Hi, I'm looking for a hybrid or EV car at the moment, just need some general guidance on how to get a lower price? I know there's the Clean Car Discount currently but depending on how the election goes it may not be around forever. Is using vehicle finance viable? Are there any other schemes I can use?
Thanks
Matt
Cheapest Ways to Get a Hybrid/ EV Car
LMatty D on 20/09/2023 - 16:24
Comments
Financing / leasing will almost always be expected to cost more than purchasing outright (over the period of ownership) compared to purchasing outright up front, but if you don't have the cash in the bank, then some kind of loan (whether a lease or 'finance' - whatever form it takes) will be required.
If a dealer is offering financing in some form, and the headline interest rate is 'too good to be true', then they are likely loading the real interest into the price (whether the headline price, or some other 'fees' or 'charges'). In that scenario, you should be able to get the price down by offering cash up front, but sometimes the incentives for the dealer in terms of the commission they get from the finance provider will outweigh other factors, and oddly you might get a better deal by going that route.
To be sure, you really need to know your own cost of capital, so you can run the numbers properly - if you have the purchase price available (in cash or close to it), you'd need to know your expected (after tax) marginal return on investment over the life of the finance agreement.
Also, if going that way, read any finance agreement carefully - you might have the right to pay it off in full after some period of time. If so, maybe you go that way, get the better deal, and pay off the loan in a week, month, or whatever. However, there could be fees for doing that too.
HTH,
Alan.
If you have mortgage, look into discounted loans from banks for buying EV which have discounted rates for couple of years. Good if you can pay it off within that time frame.
If you have a Mortage with any of the big banks:
ANZ, BNZ and ASB can loan up to 80k at 1% interest over 3 Years.
Westpac can loan up to 50k at 0% interest over 5 years.You could import your own from japan. Save a few dollars that way but bit more risk. Ymmv
Happy to discuss further.
As others have said if you want finance take the banks loans at 1% if you can and put any money you have against your mortgage to reduce those repayments for the 3 years, or stick it in the highest interest you can find to get it back in 3 years when the cheap rate expires and you can pay the bank off.
Clean car rebates worth taking if you buy a qualifying car and is cash, so you can borrow the full amount from the banks low interest loan and put the rebate where it works best for you. That's up to $7000 that could be earning you interest to help pay off the car when the time comes.
Ev just take loan from major banks they have some schemes like mine bnz is 1% I think on ev .
Hybrid cheap price is you import it your self from Japan and wait for few weeks and clear compliance your self
Nissan epower ( fun to drive more features also has smart lock ), Toyota aqua about 6+ total
Toyota sienta , 7 seats compact hybrid 9 + k approx total
Toyota alpha 5 and 7 seats hybrid 11 k ish any car grade 4 inside BAs this is a money - saving forum, just be aware of the additional costs of servicing EVs, replacing tyres more frequently etc. and other higher costs associated with EVs e.g., insurance and breakdown. There is also talk of future road user charges. The resale value of EVs has plummeted overseas.
@GJ can you elaborate more on the additional costs of servicing EVs? Everywhere I read it says that the costs are approx. 1/3 lower compared to a petrol and 1/2 lower than diesel vehicles - that makes sense - less moving parts, less maintenance… Tyre wear can be 20% more, but that heavily depends on your driving style, weight adds to the wear, but regenerative braking makes them last longer… Insurance costs are the same - it's the value of the car that usually affects the insurance cost. And breakdown - not sure what you mean - AA doesn't care if it's petrol, diesel or EV… The only thing that I would agree with your comment is to definitely take into account RUC, which will most likely be introduced next year on all vehicles petrol, hybrid and EVs.
I'm guessing higher insurance cost since EV's are relatively "newish" (2012+) car compared to the age of most people replacing their car with.
Myself included, replacing a 2005 Vitz with 2015 Leaf had my insurance cost doubled, but that's related to the age/value of the car like you said.I haven't done any servicing myself of 2 years of ownership; can't see anything to do apart perhaps replacing the wipers soon.
Agree with @nzoutdoors' comments but also curious to hear what you mean by additional costs of servicing EVs.
Also with our high expensive petrol prices (saw an article in the herald that it could go up to as high as $3.50/L by Christmas) I would've thought EVs would be an enticing option for people looking for a new car, and not even something super expensive like an Aqua, or a Leaf.
Some of the EVs don't even have a servicing calender as such. Care to elaborate what regular servicing is required in EV? Most you need to do is fill wiper fluid(all cars need), change cabin air filter(probably around2-3 yrs, again all cars need it), Keep tyre air pressure in check, maybe replace wipers(all cars need). Compared to an ice/hybrid car you do need every 6/12months servicing for oil,filter change which has a recurring cost.
Yes, insurance is higher as they are newer and expensive to replace so premium is higher.
RUC is coming for both EV & Hybrid which is fair as currently RUC is part of petrol tax so EV owners don't pay anything for maintaining road infrastructure.
About near to an anniversary in my EV, I have not done any servicing and don't see time soon I would need it either. Just about time to fill up my expensive wiper fluid lol (water works absolutely). Done 10k+ and tyres looks about new. Maybe they last little less compared to small ice car due weight & torque it is put under.
Just from a data point of 2 (we had an old and then a new Nissan leaf) it was the reduction in servicing costs that was probably the biggest benefit for us from owning an EV. So many less moving parts to break and even the brakes wear more slowly because of Regen. Tyres maybe wear down faster but these aren't a huge expensive compared to oil pumps, radiators, timing belts etc. The EVs have saved our family a huge amount of $$, we just charge at home. Happy to pay RUCs when they come in. We went for EV over petrol for my wife's car purely from a $ savings point of view rather than trying to save the world.
For original question grab a low or no interest green loan from the bank and buy while rebates are live. I'd grab the rear wheel drive MG4 and do skids if I were to run out and grab something today.
Insurance costs are a factor of chance of paying out and average claim value. It's not inherently more expensive on a EV than a ICE but Tesla's (which lets face make up the majority of new EVs) have very high repair costs relative to other vehicles of similar values. They also have a lower chance of being in a accident thanks to modern driver assistance systems and they are less likely to be stolen because they are harder to steal.
EVs do typically go through tires faster than ICE but that's largely a function of SUVs having the performance of sports cars, high weight and fast acceleration will wear tires quickly, you'd expect to see similar effects on a porsche Cayenne or a Range rover sport. If you drive the car in the same way as you'd drive an ICE vehicle of a similar size your tire wear will only be increased by the increased weight (that is to say there's a price for driving the car to its max potential and that is tires wearing out quickly)
On the plus side, EVs dont need oil changes, they dont have timing belts that need replacement. Their maintenance is limited to replacing the cabin air filters each year and the fact that their suspension components will likely require replacement sooner (weight and performance again.)
RUCs are coming but a EV will still be cheaper to run if you can charge at home.Resale value plummeted because they were being sold for above new price due to supply shortages, now they are being sold at a discount because you can buy a new one if you want and the new prices have dropped in the last year thanks to increased supply.
It is possible that the batteries wont last as long as expected but this is something we're a decade away from knowing, Tesla only started using LFP cells in 2021 so we really dont have good real world data on their longevity until they have been in the real world for a decade.
Glad NS has had a positive saving with the EV. Okay, maybe servicing was the wrong word - just bear in mind repairs and labour charges can be higher at the moment due to the shortage of trained EV techs. If NZ follows overseas trends, even after a minor accident, the car is more likely to be written off due to cost of parts, repairs and even slight damage to battery. Be aware of second hand EVs…be battery aware!!
You could try find a friend and split one. Buy a timeshare in a leaf.