Opinions about a Think car?

[SunCoaster]

Have an opportunity to buy a new one, but not drive it beforehand. Think is bankrupt and the last production runs are being liquidated.

[Ykick]

I ran across this Leno story from 2010 and once you get past his editorial about electric cars it leaves you with an idea of how the car's built and drives.

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/at-the-ga ... think-car/

I'd probably go for one around $10-$15k if I had a place to charge it.

[pdf]

Pretty lukewarm segment by Jay Leno. I am the opposite demographic to what Jay thinks of the average car owner: I hate working on my cars, I don't think I need to feel a personal attachment to them, and they are like appliances. When they break, I am extremely annoyed; it is going to cost some serious money if the problem is something I can't or don't want to fix and I feel no satisfaction when it is working again. I only feel relief. However, I am so far out of the norm on several things I suppose it is to me expected. I would have loved one of these and the (projected) price point was do-able, if they could actually have sold it $22k. I don't need another high miler; a city car is exactly what I need. And even if the range was a real 50 miles, that would satisfy the vast majority of our family transportation needs. We have gas cars for the long trips.

That said, the fact that they are belly-up is a problem. While electrics are assumed to have a phenomenal maintenance records, things will still break and you will need parts. Say a window drops out of its track; where do you get the replacement parts? When the battery needs to be replaced, it will have to be custom configured. Or the motor bearing goes prematurely. There is a price at which I would consider buying it, but it would be at a serious discount. But that is just me. As I said above, a car is an appliance to me. I would not pay an extra dime for a refrigerator, no matter what the cool factor was. They have no value to me beyond utility.

Let us know what you do. Could be a great value at the right price

[bigmoose]

Article about them here:

Discontinued 2011 Think City Electric Cars For Sale: $22,300
BY JOHN VOELCKER
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1074719_discontinued-2011-think-city-electric-cars-for-sale-22500

[SunCoaster]

A recent OEVA (Oregon Electric Vehicle Association) email had the notice about a shipment of 20 Think cars coming to Oregon with a price of $15,000 before the federal $7,500 (the think battery pack is large enough for the max rebate); so the net price is $7,500. I'm now on the possible 2nd shipment of 20 vehicles.

Has anyone recent experience with the federal rebate?

[texaspyro]

Hmmm, they said the battery was over 20 kWh. Four of those puppies at $7500 ea would make my free electricity plan (viewtopic.php?f=14&t=39728) very viable