Budget: I'd like to spend under $20K, and ideally under $15K. I'm pretty sure I'm not eligible for any tax credits since I got the credit when I bought my 2023 Bolt.

Please explain, how does getting the credit when buying your ‘23 Bolt impact your potential for a credit on a different car? Does the 2024 point of sale EV credit limit a person to just one EV purchase?

 

I might be wrong, but I was under the impression one could only get the tax credit once every three years or something like that. Maybe it's all changed. Or maybe it was never a thing to begin with and I'm just losing my mind.

ETA: I am wrong.

 

- Get him some other used small EV or hybrid. (Yes, we're a Bolt forum, but I know people here are pragmatic not dogmatic, and if a Bolt isn't best for him, people will honestly say so and give other recommendations). If so, what should I look at? Older Prius or Tesla, maybe? Volt? Or even a Spark EV (yes, I realize it was a "compliance car"...), which seem to go for around $8000 with under 40K miles if you can find one?

Used Ford C-Max Energi. ~20 miles on battery only, then a 14 gal. gas tank. They're nice cars and you could probably find a cheap one with relatively low miles.

 

Hyundai hasn't posted their September deals yet but their leases have been nuts. If you can get a bottom spec AWD for under $300 / mo. that comes with 2 years of free charging, it's a pretty neat little all in one package.

I'm not thrilled with sending young men off to school in 0-60 in 4.5 seconds but in checks "perfect" in so many other boxes while being "wait, you only want to charge me what?" priced.

You have have to shop around for that spec, it's a very popular spec for all the reasons I'm pointing out.

If you want cheapest best car possible, aim for a 2021 w/ 30-60k miles on it Bolt.

You're smart for looking at an EV, but also take a look at the school chargers on Plugshare, make sure you're not signing him up for a nightmare. As long as you're confident charging won't be an issue he should (check those chargers!) save a ton of money.

 

Hyundai hasn't posted their September deals yet but their leases have been nuts. If you can get a bottom spec AWD for under $300 / mo. that comes with 2 years of free charging, it's a pretty neat little all in one package.

I'm not thrilled with sending young men off to school in 0-60 in 4.5 seconds but in checks "perfect" in so many other boxes while being "wait, you only want to charge me what?" priced.

You have have to shop around for that spec, it's a very popular spec for all the reasons I'm pointing out.

If you want cheapest best car possible, aim for a 2021 w/ 30-60k miles on it Bolt.

You're smart for looking at an EV, but also take a look at the school chargers on Plugshare, make sure you're not signing him up for a nightmare. As long as you're confident charging won't be an issue he should (check those chargers!) save a ton of money.

I've had a Hyundai before and was really impressed with what I got for the money. I know they get a lot of criticism, but it seems to be people mostly repeating 20 years out of date stories.

FWIW I have no worries about him abusing the acceleration. As a driver he is about as opposite to the stereotype of a teenager as you can imagine. (I am so lucky!)

ETA: just took a look at the Kona and it looks very comparable to the Bolt. It might come down to availability or one of those sweet, sweet Hyundai leases.

 

My son is planning to go to graduate college next year (yay my bank account!) and if he gets accepted at his first choice he's going to need a car. He will probably have to drive a couple of miles each way to college every day, and 20 minutes or so to the nearest town once a week for groceries and a laundromat.

His desired college is very well supplied with free (slow) chargers in its parking lots so he can top up his charge as needed. Also it's in Vermont, but his trips won't be long enough for reduced range in winter to be an issue.

Sounds ideal for him to have a small EV, right?

So my question for the forum is: what do you recommend I look at for him? He drives my Bolt when he's home from college and likes it, so another Bolt seems like the obvious choice if I can get the right year/model at the right price.

Budget: I'd like to spend under $20K, and ideally under $15K. I'm pretty sure I'm not eligible for any tax credits since I got the credit when I bought my 2023 Bolt.

So my thoughts are:

- Pass my beloved 2023 Bolt EV 2LT on to him and get something else for myself? It will have around 12,000 miles on it by the time he heads off. I'm assuming the Boltium won't be out in time for it to be my replacement.

- Get him a used Bolt of his own. If so, what years and trims should I be looking at? I LOVE the safety aids on my Bolt (best equipped car I've ever owned in that regard) and it would reduce my anxiety for him to have the same especially the backup camera and the blind spot monitoring.

- Get him some other used small EV or hybrid. (Yes, we're a Bolt forum, but I know people here are pragmatic not dogmatic, and if a Bolt isn't best for him, people will honestly say so and give other recommendations). If so, what should I look at? Older Prius or Tesla, maybe? Volt? Or even a Spark EV (yes, I realize it was a "compliance car"...), which seem to go for around $8000 with under 40K miles if you can find one?

I know very little about any of these vehicles other than my own Bolt, so if any of you kind folks can save me rabbit-holing on something not worth looking at, that alone would be very helpful.

google the federal used EV tax credit

if your income is within the qualifying level and you pay more than $4000 a year in federal taxes, you can get $4k off the price of a used EV
and the money goes straight to the dealer when you buy the car, so the car price to you is$4k lower, and you just fill out of form next spring to certify you did buy a used EV and the money did go to the dealer, with your federal taxes

your previous EV tax credits should not affect this one - you are allowed to have more than one car :^)

sounds like a used bolt would be perfect, look at Bob Johnson Chevrolet dealership in upstate NY to get an idea of what is around and what they are going for

I got my 2020 LT in Feb for $15k out the door, 9,000 miles on the odo, safety and comfort upgrade package - its the best car Ive ever owned in 50 years

it would be perfect for your grad school student

BTW you can only get the used federal EV tax credit if you buy the car from a dealership that is participating. The "buyback" bolts with crazy low miles on the odos are only being sold thru dealerships as well....

 

Thanks, good info. I like the idea of buying it closer to his college e.g. upstate NY rather than down in Raleigh where I live and the having to do a huge road trip just to get it up there.

 

My recollection is that the used EV credit is limited to once in every two years, but I may be wrong. If you bought the '23 new that might be different enough to enable you to use the used credit, but I don't know.

Edited to add: according to Nerd Wallet (found via google, no idea how accurate they may be) it's once in every three years for the used EV credit.

 

If the OP bought a used 2023, they could not have applied a used EV credit, as the car would have had to be 2 model years old. Therefore if the OP got a federal tax credit for a 2023 Bolt, they must have bought it new.

 

With the use case you have described, a Nissan Leaf might be a perfect fit. You should be able to pick up one of those for around $5,000 - $7,000 and they are nice cars. I don't know if they qualify for the $4k used point of sale rebate, but if so, they might be the best bargain out there for an in-town car. Example

 

Older Leafs are in the $4k-$6k range in New England, most private sale, but if it still has 10 bars of battery (out of 12) could be the cheapest deal.

 

Older Nissan leaf might be a good choice.

 

Do you need 4 wheel drive?

Can I use the free slow chargers too?

 

I wouldn't say 'need' but there is certainly value to AWD in a Vermont winter!

 

First I would be concerned sending a young driver off in an EV, because even the lowest performance EVs are still pretty peppy. But since he has experience with yours it might not be an issue. For a low cost option, an older Leaf would be one choice (as already noted above). There's also an e-Golf that might be inexpensive enough and not burden him with driving a car that looks like the early Leaf ). I just did a search on cars.com for used EVs within 50 miles of me and a upper price of $15k, and 36 cars came back. Everything from an e-Golf, i3, Kia Soul, and more. There was even a couple of Bolts within that price cap, and the Bolt of course has more range (by far) than anything else that was under that price cap.

 

You can gift up to $18k, per year, tax free. Then they can buy the car. Also, it might be useful to have them buy the car with a loan to establish credit. Auto loans are simple interest so not a terrible thing to do.

First I would be concerned sending a young driver off in an EV

FYI, the recent Tesla OTA update added parental control settings and it's always had the option to allow others to see vehicle location and also speed, so that could be a consideration if keeping tabs on a young driver is important.

 

VT has very strong EV rebates, I would investigate those and if your student can register as a resident and qualify? Might be worth doing that and having them buy the EV in VT.

 

That's really good info. I live in NC and we get nothing (except a subsidized 240V socket install from the local utility). I also like the idea of not having to drive it from here all the way up to VT.

 

ETA: Since somebody asked, I did buy my Bolt EV new, before the direct-to-dealer credit scheme was in place, in August 2023.

And everybody should ignore my worries about the tax credit, as several people have explained I was confused about the limits.

And no worries about how peppy an EV is; he is the most careful driver I have ever seen, which is remarkable given that I taught him ;-)

 

Came here to recommend a used Nissan Leaf - looks like others already beat me.

New/young drivers aren't the best at maintaining and driving carefully. I'd pass on
hybrids - still need oil changes, engine air filter, etc. There's a good chance they'll
get into an accident(or even total the car) - Leaf's low entry price won't hurt as much.

 

Good point about the maintenance. He's never had to do any of that stuff before. I'm less worried about the accident, he is basically the safest driver I have ever known (even to the point of criticizing other drivers' bad habits...), but in a New England winter with snowy roads, anything could happen.

 

 

I'd be all over the Hertz Subaru Solterras for Vermont winters; AWD is pretty much a necessity up there.

jack vines

 

Interesting possibility, I had not heard of that car before. It looks like Hertz' current inventory is all on the West coast, but I'm sure that will change as time goes by. It's an ugly looking car, but that is fairly low on my list of criteria (and nowhere at all on his).

 

My son is planning to go to graduate college next year (yay my bank account!) and if he gets accepted at his first choice he's going to need a car. He will probably have to drive a couple of miles each way to college every day, and 20 minutes or so to the nearest town once a week for groceries and a laundromat.

His desired college is very well supplied with free (slow) chargers in its parking lots so he can top up his charge as needed. Also it's in Vermont, but his trips won't be long enough for reduced range in winter to be an issue.

Sounds ideal for him to have a small EV, right?

So my question for the forum is: what do you recommend I look at for him? He drives my Bolt when he's home from college and likes it, so another Bolt seems like the obvious choice if I can get the right year/model at the right price.

Budget: I'd like to spend under $20K, and ideally under $15K. I'm pretty sure I'm not eligible for any tax credits since I got the credit when I bought my 2023 Bolt.

So my thoughts are:

- Pass my beloved 2023 Bolt EV 2LT on to him and get something else for myself? It will have around 12,000 miles on it by the time he heads off. I'm assuming the Boltium won't be out in time for it to be my replacement.

- Get him a used Bolt of his own. If so, what years and trims should I be looking at? I LOVE the safety aids on my Bolt (best equipped car I've ever owned in that regard) and it would reduce my anxiety for him to have the same especially the backup camera and the blind spot monitoring.

- Get him some other used small EV or hybrid. (Yes, we're a Bolt forum, but I know people here are pragmatic not dogmatic, and if a Bolt isn't best for him, people will honestly say so and give other recommendations). If so, what should I look at? Older Prius or Tesla, maybe? Volt? Or even a Spark EV (yes, I realize it was a "compliance car"...), which seem to go for around $8000 with under 40K miles if you can find one?

I know very little about any of these vehicles other than my own Bolt, so if any of you kind folks can save me rabbit-holing on something not worth looking at, that alone would be very helpful.

Hello, in my opinion the thing with electric cars are the batteries and Mantenance… I believe is better a new one, if is a used one, must be under warranty. In my opinion another (different to Bolt). Are not so flexible to charge.

Good luck 🍀

 

Two top-line thoughts:

• Your son likes your Bolt.
• You won't go wrong with a Bolt.

Anyone who says more is really projecting on you their own unspoken personal preferences, priorities, and (uninformed) opinions about you and your son (e.g., do you really want him to have a car with pick-up?). This acquisition is about you and your son: if you want more detailed advice then you'll need to say more about what you and your son want from the car.

That said, my top-line thoughts stand: the Bolt is a good, reliable car with very low maintenance costs. The differences between it and other EVs are - at that level - in the margins. If your happy with your experience as a Bolt owner, and your son likes the Bolt, then by all means get a Bolt.

 

Yeah, I am starting to come back around to that, except for the point some people made about the value of AWD in a Vermont winter. Somebody else mentioned Hertz used car sales, and it looks like they have a lot of Bolts for sale, some even in the northeast. So that's definitely on my radar.

 

Crazy good deals from Nissan on new Leafs and Aryias, Crazy good deals on Hyundai and Kia EVs as well. Since your Son is going to Vermont and Vermont has additional rebates on top of the Federal rebates (note: if the car is in his name, his income is what counts for the rebates, not yours) buy the car in Vermont. Your next issue is whether to lease or buy. To decide; just do the math, if the lease payments plus the buyout at the end of the lease is less than the total payments when financed then do the Lease, otherwise buy it outright and finance the purchase (good opportunity to build up your son's credit).

Good luck, please let us know what you decide.

 

Check insurance rates. I'm in NJ and my 24yo working/student son just paid for a used car. I say paid for because I officially am the owner. If he was the owner of the vehicle his insurance would be 3k/yr, as he would be required to be on his own policy. I being the owner, and he, a driver on my policy costs 1k/yr.
In NJ, I can gift (literally write gift on the title) him the car at some point and he is not required to pay any sales tax.

BTW I have a 13 Hyundai Elantra (ice) 4 sale

 

I have some research to do there. I'm assuming that having my son (20yo) on my policy will be way cheaper, but I have to look into whether I need to title the car in his name in order to qualify for VT subsidies, which I know require a VT address and license. So there's a tradeoff there.

 

My son is planning to go to graduate college next year (yay my bank account!) and if he gets accepted at his first choice he's going to need a car. He will probably have to drive a couple of miles each way to college every day, and 20 minutes or so to the nearest town once a week for groceries and a laundromat.

His desired college is very well supplied with free (slow) chargers in its parking lots so he can top up his charge as needed. Also it's in Vermont, but his trips won't be long enough for reduced range in winter to be an issue.

Sounds ideal for him to have a small EV, right?

So my question for the forum is: what do you recommend I look at for him? He drives my Bolt when he's home from college and likes it, so another Bolt seems like the obvious choice if I can get the right year/model at the right price.

Budget: I'd like to spend under $20K, and ideally under $15K. I'm pretty sure I'm not eligible for any tax credits since I got the credit when I bought my 2023 Bolt.

So my thoughts are:

- Pass my beloved 2023 Bolt EV 2LT on to him and get something else for myself? It will have around 12,000 miles on it by the time he heads off. I'm assuming the Boltium won't be out in time for it to be my replacement.

- Get him a used Bolt of his own. If so, what years and trims should I be looking at? I LOVE the safety aids on my Bolt (best equipped car I've ever owned in that regard) and it would reduce my anxiety for him to have the same especially the backup camera and the blind spot monitoring.

- Get him some other used small EV or hybrid. (Yes, we're a Bolt forum, but I know people here are pragmatic not dogmatic, and if a Bolt isn't best for him, people will honestly say so and give other recommendations). If so, what should I look at? Older Prius or Tesla, maybe? Volt? Or even a Spark EV (yes, I realize it was a "compliance car"...), which seem to go for around $8000 with under 40K miles if you can find one?

I know very little about any of these vehicles other than my own Bolt, so if any of you kind folks can save me rabbit-holing on something not worth looking at, that alone would be very helpful.

I was going to suggest an e-bike, until I saw "Vermont".

 

My son is planning to go to graduate college next year (yay my bank account!) and if he gets accepted at his first choice he's going to need a car. He will probably have to drive a couple of miles each way to college every day, and 20 minutes or so to the nearest town once a week for groceries and a laundromat.

His desired college is very well supplied with free (slow) chargers in its parking lots so he can top up his charge as needed. Also it's in Vermont, but his trips won't be long enough for reduced range in winter to be an issue.

Sounds ideal for him to have a small EV, right?

So my question for the forum is: what do you recommend I look at for him? He drives my Bolt when he's home from college and likes it, so another Bolt seems like the obvious choice if I can get the right year/model at the right price.

Budget: I'd like to spend under $20K, and ideally under $15K. I'm pretty sure I'm not eligible for any tax credits since I got the credit when I bought my 2023 Bolt.

So my thoughts are:

- Pass my beloved 2023 Bolt EV 2LT on to him and get something else for myself? It will have around 12,000 miles on it by the time he heads off. I'm assuming the Boltium won't be out in time for it to be my replacement.

- Get him a used Bolt of his own. If so, what years and trims should I be looking at? I LOVE the safety aids on my Bolt (best equipped car I've ever owned in that regard) and it would reduce my anxiety for him to have the same especially the backup camera and the blind spot monitoring.

- Get him some other used small EV or hybrid. (Yes, we're a Bolt forum, but I know people here are pragmatic not dogmatic, and if a Bolt isn't best for him, people will honestly say so and give other recommendations). If so, what should I look at? Older Prius or Tesla, maybe? Volt? Or even a Spark EV (yes, I realize it was a "compliance car"...), which seem to go for around $8000 with under 40K miles if you can find one?

I know very little about any of these vehicles other than my own Bolt, so if any of you kind folks can save me rabbit-holing on something not worth looking at, that alone would be very helpful.

I would caution anyone who rents against owning an (all-electric) EV. Unless your son has a lease at a place w/more than one charger and he can afford the extra electric charges most landlords apply. I LOVE my EV and I have owned hybrids since 2002, but the lack of charging infrastructure is a total pain. I have seen more than one BOLT owner (in this region) sell their EV due to lack of places to charge. IF your son lives somewhere he can charge then the next biggest consideration is range for long distance trips. I live in WNY state. My 2023 Bolt gets close to 200 miles in the winter and 230 in the summer.
I find the Bolt interior design inferior due to not having an adjustable (on the door column) seat belt for the driver and very poor sight lines. There is no interior release for the back hatch door. The large screen is nice and the back up camera works well enough. My husband hates the lack of knobs to control the cabin climate controls and I find the CarPlay app for GPS and entertainment very quirky.
I do not like the back cargo area because it has a lip requiring me to lift stuff over it instead of just sliding stuff in. I can not fit my medium sized dog crate anywhere but the back seat (awkwardly). So, in general, the cargo space is limited. Take your son w/you when you shop for his EV. He will definitely have opinions. If shopping for a used Bolt, check the selller’s documentation about the big battery replacement...good luck!