I live in the East Bay (NorCal) and commute into San Francisco daily. The carpool lane is a lifesaver. I try to legitimately carpool as much as I can, but I want a car that qualifies for a CA sticker. I have a BMW 330e but the wizards at BMW didn’t tune the emissions to pass California’s threshold to get a sticker. I’m thinking my options are:
Buy a used sub-$20k car that has never applied for a sticker before (E-Tron, Golf, etc.)
Buy new and take full advantage of credits and rebates (I’ll qualify for the CA rebate this year) - this is useful for models/manufacturers that don’t pass much of the savings to the customer (e.g., Audi, where an E-Tron can be had for $10k off+).
Lease something for 24-36 months (ideally 30+ to qualify for CA rebate)
What’s the best deal out there today?
Cars I don’t want: i3 (though it’s a cool car), Fiat 500e, Leaf, Prius. If Volt is the best deal by far, I’ll consider it but would prefer to stay away from it.
Cars I prefer: 350e (GLC or C), 530e, Audi A3 E-Tron, maybe a Bolt
If leasing, I’d like to keep payments under $350-400 including CA (~9%) taxes. Otherwise I’ll probably just pick up a used E-Golf or something.
What are everyone’s thoughts? Judging by the posts on this forum, it seems like quite a few people are looking for the carpool stickers. Would love to hear the thought process you all went through.
Volt is by far the cheapest option. - @ChevyPhil has one for $0 net DAS / $234/mo. The Bolt is mid-$300 I think and the others will be $450+ with $2500 DAS.
Haha. Sounds like you don’t want to look dorky. I turned in my Spark EV today. Then I saw the guy that grounded the vehicle drive it across the lot to park it on the other side, and the whole time I was thinking, “God, I hope I didn’t look that dorky driving that thing around for the last 3 years.” I really like the eGolf, but I heard that they’re not making those anymore. There are rumors of a plug-in hybrid Tiguan, but just rumors.
Personally, I think the Volt looks less dorky than the Bolt. The Bolt is less dorky than the Spark, but still kind of dorky. The Volt is probably the least dorky option unless you want to opt for a Tesla.
Hah yea - dorky is certainly relative in NorCal, where motorized scooters are the preferred mode of transportation, but I do want to have some fun driving the car. The Bolt is actually quite nice, but I can lease a c350e for close to the same price, and while the Bolt is unique, the MB is more comfortable and more practical. The Volt’s really practical and such a better deal that it may be worth it.
Checked out this thread as I also live in the East Bay but thankfully no longer commute to SF. I didn’t think that a sticker gave much advantage that I couldn’t get from casual carpoolers in the morning, although that has changed with the evening commute (bridge on-ramp) and the lack of reverse casual carpoolers. After 15 years driving, I switched to Bart (reserved parking at West Oakland) before I finally stopped needing to commute.
Good luck with your search…the 530e would be the best from an anti-dork standpoint.
Prius prime is the best value and least dorky option out of all the PHEVs under 35 - 40k and IMO looks much better than the regular Prius. Especially if you change the wheels out and opt for the base model.
The Toyota Mirai will come in around $430-440/month with nothing down but because it’s fuel cell you get $5k cash from the California (not a tax incentive, you literally get a check for cash) and Toyota covers $15,000 in hydrogen fill ups plus all maintenance, so it’s a relative bargain.
Repasting my previous post. Take note Ford is discontinuing the vehicle as far as we know. Last production is August this year. 2017 lease support has to have ended by now…
Dark horse is Ford Focus Electric. Range 115 miles, only one trim that’s pretty well equipped and comparable to the Focus Titanium trim.
Ford offers $13,500 lease credit (NOT SURE IF THIS IS THE CASE ANYMORE) to make up for the atrocious residuals (27%?), so there’s actually a unique opportunity to get a pretty low payment AND have a residual of $8500 or so, giving a chance of actually making a bit of money at the end of the lease.
That’s great. To understand your deal - you got a $32k car, less $13.5k credit, less $3k dealer discount. That’s crazy.
I checked Edmunds - looks like current deal is .15% APR, $10,750 lease cash, 32% residual for 36/10.5k. If I get the same $3k discount - I end up with an almost identical monthly payment. Will check this out more!
I don’t think many people realize they are changing the laws for the clean air decals and HOV lane access. Only certain cars will qualify for HOV access now. @optimizer the 350e doesn’t look like it qualifies. You can find out everything you need to know here.
