Bitten the hybrid bullet!

[Burnerman]

Time to say cheerio to my great 4x4 Yeti, with it's 2.0 litre diesel lump. 65 plate, 45 k on the clock, FSH and perfect.
When new, in the January, I paid £19k for it with 9 miles on the clock.
Carwow valued it at £13 k , which I thought was ridiculous but in the end the hammer fell at £12500 to a local dealer.......still an amazing price, I thought because they will put another £2k on when it reaches the forecourt.
Anyhoo, the latest vehicle to come my way today is a new Toyota Yaris Cross CVT AWD so we'll see what that's like over the coming Summer.
A most peculiar machine when I test drove it......pressing the start button nothing happens, but when you put it into 'D' it moves off, either electrically or under it's petrol engine eerie!
Getting it serviced at Toyota gives it a 10 year warranty which I may consider, never having any experience with CVT. The AWD system is courtesy of an electric motor stuck on the rear axle.
I have to say I'm quite looking forward to it!
Have a good day everyone - if you are thinking about changing your vehicle you may be surprised at the trade in price.
John

 

[DiyNutJob]

Not thinking of changing my vehicle. One known car in hand is worth 2 at the dealer. If it becomes an antique, it could worth more. I need to learn to DIY paint it. I don't even have a compressor yet, or gun, or anything.

Glad you are excited about your new toy.

 

[norseman]

Not thinking of changing my vehicle. One known car in hand is worth 2 at the dealer. If it becomes an antique, it could worth more. I need to learn to DIY paint it. I don't even have a compressor yet, or gun, or anything.

Glad you are excited about your new toy.

My two are 24 & 35 years old, both like a drink, but I don't do many miles a year.
I can buy a lot of petrol for the price of new/nearly new replacements, which will take years of use to justify the energy/emissions used in their production.
Each to his/her own though .. enjoy your new motor.

 

[ETAF]

is it a 10 year warranty on the batteries if serviced or the whole vehicle - otherwise 5 years - that was a few years ago now

my uncle purchased a toyota hybrid a few years ago, sadly now passed - but he also had an option for a 3 year service deal price which seemed very good at the time.

He did have a few problems as it was not driven every day - maybe 2-3 times a week, and mostly short 16-30mile trips - often had a flat battery - which was being investigated by the dealer. but events took over
made a huge saving on petrol as , hes trip to town 8miles mostly used just battery

 

[Burnerman]

is it a 10 year warranty on the batteries if serviced or the whole vehicle - otherwise 5 years - that was a few years ago now

my uncle purchased a toyota hybrid a few years ago, sadly now passed - but he also had an option for a 3 year service deal price which seemed very good at the time.

He did have a few problems as it was not driven every day - maybe 2-3 times a week, and mostly short 16-30mile trips - often had a flat battery - which was being investigated by the dealer. but events took over
made a huge saving on petrol as , hes trip to town 8miles mostly used just battery

As expected, I'm now being bombarded with the offer of 'products' that I'm unlikely to need, however the 3 year service contract plus two MOT's (what?) sounds attractive at £700.
It's possible for the warranty to be extended to ten years if the vehicle is serviced by Toyota, and that includes the CVT but I've yet to discover how much that will be.
I have to say, it's impossible to tell if the thing is being driven by electricity or petrol, the transition is undetectable......it's only the dash board that tells me!
So far, 60 MPG driven from Sunderland to Hexham, and a jaunt up to Rothbury in the snow.
John

 

[ETAF]

seems like they must offer the same deal to used cars 2 years old +

same happened to my uncle while i was in the shop with him, this that and other

hes offer , i think in 2019 - was much cheaper - £350 ish i think ..... £700 is £233 each service

Seems a lot for a new car, not like brakes will need changing unless doing high milage

 

[JohnD]

is it a 10 year warranty on the batteries if serviced or the whole vehicle - otherwise 5 years - that was a few years ago now

my uncle purchased a toyota hybrid a few years ago, sadly now passed - but he also had an option for a 3 year service deal price which seemed very good at the time.

He did have a few problems as it was not driven every day - maybe 2-3 times a week, and mostly short 16-30mile trips - often had a flat battery - which was being investigated by the dealer. but events took over
made a huge saving on petrol as , hes trip to town 8miles mostly used just battery

Seems to me like the flat battery will be the 12v one, which is charged by the big traction batt when switched on, and runs the lights, accessories, alarm and listens for the keyless unlocking remote. If the 12v batt runs down, you can't unlock the doors, the management system is dead and you can't turn on the big batt. This seems not uncommon if it is standing for a few weeks. On mine you can open only the drivers door with an emergency mechanical key, and after opening the bonnet can connect to a 12v charging stud in the fusebox. As soon as it is live you can turn it on and the traction batt will start charging the 12v batt. Mine does not have a starter motor or an alternator, it is all done by the front traction dynomotor, so you don't need a lot of 12v charge.

I've heard that some cars have a manual override to allow the big batt to start charging a flat 12v so the management system comes on.

 

[ETAF]

yep, that was exactly what happened , I think he opened the door manually - opened the hood and then charged the battery
BUT this was only stood still for 2-3 days , not weeks

This seems not uncommon if it is standing for a few weeks.

My car - Petrol - stands quite often not used for a couple of weeks if not longer - as we have 2 cars , i a large C4 and dont always need or is suitable to use my small little convertible car ....

so thats not good - if its not uncommon , something draining the battery too much

many a time i have left cars for 3-4 weeks unused

In fact as of now the last time i used it was 2 Wednesday's ago (2 weeks ) , but will be today ...

 

[JohnD]

The 12v battery looks quite small, as it does not have to drive a starter motor. I don't know what the drain is. The problem seems common enough that there must be something draining it faster than was expected when the batt was specced.

I have not been able to find the rating of the 12v battery yet. Even when flat, it drew less thzn 3A ffom my charger.

 

[Astra99]

I have a 2020 Kia Niro self charging hybrid, which I have had for three years. Your experience of turning the vehicle on and no starter operating is the same as mine when I first got the car, but it does say on the display "Ready to start driving"! Mine is a 6-speed DCT; yours is a CVT. I also have a button on the dash to send charge from the 240V traction battery to the 12V "accessories" battery if the latter becomes discharged. I am very pleased with my HEV, I hope you will be equally pleased with yours. Please keep us posted.

 

[Burnerman]

I'm trying to analyse this vehicle, just to see what it's all about....for sure, I'm not going to claim it's the best car ever, just because I've bought it!
If it's a knacker, I'll say so.
Early days, but it seems to be getting around 58 MPG (car computer figures) where my euro 6 Yeti would do maybe 42 around town, going up to 52 MPG on a decent run.
My Peugeot Bipper van, (1300cc euro 6 diesel) is around the 57 MPG mark average - so not a great saving there compared to the hybrid.

With snow on the deck yesterday, and my drive being on a slight downhill slope, I set off, after noticing the 'Ready' sign on the dash.
All the electrical systems seem to be taken care off by the car itself.
The petrol engine started up to get me out of the drive, (30 sec) and then stopped again - away I went using electric power.
Joining the main road and accelerating, the petrol engine came on again for maybe 1/2 mile and then cut back out - to be repeated on a regular basis.
I'm wondering how the catalytic converter is dealing with this!
It was a good feeling to cruise slowly around Hexham though, mostly on electric power, feeling very righteous!
I noticed a huge reduction in the bill when I filled up with fuel for the first time.
Anyway, 'Er indoors seems to like it - for the second morning running she's nicked off with it
John

 

[Burnerman]

One hoot.....
After switching off, it tells me to 'Check the back seat'.
Apparently this is to ensure that you haven't left any children there when you leave the car
I assume this is for the benefit of our American friends
Have a good day, everyone
John

 

[norseman]

One hoot.....
After switching off, it tells me to 'Check the back seat'.
Apparently this is to ensure that you haven't left any children there when you leave the car
I assume this is for the benefit of our American friends
Have a good day, everyone
John

I like the fourth line

 

[ninjacat]

A most peculiar machine when I test drove it......pressing the start button nothing happens, but when you put it into 'D' it moves off, either electrically or under it's petrol engine

Weird isn't it. Takes a bit of getting used to.

 

[Mottie]

My only decent experience of driving a hybrid is one of my customers Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. He's a mini cab driver. It can be charged with a cable but it has an engine that is basically a charger for the battery. You can press a button to start the 'engine' and the dash display shows electricity flowing from an engine symbol, to the battery. When you drive it, the display shows power flowing from the battery to the wheels. When you brake, the display shows power flowing from the wheels to the battery. I think it’s great and I would be looking to get something like that for myself in the future. Much more practical than a fully electric vehicle.