Advice on buying PHEV | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Wed 12 May 2021 10:24

Advice on buying PHEV - Dily

Hello everyone. Currently I own a diesel Vauxhall Insignia 2015, but unfortunately I need to say goodbye to it because of London ULEZ. And I was thinking to get my next car a plugin hybrid car. I browsed the market a little bit and I came up with 3 options:

1. Volkswagen Passat 1.4 TSI GTE DSG - 30 miles range, petrol, 90k miles

2. Mercedes Benz C class 2.0 C350e - 20 miles range, petrol, 90k miles

3. Volvo V60 2.4 D5 Twin Engine SE Nav AWD - 30 miles range, diesel, 70k miles

All 3 of them are 2017 estate cars, and roughly the same price range. During the week I will use the car to go to work. I will make between 20-30 miles/day, so I assume that the electric range will probably be enough for daily commute. But during the weekends I will do motorway miles (doing day trips or going for fishing, beach casting). I will also do twice a year a long trip to Europe, which will be probably an extra 8k miles. My next car will be a family car, with baby seat, so safety and reliability of the car is an important factor.

Are there any car owners of these models on this forum that can tell me a little bit about them? Also what's the mpg consumption once the electric charge is gone? I would like the Volvo because is diesel so I assume the consumption will be better than petrol and is also AWD compared with the other two. On mercedes I like the look inside and outside, but the boot space and electric range is smaller. On VW I like the boot space and seems more spacious, also the insurance I think is cheaper.

I'm having a hard time to decide which one of these 3, so any help will be appreciated. Thank you :)

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Wed 12 May 2021 10:47

Advice on buying PHEV - SLO76

I wouldn’t touch any of them unless you can find more money to put in the pot. All three are very complex and costly to maintain or repair plus with current demand prices are high. None of them are actually that great on fuel in the real world either.

I’d go for a more mainstream petrol model instead such as the Mazda 6 2.0 Skyactiv. You’ll get a younger car with a fraction of the mileage and it’ll be vastly more reliable yet on a run it’s capable of 50mpg with care.

I just found a great car on Auto Trader:

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101137927192

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Wed 12 May 2021 11:02

Advice on buying PHEV - elekie&a/c doctor

Mr SLO is spot on here . I wouldn’t want any modern car ,phev or other , without a rock solid manufacturers warranty . Modern tech is great , but a fortune to put right when it goes wrong . Could easily write off any savings made by going Phev .

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Wed 12 May 2021 11:58

Advice on buying PHEV - Heidfirst

I’d go for a more mainstream petrol model instead such as the Mazda 6 2.0 Skyactiv. You’ll get a younger car with a fraction of the mileage and it’ll be vastly more reliable yet on a run it’s capable of 50mpg with care.

or a Toyota Avensis 1.8 Touring Sport - either manual or CVT if you need/want an auto.

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Wed 12 May 2021 11:31

Advice on buying PHEV - Engineer Andy

If the OP doesn't live within the London ULEZ area, but has to drive into it to go to work, might I suggest they keep the Insignia for the moment for use outside the ULEZ (evenings back home/weekend/leisure) and buy a small petrol (or basic hybrid) city car or supermini just for commuting/work use inside the ULEZ and short (under 5 miles one way) trips to the shops back home.

Not sure how long PHEVs take to charge on a standard 13A socket outlet, but worth checking - especially as the OP will need to find a safe and secure charging method if the car is parked outside at home (leaving a cable via an open window/garage door overnight isn't).

They could either buy a much newer car or save themselves a small fortune on the purchase price and running costs (including insurance) by buying an older, but well-maintained petrol supermini/city car, preferably one without a dual clutch gearbox, which aren't suited to city driving in heavy traffic and will wear just as quickly as a manual tramission when used in that way.

Cars with a traditional torque converter auto or CVT (not Nissan/Renault's though) would suit and, because of the size of the car, not penalise the mpg too much, if the OP has to have an 'auto', which I can understand for use in heavy traffic (I will get one for my next car for that reason).

Many long-lasting, reliable cars in this bracket, though the best are mostly Oriental in my view, at least in terms of a long term buy.

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Wed 12 May 2021 12:59

Advice on buying PHEV - Falkirk Bairn

Cars with battery bolt on Hybrids are not thoroughly designed from the ground up with years of history in the area.

Want to buy a reliable hybrid? - there are few about with a history of Reliability other than Toyota.

Mitsubishi seemed OK but they are leaving the European market and you do not want to have a car with few support outlets in a few years time.

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Wed 12 May 2021 13:48

Advice on buying PHEV - Engineer Andy

Cars with battery bolt on Hybrids are not thoroughly designed from the ground up with years of history in the area.

Want to buy a reliable hybrid? - there are few about with a history of Reliability other than Toyota.

Mitsubishi seemed OK but they are leaving the European market and you do not want to have a car with few support outlets in a few years time.

Whilst Mitsubishi maybe ok (although their big SUV PHEV can hardly be called 'green'), I'd be more worried about their increasing involvement in the Renault-Nissan Alliance, given how many design and engineering quality issues have arisen through that partnership.

I'd probably go for a Toyota Yaris standard hybrid as a second (for commuting/work) car - it's not as though you need Ford, Mazda or BMW levels of handling when driving in congested London.

If the OP still wants to ditch their existing car rather than my easlier suggestion (understandable if they don't have the space for two), then perhaps the new Corolla Hybrid 2.0 (far better than the 1.8 in performance) CVT (better than before with a 'proper' 1st gear) estate might do, if it were large enough for them.

Not cheap (if new), but certainly a very reliable longer term buy. Note to the OP that I'm not sure if PHEVs qualify for either zero rate on the congestion charge or VED - I don't think so for the newest ones on the VED, as its now only for 'zero emissions' vehicles, i.e. pure EVs.

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Wed 12 May 2021 18:03

Advice on buying PHEV - skidpan

I would never consider buying ANY 4 year old used car with 90,000 miles on the clock and expect to get many more years of trouble free motoring doing your calculated annual mileage (about 20,000 miles) based on the info given. In 3 years time the car will be 7 years old, have covered 150,000 miles and be pretty much worthless. Noting wrong with buying high mileage cars (cheap) and doing a low mileage, over 3 or 4 years it can actually be a cheap way of motoring as the high mileage becomes normal.

We have a Skoda Superb PHEV and its a great car, I would recommend it to anyone wanting a similar car and the Passat is the same car under the skin. But not the one you have seen.

Look for something more mainstream with less miles and newer.

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Wed 12 May 2021 20:21

Advice on buying PHEV - craig-pd130

As others have said, I wouldn't buy a PHEV with my own cash unless it had a watertight manufacturer's warranty - and that's after having had a BMW 225xe for 3 years and 25K miles.

It was a fantastic car - the best company car I've ever had - and it had absolutely zero faults during my ownership. But PHEVs are fearsomely complicated and most dealers have absolutely no idea where to start with diagnosing faults if anything does go wrong.

I saw some of the stories on the SpeakEV forum from owners whose cars (not just BMWs, but many other marques too) had developed problems during the warranty period, and they usually ended up with extended periods in the workshop while they "consult with experts from the factory," and the owner in a courtesy car.

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