giving up on lease deal, what used EV should I get (under $150 a month)

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andy mok

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Hello,

I`ve been chasing a lease deal for a 2019 Hyundai Ioniq EV. they have a special for $109 a month, 2500 down, and after doing the math, it is cheaper than for me to put gas and drive my current car (~$250 a month in gas).

I was looking at the Fiat 500e, but it sounds like they have a lot of small issues, and are now looking at the Chevy Spark. what I really want is a BMW i3 but I want to stay under $200 a month including the insurance.

I have never ever considered leasing anything, but EV is an unknown territory for me and with a low monthly payment (cheaper than paying for gas) for a new car and I dont have to commit long term is pretty nice.

I called 25 different dealerships and I cannot find the Ioniq though..

Should I keep searching for the Ioniq or just buy a cheap used EV?
 
I assume you are in California? If I remember right, Hyundai Ioniq EV has a battery shortage and they are not really selling their BEV's outside of CA, and even there in very low quantities. As per the EV Scorecard, they have sold 391 cars this year, which is very low. Obviously they are not pushing it. The base MSRP is about $38,000 which is about the same of the Model 3 base. Yes, the Model 3 does not have the Federal Incentives of the 2019 Hyundai Ioniq EV, but it is a bigger car with twice the range. The LEAF has better range and the same incentives for about the same price.

So here is my analysis. Hyundai is capacity constrained for this model, it does not have a great range, and is over priced. The lease deal seems to good to be true. Over 3 years, they want a total payment of about $6500 ($109*36 +2500) for a $38,000 car. Why would Hyundai want to provide such a great lease? Even if they did, I am sure there will be a lot of competition for that car, if it is available. There are 78 Hyundai dealers in CA (https://www.dealerrater.com/directory/California/Hyundai/ ), only 70 cars were sold in September 2019 and I assuming all were in CA. It means several dealers did not have a car to sell. If I were a dealer with that car, I am sure I would have a favorite customer to whom I could give it to at that price.

Further, you are spending about $250 in gas and even with CA gas prices, it means you are putting in about 1200 to 1500 miles a month on your car. Are all your journey less that 100 miles a day? Will this range meet your needs? And remember you have to pay for the electricity, so you are going to spending something. It is not free.

All said, I do not think you will get a lease on the Hyundai at that rate. You either have to wait till more cars are available, but unlikely you will get that lease rate. Or look elsewhere.



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I made a mistake in the earlier post. The base version is $30,315 and yes I see the deal you are talking about. However, with only 70 cars available a month, it is going to be very difficult. For example, if I were a salesperson in a dealership with that model, I would exhaust my Rolodex before I sold it to a stranger. No wonder you are not finding it. My suggestion is look elsewhere unless you know someone in a dealership who can give you a heads up. With a deal like that, it will gone in a minute.
 
Hello,

Thank you for the detailed info.

I get free charging at work (up to 4 hours at 6kwh) so I think I'm covered there.. My commute is a total of 50 miles.

My current car is a Subaru BRZ I supercharged, so it's getting around 20mpg (albeit a fun one, still in bumper to bumper traffic regaRdless)..

What I rly want is the BMW i3 but I think it's out of my price range.

This whole search actually started cuz I realized I could buy a lightly used EV for around $7-8k, but I have no idea how I can fix it if anything goes wrong (although on paper it should be more reliable than ice cars). That's when I figured cheap leases would get me what I want + no risk in dealing with issues.

Honestly if I can even break even with my monthly gas prices, I might still do it as im technically saving money for not driving the brz.

I just want to join the EV world that is all :)
 
For your needs the 2019 Hyundai Ioniq EV would be perfect . It is going to be difficult to get one with such a limited supply. It cannot be a demand problem. With such great lease terms, I am sure there is a demand of more than 70 vehicles a month. So it is a supply problem. Also, I checked with my local dealer and he confirmed that these vehicles were only available in California. That they were not sold elsewhere. If Hyundai could make more, they would be selling it nationally.

With your budget of $7-8K, you may not get you much in terms of a used car unless it either an old model (2014 or earlier) or has many many miles on it. InsideEV has a sister site that lists cars for sale (https://www.myev.com/cars-for-sale?page=1 ) and I could not find anything in my area under $10K and it was only the Spark that came near that value. So keep trying for the Ioniq EV and keep your eyes for a used car in your budget. Take which ever you find first, provided you can get an used car checked out by the dealer.
 
Last edited:
andy mok said:
Hello,

I`ve been chasing a lease deal for a 2019 Hyundai Ioniq EV. they have a special for $109 a month, 2500 down, and after doing the math, it is cheaper than for me to put gas and drive my current car (~$250 a month in gas).

I was looking at the Fiat 500e, but it sounds like they have a lot of small issues, and are now looking at the Chevy Spark. what I really want is a BMW i3 but I want to stay under $200 a month including the insurance.

I have never ever considered leasing anything, but EV is an unknown territory for me and with a low monthly payment (cheaper than paying for gas) for a new car and I dont have to commit long term is pretty nice.

I called 25 different dealerships and I cannot find the Ioniq though..

Should I keep searching for the Ioniq or just buy a cheap used EV?
Click to expand...
I think that the Ioniq is great for your needs. I would suggest using AUTOTRADER or CARS.COM to look for IONIQ's near you. No need to call the dealers.. They list their cars on Autotrader and cars.com, so it will show you which dealers have the IONIQ in stock near you.
 
BlueKonaEV said:
I think that the Ioniq is great for your needs. I would suggest using AUTOTRADER or CARS.COM to look for IONIQ's near you. No need to call the dealers.. They list their cars on Autotrader and cars.com, so it will show you which dealers have the IONIQ in stock near you.
Click to expand...

Here is the issue, he is looking for a $109 lease on a new Ioniq EV. There were 70 such cars sold last month and there are 78 Hyundai dealers in California. The chances of him landing a new one are low. In fact, many dealers will not get even one, and at the most, large dealerships may get two or three for the whole month. With those lease rates, it will fly off the shelf. He has tried 25 dealerships and not been able to get even one. Now if he is willing to settle for a used one, what you say makes sense. But he is looking for a new and unlikely the dealer will advertise those. Again this is only for Ioniq EV, not for other Ioniq models (the hybrid and PHEV). Those may be advertised on Autotrader.com
 
Honestly, I'm ok buying used, but here is what makes it more complicated:

so, I'm actually planning on keeping my Subaru as the fun car (it's paid off, and I do 5-7 track events a year), and the Ioniq will be the commuter. at a rate of $109 a month, $2500 down, after incentives ($2500 check from California Air board and $1000 credit for my electricity bill - these two items basically cover the down payment and tag, taxes, etc), even with the added insurance it was going to be cheaper to drive the Ioniq as my second car (I`m paying close to $250 a month in gas).

The EV car search actually began as I was originally searching for a $7-8000 used EV and finance it for 60 months. In terms of monthly costs, it gets close, but if "ANYTHING" goes wrong during that time, it kind of negates the cost savings, whereas with a new car lease, it's either fully covered under the warranty or a very small risk to begin with.

I NEVER EVER considered leasing anything in my life, but in this case it actually works out (also free charging at work).

I`m still doing research on used Chevy Spark EV or the Fiat 500e though. few years old, 30-40k miles, and they're going for $7-8k here in SoCal. I heard that since they're liquid cooled battery, they're pretty reliable, but it seems the 500e has some Italian/American issues.. :)
 
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