Would you buy an SE at current prices without the $7500 credit?

According to a new post on electrek.co, the SE can qualify for the $4000 used EV federal rebate, if you can find a used one that's 2 years old (2021) at a dealer selling it for under $25,000.

Here are all the used EVs that qualify for the new $4,000 tax credit

 

FWIW, the cheapest I have seen so far is $27k. Prices do seem to be drifting downward, though, so perhaps in another year or so?

 

The catch is that you have to buy the used EV for less than $25K from a dealer. How many dealers are offering used SEs for less than $25K?

Will used SE prices go down or go up during the years when US dealers have no new SEs to sell?

 

I know this is more than the $25K, but it was still surprising to me.....

Local Mini dealer is offering a 2023 Mini Cooper SE Resolute Edition with only 765 miles for $33,300.

 

The MINI SE is a great EV. When I ordered mine (WITH the $7500 rebate) the only real competition was the Bolt. For MSRP, there are a lot of other options now with greater range, utility, etc.

 

Unless your criterion for driving fun is incredible acceleration, there are no other EV options that are as much fun to drive as the MINI Cooper SE. Also, if you want a small EV, there will soon be no other choices when the Bolt expires (I don't count the Leaf and don't know if the Fiat 500e is really coming). Great handling and small size were the fun factors that drove my decision to buy an SE and patiently wait a year for its delivery. I would have bought my Iconic SE even w/o the $7,500 tax credit.

 

Signature, or Iconic?

 

Depends on how many miles on 'em, no?

Regardless, barring another pandemic that severely disrupts supply chains, there's only one direction that prices for a used SE are going to go, and that is down (just like 99% of automobiles ever sold).

 

For grins-and-giggles, I did a quick search of cars.com. There are more out there for <$27k than I expected, including 7 that would qualify for the $4k tax credit.

This one in particular strikes me as a good deal (especially since it comes with "oil for life"!):

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/761c6b60-6674-4625-8cab-81bcc167ea7c/

ETA: Or how about a nice Iconic for $28k? (That's what I paid for mine back in February, when they were averaging $33k or so.)

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/36295af3-f1c9-41d5-b71b-b34a32c5d33d/

 

I'm not sure how much mileage is a good measure of wear with an EV. There's not much wear and tear compared to a combustion engine. Other than battery capacity what really degrades over time? Mostly the suspension parts, but they last a really long time. And my SE with over 60,000 miles on it is showing no obvious signs of battery degradation.

 

Iconic. I was surprised because this family of dealerships charges ADM on all their new cars. When contacting dealers last year, they wanted $2000 ADM for a new SE allocation.

 

It's hard to beat Mother Nature (tradition), is what I was thinking. That is, the going rate for the mileage discount of $500/1000 miles seems to apply to EVs as well, even though arguably maybe it shouldn't.

Looking at the offerings on cars.com reminds me of the small-but-potentially significant tweaks that have been made to the SE along the way. To each their own, but I would have been disappointed if I'd had to settle for one without the sunroof, larger infotainment screen, and head up display (if only for the novelty value),l. OTOH, I could easily live without the adaptive cruise control (in part because of the erratic driving of others), and am living (easily) without the heated steering wheel. Of course, when buying used you are quite constrained, so easiest is to just focus on 2021+ Iconics (which unfortunately requires looking at practically every advertisment, since the trim level and/or distinguishing features are rarely mentioned).

 

In all seriousness, if any not-yet-owner is tempted, I would say go for it. I don't think that you will regret your purchase, and buying remotely is surprisingly easy.

 

The Bolt was the only EV that I test-drove before buying my SE. The instant torque and one-pedal driving were appealing, but that's about it. Otherwise, it was just another "appliance" car like any Corolla you would rent at the airport. You could probably mod a Bolt to handle more like an SE, but that would narrow any price difference, and you'd still be stuck with the Bolt's interior (although with greater range, you'd also have more time to "enjoy" all that hard, shiny plastic).

 

Based on model year it’s potentially 4 years old (main warranty over) despite the mileage and it’s a signature so it’s dropped just over $5k in 4 years or 16%. Which is a very good residuals even if it was 3 years old.
But…
It’s extremely good residuals given the carfax shows an accident/repair.
So I’d say signatures are holding their values well.
As for the other, I’ve said from the beginning that higher trims will take more of a hit in absolute dollars because that’s always been the case when buying higher trims, used buyers care more about value than features. And the iconic was 25% more than a signature and that’s a lot for the same drivetrain etc especially given a signature has most features that buyers would put in a must have list. The iconic was really gilding the lily.

 

Oops, missed that part.

 

When I decided to try an electric I wanted the least expensive to test the waters. I couldn't stomach the thought of looking at a Leaf in the garage next to my Cayman and the reviews basically said driving one is like making love to a dead fish. The bolt was interesting because it had more utility, so I thought I could get past having a bread box in the garage. I contacted a few dealers and got jerked.

Then I came to my senses. I have never bought an appliance unless you count the Buick station wagon I bought from a neighbor for $50 and a pizza. Even the Volvo S80 I bought had to have the Yamaha V8. So the Mini it was.

No regrets. But without the 7,500 I may not have dipped my toe in the electric waters.

 

$7500 tax credit or no, now that I have gone EV, I don't see myself going back to combustion. Would probably feel like stepping back in time.

 

Me, every time I have to take the Subaru: “There’s more than one pedal??”

 

Completely agree.
It wouldn’t buy the Mini again due to the tax credit situation vs other vehicles (seriously, I am not paying close to Model 3 money for a Mini SE) but I will never go back to gas.
Gas cars feel like cave man technology now, even high end ones.