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Cars: 2015

Don't fear the Hybrids. You don't need to actively do anything, you just get better gas mileage.

about 3 months ago I bought a 2023 Volvo XC60 Recharge. It's the PHEV version of the mid-sized SUV. I absolutely love the vehicle. Volvo does a great job of balancing the "I'm driving a computer controlled spaceship" with "I'm driving a car". If I have my battery charged, I can get ~55 mpg on the highway combined. If I'm out of volts, that goes down to about 30-35 on the highway. If I am driving locally with a battery charge, then I can get pretty much 40 miles of range without using more than a thimble full of gas. Plus I can lock/unlock and get climate controls running via app on my phone. Since it's a PHEV and not a full EV, I just use a type I charger. It takes a little over 16 hours to charge from empty, and about 2 hours with a type II charger. Since it has an ICE engine, I can charge the battery through that too (but it's pretty inefficient).

But yeah, I'd tell anyone looking at a new vehicle to look at hybrids. PHEV if you want to be a bit more cutting edge but aren't quite sold on 2023 EVs.


edit: I'll add that I drove a Toyota Matrix for years and loved it. The only reason I didn't buy the RAV4 Prime (their PHEV) was that I put in an order, and 8 months later still no car. Toyota rules, they just struggle with production at the moment.
 
Swansong said:
Don't fear the Hybrids. You don't need to actively do anything, you just get better gas mileage.

about 3 months ago I bought a 2023 Volvo XC60 Recharge. It's the PHEV version of the mid-sized SUV. I absolutely love the vehicle. Volvo does a great job of balancing the "I'm driving a computer controlled spaceship" with "I'm driving a car". If I have my battery charged, I can get ~55 mpg on the highway combined. If I'm out of volts, that goes down to about 30-35 on the highway. If I am driving locally with a battery charge, then I can get pretty much 40 miles of range without using more than a thimble full of gas. Plus I can lock/unlock and get climate controls running via app on my phone. Since it's a PHEV and not a full EV, I just use a type I charger. It takes a little over 16 hours to charge from empty, and about 2 hours with a type II charger. Since it has an ICE engine, I can charge the battery through that too (but it's pretty inefficient).

But yeah, I'd tell anyone looking at a new vehicle to look at hybrids. PHEV if you want to be a bit more cutting edge but aren't quite sold on 2023 EVs.


edit: I'll add that I drove a Toyota Matrix for years and loved it. The only reason I didn't buy the RAV4 Prime (their PHEV) was that I put in an order, and 8 months later still no car. Toyota rules, they just struggle with production at the moment.
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Can confirm. Kia Niro was excellent in Scotland.

Also, I now curse every time I'm going downhill and don't have regenerative braking. Or really anytime I need to slow down. Fucking hate that I'm giving away that energy for free.
 
Ha!

I've really learned to use and love the one-pedal mode, at least for local driving. I'm a coaster so it took a while to train myself not to lay all the way off the pedal (and the resulting rapid deceleration), but once I got the hang of it, I love it. The PHEV was definitely a premium - probably another $10k - but to me it was worth it.
 
dxmnkd316 said:
Mercedes have been garbage for as long as I can remember. There are no consistently reliable European (or American) cars. Only the Japanese (and to some extent, the Korean) car companies have figured this out. BMW being near the top is a development for them. That said, even if they were near the top consistently, I wouldn't own any European brand. They're nightmarishly expensive to maintain.
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I’m a good little Scandinavian and I want a Volvo someday- probably the one swan has. But I fear for maintenance costs too.
 
You know that button you push on your automatic transmission’s gear shift that lets you go out of Park? That button just crumbled on me. I can’t take my 2017 CRV out of park. It’s an $8 part on Amazon, and it’s immobilized my entire vehicle.

The part: Dodoro Gear Shift Knob Control Button Stickshift Knobs Key for CRV 2017-2018 (Frosted) https://a.co/d/22mHb34

I miss my manual transmission vehicles.
 
St. Clown said:
You know that button you push on your automatic transmission’s gear shift that lets you go out of Park? That button just crumbled on me. I can’t take my 2017 CRV out of park. It’s an $8 part on Amazon, and it’s immobilized my entire vehicle.

The part: Dodoro Gear Shift Knob Control Button Stickshift Knobs Key for CRV 2017-2018 (Frosted) https://a.co/d/22mHb34

I miss my manual transmission vehicles.
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I had that break on an Alfa Romeo once. Fixed it myself.
 
MichVandal said:
I had that break on an Alfa Romeo once. Fixed it myself.
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I would have too, simple fix. However, it broke when I wasn’t at home. The GM and a mechanic from the dealership where we bought the car came over and fixed it for us for free. My wife is out of town for work, as are her parents for vacation, and the GM ended up driving my car home for us. All of that at no charge. I’m still shocked.
 
St. Clown said:
I would have too, simple fix. However, it broke when I wasn’t at home. The GM and a mechanic from the dealership where we bought the car came over and fixed it for us for free. My wife is out of town for work, as are her parents for vacation, and the GM ended up driving my car home for us. All of that at no charge. I’m still shocked.
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I was more comparing your CRV to a pretty unreliable Italian car, lol…
 
St. Clown said:
I would have too, simple fix. However, it broke when I wasn’t at home. The GM and a mechanic from the dealership where we bought the car came over and fixed it for us for free. My wife is out of town for work, as are her parents for vacation, and the GM ended up driving my car home for us. All of that at no charge. I’m still shocked.
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I misread this as "my wife was at home" and the entire passage had a different feeling.
 
Today, I realized I've gotten over 100,000 miles out of my 2007 Honda Civic since I bought it in 2020 and I believe I can get another 100,000 out of it before it permanently dies.
 
I mean, I often think that my dissatisfaction with my tires means I need a brand new $8-10,000 transmission job.
 
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