Thinking of Buying an EV? Read This First!

If you enjoy tossing your hard earned down the toilet, relish relinquishing your riches to the wind and favour flinging your funds on the fire then by all means buy an electric vehicle. Hey, it’s your money after all and you can spend it however you want to. The trouble is, if you do decide to buy an EV then you’re going to lose money. Fact.

Now before we get into this we want to state for the record that we don’t hate all electric vehicles, just some of them. OK, most of them. And by that we mean the everyday, humdrum, cookie cutter econoboxes. The MG 4s and Nissan Leafs of the world, to name but two. But then it’s a similar story with ICE vehicles too, we don’t discriminate. It’s not necessarily the powertrain that bugs us, it’s a whole host of issues; from the distinct lack of any individuality to the sheer boredom factor of owning and driving such drabness. We like our cars to tickle our pickle, to excite and inspire us, regardless of how they’re powered. Whether it’s electricity or dinosaur juice providing the forward motion, a dull car is just that. Dull.

The MG 4. Dishwater.

So with that out of the way let’s address our rather click-baity title shall we? Taking one of those examples above – the MG 4 – if you wanted to buy one of these, ahem, beauties, ahem, brand new then you’d have to cough up on average around thirty grand, depending on model and spec. To most of us that’s a lot of money, but perhaps it would be a little easier to swallow if you were to consider that initial outlay as an investment, i.e. something you could see a return on in the future, or at least break even when it comes time to sell.

The trouble is, with brand new EVs like this one, that’s just not going to happen, mainly because of the depreciation factor, among other things. We’re sure you’re aware but depreciation, essentially, is the difference between the cost of a car when you buy it and the amount you recoup when you sell, and is affected by numerous factors, including mileage, condition and desirability. We’ve all heard that a new car starts to depreciate as soon as it leaves the forecourt and generally speaking this is true, with the AA claiming that the average new EV will have lost around 60% of its value by the end of its third year (based upon said car covering 10,000 miles per year). To put that into context, that means our brand new £30K MG EV is suddenly only worth £12,000 after just 36 months of ownership. Ouch.

Depreciation isn’t a recent phenomenon though, far from it. New cars have been routinely decreasing in value as soon as they’ve been sold for decades, it’s just par for the course. The difference is, a lot of those once new cars bottom out and then prices start to rise, regardless of their intended market, generally speaking. It’s a pattern that we’ve all seen again and again as values of older classics recover from that early tumble, often overtaking their initial purchase price. You just have to look at any fast ford, or cars like the Lamborghini Countach (with the Diablo now following suit) to see what we mean.

Countach prices are now the stuff of legend

Now we’re fully aware that a limited production Italian supercar is a Kevin Bacon or two away from a mundane, mass produced 2025 family EV. What we’re trying to say is that this pattern simply won’t repeat with cars like the aforementioned MG. Or any similar new EV for that matter. Prices will continue to fall, beyond that three year, 60% depreciation, and they’ll stay there. They simply don’t have “future classic” in their genes. Cast your mind back, say, 40 years to the equivalent models from manufacturers like BMW and Ford. Today, these “normal” family saloons and hatchbacks are bona fide modern classics, with rising prices reflecting that status. Can the same be said of standardised, formulaic cars like the MG 4 in another 40 years? Not a chance, and you know it.

So what’s the alternative? We’ll give you one guess. Yep, that’s right, get yourself a classic. Prices won’t tank as soon as you buy one (they may even rise depending on what you actually decide to buy) and we guarantee it’ll be way more fun to drive to boot. To give you some idea of what’s available we just did a search right here on Car & Classic and set our price parameters between £25,000 and £35,000 – similar to the sticker price of the MG 4. The results? Over three-and-a-half thousand vehicles; from American muscle cars and charming British sportsters, to hot hatch royalty and German super saloons, not to mention pretty much everything else in between.

So we’ve picked five examples at random from the first page of results to hammer home this belief that old cars are better than new cars, and we’re sure many of you will agree. For us at least, these are all far more tempting propositions than any instantly forgettable Chinese battery powered white goods on wheels.

1991 Peugeot 205 GTI

Arguably the best hot hatch ever made, Peugeot’s 205 GTI is rightly deserving of its legendary status. Inherently hoonable and bags of fun to pilot it matters not whether you go for the 1.6 or the 1.9 because either way you’ll be sporting a huge perma-grin every time you get behind the wheel.

This particular ’91 1.9 is a bit of a standout, what with its low mileage, recent specialist work, and desirable spec and would make either an excellent track toy, a practical daily or an appreciating classic investment. Actually, sod it. Why not all three?

1982 Maserati Quattroporte

Seductively suave Italian saloons with whopping great V8’s will forever be fascinating, both from a driving standpoint as well as from an investment perspective and this five-speed manual ’82 Quattroporte is no different.

Highly original and with a recent cylinder head overhaul under its belt, this rare and incredibly well-preserved Maserati is raring to go and so much more appealing than an MG 4 EV.

1990 Porsche 944

If you’re after a handsome and meticulously engineered sports car then you can do a lot worse than the Porsche 944. Well balanced and practical, thanks to its folding rear seats and full opening tailgate, the 944 makes a lot of sense.

This is the S2 version, the latest and most powerful of the bunch with a 16-valve, 3-litre engine producing 211bhp. Wholly original and with less than 50K on the clock it’s a bit of a peach.

1973 Chevrolet Corvette C3

If ever there was an antithesis of the MG 4 EV then the C3 Corvette surely has to be it. Brash, loud and an absolute hoot to drive this is American V8 muscle at its very best.

A matching numbers example, this ‘Vette has been treated to over £15K of fully documented mechanical work by the current owner and it now wants for nothing, apart from its next lucky custodian that is.

1989 Mercedes 560 SEC

The best of the best when it comes to the W126, the 560SEC is a subtly imposing beast, with its sleek, two-door pillar-less design merely hinting at the monstrous 300bhp, 5. 6-litre V8 under the bonnet.

This particular 1989 model comes with an impressive service history and those genuine 17” AMG three piece split rims are doing something to us.

We’re obviously somewhat biased – this is a classic focussed site after all – but we would take any of the above over a new EV every day of the week. So, before you decide to throw your hard earned away on a brand new electric vehicle, consider a classic. You may be pleasantly surprised…