3 year old low mile ev Vs 1 year old higher mileage... DS3

[squarehead94]

Older low miles Vs newer high miles?

As per title really.
Wife's buying a DS3 electric cross back. Our local dealer has a 21 plate, £13k. 17,000 miles. Put a deposit down.
However a dealer 100 miles away has a 23 plate (in a colour she prefers tbf, she doesn't mind either though) that's done 39,000 miles. Same price.
Neither listing shows battery health.
Not too fussed about depreciation per se, only thing that is swaying me about going for the higher mileage model is the battery warranty (8 years) in the colour she originally wanted.
Thing that puts me off is it's not a local dealer so if I had any issues it may be a PITA to sort.

We only do around 6-7,000 miles p/a in it so even though for a 1 year old car the mileage is high, by the time it reaches 4 years of our HP agreement, it's then 5 years old with approx. 60,000 miles on it, so the mileage would be relatively normal.

Needing advice on what to do.
Thanks

[Paul Drawmer]

Buy the newer car.
If your use is low, there's no point in paying more for an older car.

[Chedders]

Definitely the younger one.

[Alex Z]

There’s a 22 plate with low mileage for a similar price. I think I’d prefer to have as much of the manufacturers warranty left at the start of ownership.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410125...

[Evanivitch]

Which one are you like to exceed the warranty first?

[ashenfie]

39k in one year is a lot and I would be concerned that its been as as a taxi. It seams unlikely to have been a reps car so some history would be important.
EVs like any car will have suspension, tyres and paint work condition to consider when purchasing. I think the Ds3 has a 8 year 100000 mile warranty so that maybe the least of you worries.
Further HP is an expensive way to purchase a car and maybe you could consider a PCP? That way it’s not your car to worry about depreciation.

[Evanivitch]

ashenfie said:

I think the Ds3 has a 8 year 100000 mile warranty so that maybe the least of you worries.
.

That only applies to the battery. The rest of the car is 3yr and 60,000 miles.

If the car was used for private hire then the warranty may well be void.

[andy43]

PCP it. I wouldn’t risk buying one. Last EV cost us nothing because of 2020, current one is losing money at a ridiculous rate.

[samoht]

The DS3 was upgraded in Jan 2023 with an optional slightly larger battery and more powerful motor, from 50 kWh and 135hp to 54 kWh and 155hp. It would be worth knowing which spec the '23 plate one is, the larger battery seems to give worthwhile extra range on the similar e-C4.

39k miles - potentially had quite a bit of fast charging to cover that distance in 12-18 months which can degrade the battery slightly (perhaps 10% or so?). Not a huge worry but it would be nice to have a battery healthcheck on a car that's racked up such a mileage so quickly, to know where you stand.

Ensure either car has had all due recalls completed, there have been a few on these. Ensure the A/C works.

I'd probably go for the newer car especially if it has the larger battery.


The final thing is there are 'better' compact electric SUVs for £13k out there, but obviously if your wife likes the DS3 then why not.

[PetrolHeadInRecovery]

samoht said:

39k miles - potentially had quite a bit of fast charging to cover that distance in 12-18 months which can degrade the battery slightly (perhaps 10% or so?). Not a huge worry but it would be nice to have a battery healthcheck on a car that's racked up such a mileage so quickly, to know where you stand.

Considering the intended use, I wouldn't worry about the battery.

There's the Tesla Taxi at 430,000 miles has still more than 76% of capacity left and an Ioniq 5 driven over 190,000 miles in a bit over two years ( over 92% SoH).

Both had plenty of DC charging (roughly two thirds in the case of the Ioniq 5), the Ioniq 5 routinely charged up to 90%—95% (in California, where heat should cause batteries to degrade faster).

[Sheepshanks]

squarehead94 said:

Thing that puts me off is it's not a local dealer so if I had any issues it may be a PITA to sort.
Thanks

I'm having the same issue with nearly-new EVs - it's just weird, everything I see that looks just right is 200 miles away! I dom't think there a lot of demand for EVs where I am and it's amazing how many franchise dealers don't have any al all..

I've bought cars at a distance before, never had a disaster but it has been pointed out that "you didn't buy it from us" when I've been trying to get stuff done, and it seems to me that EVs can have a lot of "iffy" things where it's not clear whether there's a software or calibration etc fault.

[Sheepshanks]

andy43 said:

PCP it. I wouldn’t risk buying one. Last EV cost us nothing because of 2020, current one is losing money at a ridiculous rate.

I might be missing something but the OP is looking at £13K cars - he's pretty well going to have paid for it during the PCP term. The GFV will be buttons, probably less tha the interest charges.

I've got the same dilemma looking for a £30K ish EV, but we do 15K/yr - for the annual PCP payments I could fully buy the car in 5yrs then anything it's worth is a bonus.

[andy43]

Sheepshanks said:

andy43 said:

PCP it. I wouldn’t risk buying one. Last EV cost us nothing because of 2020, current one is losing money at a ridiculous rate.

I might be missing something but the OP is looking at £13K cars - he's pretty well going to have paid for it during the PCP term. The GFV will be buttons, probably less tha the interest charges.

I've got the same dilemma looking for a £30K ish EV, but we do 15K/yr - for the annual PCP payments I could fully buy the car in 5yrs then anything it's worth is a bonus.

In all honesty I’ve never pcp’d but I thought it meant you could give it back at the end of the term but if it is as you say then yeah stoopid idea
Maybe a 13k car with a longer warranty then - less overall risk?

[Sheepshanks]

andy43 said:

In all honesty I’ve never pcp’d...

In that case your comment was pretty bizarre!

You can give the car back, and sometimes the finance company messes up and sets the final value far too high which keeps the monhtly payments low. But they've gotten wiser now.

[andy43]

Sheepshanks said:

andy43 said:

In all honesty I’ve never pcp’d...

In that case your comment was pretty bizarre!

You can give the car back, and sometimes the finance company messes up and sets the final value far too high which keeps the monhtly payments low. But they've gotten wiser now.

What I’m getting at is I wouldn’t want to actually own a French EV. Rent it, hire it, pcp it, whatever, I just think it’d be a liability long term. We’ve only ever owned or leased/bought thru a business, and even then the business purchase has been a mistake as we’re down about 15 grand in 2.5 years on a year old Honda E. Should have leased again.
Although at 13k what could go wrong? You’d think an EV would always be worth 5 grand surely?

[Ste-EVo]

For me, I'd be looking at;

• Condition of the cars overall - visually both internally and externally the newer, but higher mileage car will no doubt be showing some signs of wear and tear, especially putting on those miles in a short space of time, my initial thought would be it has had a hard year.
• Warranty - will the older car come with much of a warranty outside of the extended battery warranty? If so, does it have many limitations if it isn't a main dealer backed warranty? The newer car should still have manufacturer's warranty which is a positive.
• If you don't do many miles, the older but lower mileage example will always be a low mileage car come the time to sell it on (presuming nothing changes for you) and may have more appeal and easier to move on than an average mileage car - perhaps...
• What is the reputation of the dealers like? I'd generally prefer to buy from a main dealer so that would possibly sway my decision - Ive found that are easier to deal with is something is wrong (not always mind...)

The older, lower mileage car - still has battery warranty (if that's a concern for you), is local and has probably had an easier life and I'd imagine it would be in better condition overall. Go see them both an make a decision - it's hard to tell until you've actually stood in front of them and drove them. But I'd be tempted by the older one.

[rgbpixel]

Plenty of Pre-reg ev's (Inc a DS3) with under 500 miles on them for less than £17k. Just a thought, appreciate it's more money.

[samoht]

andy43 said:

What I’m getting at is I wouldn’t want to actually own a French EV. Rent it, hire it, pcp it, whatever, I just think it’d be a liability long term. We’ve only ever owned or leased/bought thru a business, and even then the business purchase has been a mistake as we’re down about 15 grand in 2.5 years on a year old Honda E. Should have leased again.
Although at 13k what could go wrong? You’d think an EV would always be worth 5 grand surely?

I bought a French EV last Nov, a '21 e-C4, cheapest on the market at £14k on 40k miles.
Looking today it seems £12k is the floor, so that's £2k in depreciation in the first year, or £167 a month.
Which doesn't strike me as too bad considering (a) typical PCP or lease costs for a mid-size hatch (b) typical depreciation on any <3yo car (c) money saved in petrol and other running costs. And one would expect depreciation typically to slow down as the car ages.

[squarehead94]

Update: we are opting for the higher mileage 23 plate - still has 20k miles and 2 years manufacturer warranty left, and we won't exceed the 20k in that timeframe either - the longer 7 year battery warranty was the big swing for me. Going to see the car Saturday and all going well will have it next week. Thanks for the advice.

[samoht]