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The "value" falls off quickly and dramatically though. Unless you have a desirable car that is well known to be just as good used as new (examples: Tesla, Jeep

The "value" falls off quickly and dramatically though. Unless you have a desirable car that is well known to be just as good used as new (examples: Tesla, Jeep Wrangler, etc.), the second owner isn’t likely to get much of anything for it. If they bought it used at 3 years old, they probably paid 80% of the price it was new, and the dealer probably paid the original owner 60% of what it was worth new. If they hang onto it long enough to pay off a standard length auto loan (5 years) and drive it for a bit after that, you’re probably looking at a ten year old vehicle. They aren’t worth much to trade in. The dealer will pay you 5% of what it was worth new. At 20 years, be happy that they’re willing to dispose of your car for free. I’d be lucky to get a dealer to give me $2k for my ‘04 expedition, but they’d only give me $5k if it was a ‘12 with half the mileage. That all being said, most cars in the US aren’t replaced because they’re not working or serviceable. People get bored of driving the same car every day. Either that, or they don’t trust a car after an accident, or the insurance company declares your car totaled because they think they can make a profit by fixing it a bit and selling it in a country with less stringent safety requirements. I still drive my SUV because I’m a 6’4 dude who has a lot of trouble finding a comfortable vehicle. Most crossovers have my knees jammed into the dash or the entertainment system.

southerntofu 5y ago
> examples: Tesla I am curious how electric car batteries will fare in the long run. Lithium batteries in the computing world (eg. smartphone batteries) are well known to lose charge after a few years. Considering battery is a considerable cost in manufacture/maintenance of an electric car, i'm not sure how that would play out. I guess we'll have to wait another decade to find out whether that's a disaster or not.
- Teknoman117 5y ago
  I shot myself in the foot there a bit. I was really thinking "used cars that sell for so close to what they cost new you might as well buy the new one" (Tesla) and I mentally leaped to "that should mean the car is built so well, being a few years old should cause any wear worth mentioning" (I.e. well built off-road capable vehicle that 90% of owners purchased to merely masquerade as someone who does things that justify owning one) I too wonder what the range loss will do to the value over time. If lithium doesn’t get substantially more expensive, I know that for the Nissan Leaf my parents owned, getting a new battery + the labor was like $4,000. Admittedly the Tesla battery has 3x higher capacity, but I don’t know much that actually effects the end price after accounting for all of the other stuff that goes into those packs.
- fragmede 5y ago
  The original Tesla roadster came out in 2008, and while it was a very niche vehicle, we can still learn from it being 13 or so years old. Even ignoring the life of the cells themselves, everything around them has changed, as Tesla's learned a lot about making electric cars. eg the plate on the underside of the vehicle to protect the batteries has undergone some reworking. It would be foolish to think a Tesla from 2031 wouldn't have similarly advanced from something from this year.
  - southerntofu 5y ago
    > it being 13 or so years old That's very young for mechanical equipment. Traditional cars , washing machines and fridges could be operated for several decades with little maintenance. > Even ignoring the life of the cells themselves That was the point of my argument, though. That a great part of the car's production cost is due to the battery, which has a rather limited lifespan.
    - long11l 5y ago
      Traditional cars are owned on average for 6 years. And maintenance is definitely required along the way and will just keep climbing
      - southerntofu 5y ago
        > Traditional cars are owned on average for 6 years. I have no clue about such statistics, but in any case they don't mean the car itself becomes useless after that period. > And maintenance is definitely required Yes but that's an entirely reasonable cost, at least compared to new cars. Even if you need to change significant parts of your car every few years (which is usually not the case), it would cost you a few thousand euros at most. A budget of, let's say 1000€/year maintenance (high estimate) is still an order of magnitude cheaper than buying a new car (20-100k€). That 1000€ yearly budget estimate is a very high estimate which accounts for expensive parts to change at most once every decade. Of course, many people who buy second-hand cars will just buy another second-hand car for 100-1000€ instead of changing expensive/hard-to-reach parts for over 1000€. It all depends on how easy finding the parts are, and whether you or a person close to you has the equipment and knowledge to change the part for free (or in exchange for other services).

southerntofu 5y ago

> examples: Tesla I am curious how electric car batteries will fare in the long run. Lithium batteries in the computing world (eg. smartphone batteries) are well known to lose charge after a few years. Considering battery is a considerable cost in manufacture/maintenance of an electric car, i'm not sure how that would play out. I guess we'll have to wait another decade to find out whether that's a disaster or not.

Teknoman117 5y ago
I shot myself in the foot there a bit. I was really thinking "used cars that sell for so close to what they cost new you might as well buy the new one" (Tesla) and I mentally leaped to "that should mean the car is built so well, being a few years old should cause any wear worth mentioning" (I.e. well built off-road capable vehicle that 90% of owners purchased to merely masquerade as someone who does things that justify owning one) I too wonder what the range loss will do to the value over time. If lithium doesn’t get substantially more expensive, I know that for the Nissan Leaf my parents owned, getting a new battery + the labor was like $4,000. Admittedly the Tesla battery has 3x higher capacity, but I don’t know much that actually effects the end price after accounting for all of the other stuff that goes into those packs.
fragmede 5y ago
The original Tesla roadster came out in 2008, and while it was a very niche vehicle, we can still learn from it being 13 or so years old. Even ignoring the life of the cells themselves, everything around them has changed, as Tesla's learned a lot about making electric cars. eg the plate on the underside of the vehicle to protect the batteries has undergone some reworking. It would be foolish to think a Tesla from 2031 wouldn't have similarly advanced from something from this year.
- southerntofu 5y ago
  > it being 13 or so years old That's very young for mechanical equipment. Traditional cars , washing machines and fridges could be operated for several decades with little maintenance. > Even ignoring the life of the cells themselves That was the point of my argument, though. That a great part of the car's production cost is due to the battery, which has a rather limited lifespan.
  - long11l 5y ago
    Traditional cars are owned on average for 6 years. And maintenance is definitely required along the way and will just keep climbing
    - southerntofu 5y ago
      > Traditional cars are owned on average for 6 years. I have no clue about such statistics, but in any case they don't mean the car itself becomes useless after that period. > And maintenance is definitely required Yes but that's an entirely reasonable cost, at least compared to new cars. Even if you need to change significant parts of your car every few years (which is usually not the case), it would cost you a few thousand euros at most. A budget of, let's say 1000€/year maintenance (high estimate) is still an order of magnitude cheaper than buying a new car (20-100k€). That 1000€ yearly budget estimate is a very high estimate which accounts for expensive parts to change at most once every decade. Of course, many people who buy second-hand cars will just buy another second-hand car for 100-1000€ instead of changing expensive/hard-to-reach parts for over 1000€. It all depends on how easy finding the parts are, and whether you or a person close to you has the equipment and knowledge to change the part for free (or in exchange for other services).