looking to get a hybrid

Horizon81

The cheapest car is the one you already own. As usual Strider tells it like it is. Why would you want to spend a shed load of money to try and save a little money. The worlds marketing departments must be rubbing their hands with glee at all these mug punters.

gzoom

bigjl wrote: »

I test drove a Tesla a few months ago.

I can only describe the acceleration as hilarious.

Goes like a Motorbike. And very little maintenance required.

One caveat with your comment on Hybrids though, they (specifically the Prius) are very good if you only ever use them in town and drive them like they want to be driven.

I cannot wait for the Tesla test-drive, I think it's the P85D version they have on tour, I asked for the 70D or 85S as those are the ones I can actually afford....But I'm not turning down the chance to drive a car that can do 0-60 in a little over 3 seconds

Regarding the hybrid economy I agree, but if driven carefully you can get some stupid mpg reading. This was after a 250 mile trip from Leicester to London with about 50 miles of it stuck on the car park that is the A406 at rush hour.....There's no way our old Civic would have got anything over 50mpg in similar conditions.

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Renault's reliability is poor, and their dealer service frankly shocking.

Car itself is lovely, just a shame about the ownership experience being ruined.

Sadly this seem to be quite common with the Zoe. Seems strange because you have to struggle to find a single horror story about the Leaf......Cannot wait till Alfa has a go at one of these things :rotfl:

gzoom

Horizon81 wrote: »

The cheapest car is the one you already own. As usual Strider tells it like it is. Why would you want to spend a shed load of money to try and save a little money. The worlds marketing departments must be rubbing their hands with glee at all these mug punters.

What's your point, everyone surely knows not buying a new car is the cheapest way to get from A to B. Infact as mentioned not having a car at all is the cheapest way to get from A to B....Walking is FREE!!

But some of us like spending money on cars, just like some people like going to watch horse racing, or dancing or what ever.

As far as I'm concerned if your considering buying a NEW car for what ever reason, your be mad not to look at the newer technologies coming down the line.

I've been obsessed with cars for as long as I can remember, but the arrival of EV in the last few years is bringing about ownership prospects I couldn't have imagined....

Something like a Tesla Model S offers you the performance of a sports car with the running cost less than that of a Fiesta, so what's not to like?? It's the holy grail for car lovers, performance AND economy

Infact the P85D has the same acceleration as a McLaren F1, and only marginally slower than a Buggatti Veyron, yet it'll seat 5+2, usable day to day, costs just about £10 for a 'tank' of fuel, you don't even have to service the thing (because there is nothing to 'service') and Tesla will still honour any warranty claims - As I've explained to my wife, it's almost crazy NOT to buy a P85D if your in the market for a high performance saloon.

I agree it's not the same agenda as the OP - interms of pure money saving, but I have never not so excited at the prospect of blowing a stupid ££££ on any car before.....I'll be buying with cash, so issues of debt etc

Horizon81

gzoom wrote: »

What's your point...... yak yak

My point is the same as Striders. The OP isn't happy with his fuel bill so is contemplating spending thousands on a second hand motor in an attempt save a little per week. This is MSE so it's a ridiculous mentality to have.

gary_jules

gzoom wrote: »

2: Our other car is a Full Electric Nissan Leaf - This was bought after I realised I loved the EV mode in the Lexus, and it replace my old modified BMW 335i.


As much as I love the cheap ownership costs of Leaf I'm missing POWER. The Tesla Model S delivers both power and range that makes it on-par with my old 335i....But instead of costing £90 to refuel it'll cost less than £9 - That atleast helps to offset the £55K+ price tag.

Summary: A conventional hybrid will NOT save you much on fuel, but a full electric car will. But you need to work out the costs of changing to a brand new car which is never cheap . You can however pick up a used Leaf for £7K these days. They don't have as good range as the current car - 65-70 miles but are alot cheaper.

Hope that helps....I should add I'm no tree hugger, my last three cars were a Honda Integra Type R, Nissan 350Z and a modified BMW 335i running 380bhp. But for me I'm never buying another petrol/diesel car again. EVs are the future, but they are already here, and no I couldn't careless how the electricity is generated, gas/coal/nuclear/solar, as long as I can put it into my EV I'm happy

But to the OP: If your total budget is only £5k than the current EVs are too new for you to really consider. In another 12-18 months prices will fall future and I suspect a used Leaf will hit the £5K range.

Don't mean to highjack this thread but are you recommending a full EV car over a hybrid? Would you say the Leaf is better than a hybrid like the Prius for short trips around town?

Also I don't think the bmw 335i has 380 hp? You say its modified but never even heard of a modified one at 380. What upgrades did you do?

BeenThroughItAll

gary_jules wrote: »

Don't mean to highjack this thread but are you recommending a full EV car over a hybrid? Would you say the Leaf is better than a hybrid like the Prius for short trips around town?

Also I don't think the bmw 335i has 380 hp? You say its modified but never even heard of a modified one at 380. What upgrades did you do?

Wow look, it's Darkmatter101. Again.


Gone back to the firstname__lastname format for this one have we? Wasn't the last one howard__jills?

spinybif_2

Just swapped my Prius for a Golf diesel. lovely car but had a annoying rattle from day 1 never sorted by dealer.

Real world mpg was low 50s although I did once manage 74 driving like an angel for 75 miles.

Biggest problem is not the battery, Toyota engines have a habit of burning high oil once they pass 75,000. Mine ended up using 500ml every 600 miles. This is a common problem with Toyota engines once they get to higher mileages, just google.

Unfortunately Toyota's response is to raise the limit at which they accept oil use is excessive and deny there is a problem - for comparison up to 70,000 never put any oil in car between 10,000 mile services.

Horizon81

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

Wow look, it's Darkmatter101. Again.


Gone back to the firstname__lastname format for this one have we? Wasn't the last one howard__jills?

Very good choice of new name. It's a mad world.

Martyn1981

Horizon81 wrote: »

My point is the same as Striders. The OP isn't happy with his fuel bill so is contemplating spending thousands on a second hand motor in an attempt save a little per week. This is MSE so it's a ridiculous mentality to have.

I can see where you're coming from, but playing devil's advocate, if the OP sold their current car, and bought a second hand car for the same value, with lower running costs, then it would be perfect mentality, especially on a MSE thread.

So it's not really an issue of how much is spent on the car, it's how much extra is spent (if it's more) and how that works out long term assuming some fuel savings, and perhaps longer lifetimes for brake pads and tyres.

Mart.

andrewf75

Very sceptical about the financial and environmental benefits of hybrids/electric cars

Surely the cheapest and most environmentally friendly thing to do is don't buy another car, keep the one you've got

I don't doubt that we'll all be driving them eventually, but rushing out to get the latest "green" car is simply feeding the consumerism that is destroying the planet.