MrPin Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 A small-engined petrol car that's decent to drive like a Fiesta would tick those boxes. IMO buying a Prius or similar is done for the same reason as buying a VW Beetle or a Smart car - you have an emotional attachment to the perceived values that those cars represent rather than buying with your head. The best example is the hippy hemp-wearing car of choice of yesteryear - the 2CV - which had this cuddly eco-image despite being massively polluting. What a novel idea? You should remind me regularly! Nothing wrong with a Fiesta usually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnionTerror Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 ...an LPG? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 ...an LPG? Yes, and very popular in Korea, well the bit of Korea I went to, anyway! Very clean on emissions, and (for now) more economical than petrol! What a pity manufacturers don't offer these as standard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bossybabe Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 This one will come with a year guarantee so will have a short-term cover if I get it. Funny you should say that - what was he problem? I haven't heard of many problems with them - over here there are many, many Prius and Prius+ taxis and they do massive mileages with few problems according to the cabbies. They are definitely well-suited to driving in town, a bit less good outside. My informant thought something about the batteries. The owner bought the car from new and it had done around 12k miles - on the Isle of Wight. Edit to reflect that it wasn't driven far or fast enough on the island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swissy_fit Posted April 9, 2014 Author Share Posted April 9, 2014 My informant thought something about the batteries. The owner bought the car from new and it had done around 12k miles - on the Isle of Wight. Edit to reflect that it wasn't driven far or fast enough on the island. Ah, well that's food for thought, the IOW should be ideal for a Prius really. I note that the battery guarantee is now only 5 years or 60k miles. hunting around on the web they seem to be very reliable but if you do anything dumb like try to jumpstart it that can be very costly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 My informant thought something about the batteries. The owner bought the car from new and it had done around 12k miles - on the Isle of Wight. Edit to reflect that it wasn't driven far or fast enough on the island. You might end up in the sea? I visited the IoW a few times for work at Decca Radar! The locals told me never to buy a car with Island plates, as it had never been over 30 mph, and would be rusty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChumpusRex Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 There are a number of firms that can refurbish hybrid car batteries. I made some enquiries as to how much it would cost to re-cell a Lexus GS450h battery, when I was looking for a new motor, and as I recall it was barely over £1k. In the end, I decided I'd go for some a more conventional engine, although the complexity of that is such, that any kind of work on it is a nightmare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Eagle Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 ...an LPG? LPG only makes sense if swissy does a lot of miles as otherwise the conversion costs would defeat the fuel cost savings. I thought about LPG for my Impreza but it's not worth it because I don't drive it enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnionTerror Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 LPG only makes sense if swissy does a lot of miles as otherwise the conversion costs would defeat the fuel cost savings. I thought about LPG for my Impreza but it's not worth it because I don't drive it enough. A half-decent conversion would be around 1500 quid - unless you get one that's already been converted.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Eagle Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 A half-decent conversion would be around 1500 quid - unless you get one that's already been converted.. Double that in Switzerland, and I spend a lot less than that on petrol per year. --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swissy_fit Posted April 9, 2014 Author Share Posted April 9, 2014 Double that in Switzerland, and I spend a lot less than that on petrol per year. --- Lpg a no-no in switzerland, maybe better where eagle is but here lpg cars are banned from all underground carparks, you can only get it in neighbouring France and it's not even that cheap. I would have an lpg car in the uk, I had one before and was happy with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARIMA Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Are such cars still congestion charge free? I was never quite sure what practical purpose the RX-h served, isn't the electric range only about a mile? Seems to be purely a contrived technical solution to taxes (congestion charge, VED and company car taxes) based on arbitrary and unrealistic metrics. The Prius sort of makes sense if you've a bit of stop/start urban driving during your usual journeys (7-8 mile leccy range?) to vastly exaggerate the typical economy of the small petrol engine but the RX? (range figures from memory not google) Annoyingly I'm starting to spend a bit more on fuel but I know that a £60-70 a month fuel saving from a new car would not balance the collossal depreciation I'd suffer in comparison. So I'm stuck for the time being. I'd actually like a V6 Cayenne or Toureg as my next car but its unlikely ever to happen. My wife's car is literally rusting away before our eyes so that will probably need changing first. She wants a 4x4 but wouldn't drive one, so a shed or a static caravan is probably more practical than a car you won't drive. Pretty sure the loophole where a V6 petrol 4x4 was exempt to the congestion charge is now closed. I don't know the real techy stuff about the hybrid system (probably because I am nowhere near parting with any money) but to me the point of the RX400h is to boost the performance stats without getting the fuel consumption of a V8 petrol or the purchase cost of a twin turbo diesel (eg X5 3.0sd). The RX300 is hugely thirsty apparently (eg 22 mpg) so the RX400h at 30ish mpg is appealing combined with <8 secs 0-60. Plus it has a big boot and the Lexus seems cheap second hand compared to other 4x4's. Reliabilty seems very good but is the fear of a costly electrical failure to much to bear... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Eagle Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 maybe better where eagle is but here lpg cars are banned from all underground carparks No idea, I haven't even looked into that because I figured LPG wouldn't make sense for me financially. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 The best example is the hippy hemp-wearing car of choice of yesteryear - the 2CV - which had this cuddly eco-image despite being massively polluting. Massively polluting? My mum bought a 2CV more or less on a whim in the early 90s after she disposed of our 1.7 Sherpa camper which had until that point been our family holiday transport, and for the rest of the year our ~1500 miles a year 'second car'. It was one of the last, a green and white 1989 'Dolly'. So we went from <20mpg to ~45 in the 2CV, and it rarely let us down though it could be a bugger to start on cold days. Yes it spat out more NOX and unburned hydrocarbons per unit of fuel burned than an equivalent fuel injected car, but I don't think any petrol engined car of the time could beat 45mpg round town; a 2CV weighs <600kg. I learned to drive it in my grandad's paddock aged 12, and my younger brother was afforded the same consideration when he came of age, though being far more reckless than me he managed to slightly damage it a couple of times in the process. When I was 18 I celebrated the end of my A-Levels by taking it down for a week's partying in Newquay; I literally drove it all the way there pedal to the metal as I had a time to keep picking up my mate from Bodmin Parkway station; I dangerously slipstreamed a bunch of unfortunates to maintain 70mph+. It still did 45mpg. It survived a couple of years after that, the highlight of which was me driving my brother and his mates to a party at a house down a private road. As long as you don't need to change gear a 2CV can be driven perfectly safely with all four of its occupants standing up out of the roof- the driver has his left foot on the floor, right on the throttle/brake, back against the middle roof bar, left arm stabilising, and right arm steering. We were enjoying that; and then bro and his mates entered the party by exiting via the roof, thus making the questionable coolness of their arrival in a debatably hippy car entirely moot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHERWICK Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 There are a number of firms that can refurbish hybrid car batteries. I made some enquiries as to how much it would cost to re-cell a Lexus GS450h battery, when I was looking for a new motor, and as I recall it was barely over £1k. In the end, I decided I'd go for some a more conventional engine, although the complexity of that is such, that any kind of work on it is a nightmare. I have a (second hand 57) Lexus GS450h and it is a sweet, sweet car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hail the Tripod Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Massively polluting? My mum bought a 2CV more or less on a whim in the early 90s after she disposed of our 1.7 Sherpa camper which had until that point been our family holiday transport, and for the rest of the year our ~1500 miles a year 'second car'. It was one of the last, a green and white 1989 'Dolly'. So we went from <20mpg to ~45 in the 2CV, and it rarely let us down though it could be a bugger to start on cold days. I had a friend who had one. I always felt like I was sitting in a greenhouse rolling down a hill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swissy_fit Posted April 10, 2014 Author Share Posted April 10, 2014 I saw two people killed from a not-particularly-strong side impact on a 2CV in London years back, I had never been keen on them, after that I didn't even want to be a passenger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 I saw two people killed from a not-particularly-strong side impact on a 2CV in London years back, I had never been keen on them, after that I didn't even want to be a passenger. Yes the impact protection is pathetic. But it's probably no more dangerous to drive one than, say, ride a motorbike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justthisbloke Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Yes the impact protection is pathetic. But it's probably no more dangerous to drive one than, say, ride a motorbike. And a lot safer for everyone around you than if you drive a 4x4 monster truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnionTerror Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 I saw two people killed from a not-particularly-strong side impact on a 2CV in London years back, I had never been keen on them, after that I didn't even want to be a passenger. You could probably say that about almost all cars (bar the swedish) up to about 20 years ago (before euro ncap came in)....you look at an old Mini, and you hit that with any fastish moving car, and the engine is on your lap...its a glorified go-cart, when compared to a modern day car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bossybabe Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 You might end up in the sea? I visited the IoW a few times for work at Decca Radar! The locals told me never to buy a car with Island plates, as it had never been over 30 mph, and would be rusty! That must have been Fiats or Alfas in the sixties. Cars last much longer here on the whole. Ban-the-bomb Cortinas and even Austin 7s are still to be seen regularly holding up the traffic at 15 mph here. Probably because the mild weather (usually) means much less use of salt on the roads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bossybabe Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 And a lot safer for everyone around you than if you drive a 4x4 monster truck. Depends entirely on how you drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 Pretty sure the loophole where a V6 petrol 4x4 was exempt to the congestion charge is now closed. I don't know the real techy stuff about the hybrid system (probably because I am nowhere near parting with any money) but to me the point of the RX400h is to boost the performance stats without getting the fuel consumption of a V8 petrol or the purchase cost of a twin turbo diesel (eg X5 3.0sd). The RX300 is hugely thirsty apparently (eg 22 mpg) so the RX400h at 30ish mpg is appealing combined with <8 secs 0-60. Plus it has a big boot and the Lexus seems cheap second hand compared to other 4x4's. Reliabilty seems very good but is the fear of a costly electrical failure to much to bear... In my albeit limited anecdotal experience, I'm not sure it fully delivered on the promise. Certainly did a good job for a friend and the hybrid/company car tax thing was a great benefit. Still a very nice car though. I don't want anyone to think I'm anti 4x4 or hybrid or Jap. I'd just like to terrorise grannies with a loud exhaust on a vw v6 instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARIMA Posted April 12, 2014 Share Posted April 12, 2014 In my albeit limited anecdotal experience, I'm not sure it fully delivered on the promise. Happy to hear more about that - did it disappoint in the mpg or the drivability sense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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