.

Yup, beat the poop out of someone else's car, hand back the keys. Done

Congrats!

 

[jumpmanjay]

That's a crazy good deal

 

[jbawden]

That "free car" math sounds like me selling something to my wife! She is an accountant and quickly derails the argument, but I appreciate the point of view. That is a hell of a deal no matter how the math pencils out.

Hyundai is quietly coming after Tesla dominance. I don't think the model 3 is great looking, but I find it odd when described as plain and non-descript. Particularly when the new Prius looks like a baby brother to the 3 and the automotive press was hyperventilating over how good the new Prius looks.

Another observation is the direction EV's are pulling the automotive market. What is being spun as the environmentally sensible option is actually getting further and further removed from that premise as these cars are the equivalent of disposable razors. "It's getting weird, and its getting weird fast!" - Elon Musk

 

[jumpmanjay]

That "free car" math sounds like me selling something to my wife! She is an accountant and quickly derails the argument, but I appreciate the point of view. That is a hell of a deal no matter how the math pencils out.

Hyundai is quietly coming after Tesla dominance. I don't think the model 3 is great looking, but I find it odd when described as plain and non-descript. Particularly when the new Prius looks like a baby brother to the 3 and the automotive press was hyperventilating over how good the new Prius looks.

Another observation is the direction EV's are pulling the automotive market. What is being spun as the environmentally sensible option is actually getting further and further removed from that premise as these cars are the equivalent of disposable razors. "It's getting weird, and its getting weird fast!" - Elon Musk

Just when ICE cars were becoming generally reliable across the board, we start to get pushed into disposable EVs? Doesn't smell good.

 

[Jameson's Viggen]

Just when ICE cars were becoming generally reliable across the board, we start to get pushed into disposable EVs? Doesn't smell good.

There was no push for me. No government motivation and pressure.

This was a free car.

It just happens to be a nice one. If this cost me even $100 more a month than I was paying, it wouldn't be in my driveway.

 

[jumpmanjay]

There was no push for me. No government motivation and pressure.

This was a free car.

It just happens to be a nice one. If this customer me even $100 more a month than I was paying, it wouldn't be in my driveway.

Sorry, I didn't mean to insinuate there was for you. I was just speaking more broadly to the common chorus of manufacturers that are going ICE free by 20xx. It seems going to an EV is ideally in a lease because the resale of EVs isn't looking so hot. "You'll own nothing and be happy"

 

[Jameson's Viggen]

Sorry, I didn't mean to insinuate there was for you. I was just speaking more broadly to the common chorus of manufacturers that are going ICE free by 20xx. It seems going to an EV is ideally in a lease because the resale of EVs isn't looking so hot. "You'll own nothing and be happy"

Absolutely. I'd never buy an EV with this abysmal depreciation and how fast the tech will make a 4yr old one obsolete. It's like my damn cell phone. Give me a new one every two years.

 

[LF4472]

Some sane people would sell the BlackWing.

I'm not sure sane people would own one in the first place!

 

[Exia]

I wish I could find lease deals like that in Canada. Instead I subject my Camaro to the salt because the cheapest lease is a 25k Chevy Trax and it still costs over almost $400 before insurance.

If an Ioniq 6 was even $400 ( Canadian Conversation) I'd probably buy one myself.

 

[Matt27]

I'm about 18 months behind you on this plan.

Hoping VW nails the EV GTI and I can grab hatch for even more practicality.

Though the Ioniq 5N is pretty appealing too...

 

[rubberduck]

Give it a few weeks of driving the toaster every day to work and you’ll be back in the Blackwing. It’s one of the things that makes me enthusiastic about going out to run an errand. Makes grocery shopping fun again.

 

[Magnetic Flux]

I am not against EVs. I had a Model Y for 3 years. It worked great or me, but got a little boring. Your 300 miles of range in Detroit winter will likely be about 150-200 so you will probably have to charge a little more than you expect.

I’m with you on taking a free car to better protect the Blackwing! People keep telling me to buy a beater to drive in the winter to save the BW.

Good luck with it all and enjoy!

 

[sethsquire]

I recently had some time and decided to satisfy my curiosity by test driving a few EV's. I tried the Cadillac Lyriq, Tesla Model Y, Mustang Mach-E and Ioniq5. The Cadillac was the best, but also the most expensive so it well should be. The Tesla drove really well but the controls were stupid. The Ioniq drove great as well, and had less stupid controls, and (IMO) was cool and different. The Mach-E was underwhelming, not terrible but just didn't do it for me, with some weird braking behavior and what felt like less power than the competition.

Honestly, for a regular commuter car, all these EV's drove great. Did they feel as good as my manual Blackwing? No, of course not, because the Blackwing is special, but as a comparison to your average everyday breadbox, EV's are awesome. Yes, batteries and charging infrastructure has a ways to go, but that's how technology works.

Add to that the absolutely stupid lease deals you can get on these. I peruse leasehackr regularly, and people are getting Ioniq 5's and Nissan Ariya's for like 200 bucks a month with zero DAS. In fact, if I was a smart and financially savvy man (I am not), it would make all the sense in the world to sell the Blackwing and just get one of these for my very limited daily driving duties.

 

[FLYARMY]

I just drove past my local Tesla dealership tonight. There had to be 250 cars parked in the lot. I didn't see license plates on the ones parked along the roadway. There were about 10 of them in the dark dealer lot with their yellow hazard lights flashing. I wonder why they do that, unless its some automatic thing when the car craps the bed, it flashes its lights. My favorite EV right now is the Lucid Air cars. They at least have some style.

 

[Jameson's Viggen]

Give it a few weeks of driving the toaster every day to work and you’ll be back in the Blackwing. It’s one of the things that makes me enthusiastic about going out to run an errand. Makes grocery shopping fun again.

My commute is pretty boring. I like the idea of getting to work for $0. I like the mindless gliding the EV entails.

 

[shbox]

My commute is pretty boring. I like the idea of getting to work for $0 more. I like the mindless gliding the EV entails.

While I don't like Kia as a brand nor that car for its looks, I can appreciate its purpose and am happy it works for your needs. Your scenario has given me EV ideas for when my wife's beater gives up the ghost.

 

[BimmerFan]

I'm glad this worked out for you financially, and I hope it works out, you know, emotionally.

My commute sucks in that the highway I take is under perpetual construction and is really a harrowing experience. The upside is that it's only 14 miles that I can do in 20 minutes most days because I work from 7 - 3:45. It's a shame to put the BW through this, but I enjoy driving it so much that I can't see replacing it. And I typically work 2 days a week from home.

However...

Recently I drove the new BMW 5 series, both the petrol and electric versions. I was surprised how much I liked the electric version. Partly because you can no longer get a manual, so if I can't shift, it doesn't make a big difference if there's an engine or a motor up front.

Chatting with folks about these, it seems that BMW is having some trouble moving some of their EVs, like the iX, and so lease deals are really quite tempting. I don't have room for a fifth car, and my employer has no charging facility, so it's not going to happen for me any time soon. Plus I live in the South and if it looks like snow (and they brine the roads) then I just stay home.

Anyway, congrats on the new appliance!

 

[quikag]

Congrats, heck of a deal! Struggle with the styling as it looks like a dog dropping a deuce, but the car itself is fantastic and I bet very nice to drive, especially for 'free.' Enjoy!