Considering my first hybrid - from 2008 on - any advice?

Morpheus

Hi all,

considering switching to my first hybrid

budget: 6k - 10k
Mileage: circa 700km per week with a 90km round journey each day
do 1 or 2 trips , dublin to waterford and back per month
Current drive, 2008 1.6l petrol mondeo -saloon - affectionately known as "the tank" - its way too big for my needs, no kids or dogs to worry about etc.


any advice?
mostly what i can find in my range on donedeal etc are likes of toyota Prius, honda insight, honda civic - are these good cars? ive read a lot of negativity about tyre wear on the civics. the insight looks nice, would prefer a hatchback to saloon.

what should i look out for? should I probably go main dealer with one of these as i'm not sure how well other smaller garages are handling hybrid tech at the minute? unless someone here would correct me on this.

thanks all

The Toyota Prius is one of the most reliable cars ever built and there are some North American Gen II taxies with over 400,000 miles and still going.

Batteries can fail from about 10 years, however, those in regular use can last well beyond this. But it's something to take into account. It's about 2,500 new from toyota. You can get reconditioned ones from the U.K much cheaper and have a competent DIY'er install it. The voltages are lethal so this person needs to be good with electrics. But you can have a lot of expensive issues with higher mileage older diesels also. The Battery usually has a few failed cells no more and is not that difficult to repair, just a pain in the ass to take it all apart.

I loved my Gen II and the Gen III from 2009 can be got at a good price, some Gen II can be found registered in 2009 so watch out for this. The Gen III has more power and is less noisy.

I'd have absolutely no hesitations recommending a high mileage (well maintained) Prius with a full Toyota Service record, this is important with this car, toyota servicing is reasonable too. I requires little maintenance, oil and filter every 15,000 kms and spark plugs ever 100 kms or so depending on what they fit.

You won't have any of the potential issues that plague diesels with a prius.

In the Gen II I could get 800-840 Kms form 42 litres of petrol. Maybe a bit less in winter. It takes time to get the best out of the hybrid system.

Tyres are important so you need low rolling resistance tyres. I had Dunlop Sport BluResponse tyres and they were excellent.

I have Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance on the leaf and they're also excellent. Expensive but I never skimped on Tyres. The Goodyear Efficient Grip are very quiet.

jackofalltrades

Was about to start the exact same thread myself.
I'm looking at getting a hybrid and then possibly converting it to LPG.

Mad_Lad was there anything you didn't like about the Gen II?
Can you remember what the road noise/MPG was on motorways?

Morpheus wrote: »

any advice?
mostly what i can find in my range on donedeal etc are likes of toyota Prius, honda insight, honda civic - are these good cars? ive read a lot of negativity about tyre wear on the civics. the insight looks nice, would prefer a hatchback to saloon.

Reviews on the Honda hybrids don't seem that great, the engines seem a bit gutless.
I've driven the GEN III Toyota Prius.
It'll easily return 60+ MPG, it handles great, has good acceleration, is good for overtaking and is spec'd well.
I was really surprised by just how good it was.
You should be just about able to pick one up for around 10K.

jackofalltrades

jackofalltrades wrote: »

Was about to start the exact same thread myself.
I'm looking at getting a hybrid and then possibly converting it to LPG.

Mad_Lad was there anything you didn't like about the Gen II?
Can you remember what the road noise/MPG was on motorways?


Reviews on the Honda hybrids don't seem that great, the engines seem a bit gutless.
I've driven the GEN III Toyota Prius.
It'll easily return 60+ MPG, it handles great, has good acceleration, is good for overtaking and is spec'd well.
I was really surprised by just how good it was.
You should be just about able to pick one up for around 10K.

With the current cost of petrol I don't think LPG conversion would be worth it. A lot of LPG stations have closed and it's a gamble getting a conversion, you don't know how long any place will continue to sell LPG. Also you don't know what impact it will have on any engine, not sure it works well on Japanese cars due to the valves melting but you can get an additive but this adds to the cost.

The Gen II engine was noisier because it was weaker and there was less noise insulation. It was noisier on hard acceleration but once up to speed it was fine. cars have a hard life on Irish roads and with the ever increasing amount of roads being covered in tar and chippings this will greatly add to the noise , tyre wear and fuel consumption, most car manufacturers would never believe their cars could be subject to such torture.

If there was something I didn't like about the Gen II was the seats weren't the most comfortable.

Having gone fully electric I'd never go back but if I had to then I'd definitely be in another Prius !

Soarer

We've had 2 Gen II Priuseseseses, and they've never given an ounce of trouble. Both were brought in from the UK as ex-fleet cars with "high" mileage (approx. 70k miles). All motorway stuff. Both were T-Spirit models, bought from main dealers and had full main dealer service histories. They were "as new". Mighty value.
Also brought in a Yaris hybrid last October for the inlaws too. Again it was 3 years old, T-Spirit, ex-fleet, and "high mileage" (approx. 50k).
In all cases, it was fly over and drive home the same day.
VRT on the Priuseseses was about €800 I think, and the Yaris was down less than €500. With Sterling the way it is at the minute, and VRT being so small, I couldn't recommend heading over highly enough.

With a €10k budget, you'd be able to get a high mileage Lexus CT200h. Basically the same running gear as the Gen III Prius, but in a premium body. Something like this.

The UK also changed number plates last month, so a lot of fleet cars would be coming into stock after serving their 3 years. Tis a pretty good time to buy.