Its not for me. Sorry Im out

I decided to leave my company car scheme and take the monthly cash allowance instead. For me it the saving works out around £480/month after tax. So the search began for a used model, I was offered a 16 reg white 4HS, low miles for £27k. Deposit paid, remaining cash arranged on collection. Next day I get a call from dealer claiming they made a mistake in the description, unfortunately my new purchase was a 4H model not a 4HS. Deal was off, I had my deposit returned.
I decided might as well go for a new one before 1 April (avoid new tax laws). Spoke to a fantastic chap Phil at Drive the Deal. Phil quoted £32k for a brand new metallic white 4HS. I was ready to order, but something was still niggling me, was this the right car for me? Phone call to my company fleet manager, I want a test drive over a couple of days. It was arranged, a red 4HS arrived 2 weeks later, i had it over 4 days.





Im sorry guys this car is not for me. Over a long journey I managed 36 mpg and that was keeping it at a steady 68mph. The radio and hand free phone were rubbish. The adaptive cruise reacted when I closed to 100m to the car infront, I got sick of others jumping into the massive gap. The car was too big, side winds pushed it about. Summing it up the car was not for me. Maybe when Im over 60 possible but not while Im in my 40's. I think I will stick to my first choice and go for a BMW 335d Xdrive, sod the fuel costs. I have solar panels fitted at home so im doing my bit for the environment.
Have to say though. The EV button is a positive step forward, just shame about the limited EV range.
Good bye eco warriors, I will remember to wave at you as I blast past.

Hahaha you describe the issues with this car correctly

Hmmm. The ACC distance at its minimum setting ( you did notice it has three levels, didn't you?) corresponds to a two-second emergency braking margin. Something that one should observe, ACC or not.
I'm sure the tailgaters amongst us don't agree, but the fines are pretty stiff. 280 Euro @ 80 kph, running up to 600 Euro @ 120 kph. And guess what? The legal minimum distance is...2 seconds, so the system might save you some money on the Continent.

Mitsubishi is merely observing the law.

jaapv said:

Hmmm. The ACC distance at its minimum setting ( you did notice it has three levels, didn't you?) corresponds to a two-second emergency braking margin. Something that one should observe, ACC or not.
I'm sure the tailgaters amongst us don't agree, but the fines are pretty stiff. 280 Euro @ 80 kph, running up to 600 Euro @ 120 kph. And guess what? The legal minimum distance is...2 seconds, so the system might save you some money on the Continent.

Mitsubishi is merely observing the law.

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Hi jaapv, Yes i did notice the 3 levels after all it was a extended 4 day test drive. I think I managed to explore most of the functions.
As for continental driving, its business only and I fly drive. At 36mpg and zero driving pleasure the last thing I would do is take an Outlander on my holiday. Anyhow my last 10 years holidays have been in the americas or Far East.

As I said the car is not for me just yet.

Amr79 said:

As I said the car is not for me just yet.

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With the favourable tax treatment being eroded, the PHEV is becoming increasingly difficult to justify. I was looking at the SEAT Ateca yesterday and amazed at the prices - entry level model starting at under £18k and the top of the range starting at less than £25k. It looks like a well equipped car and most owners are going to find it difficult to recoup the additional cost of the PHEV on fuel economy alone. OK - within the EV range, the running cost of the PHEV is probably around a quarter the running cost of the Ateca, but the EV range is small and, hence, the actual cash saving is also small. Beyond the EV range, the running costs of the two are very similar - £10k buys a lot of petrol, you know!

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I drove a Jaguar Xtype before and find the PHEV clearly superior on long-range continental driving, and I do my bit of long-distance. More quiet, more relaxing. Not really interested in the fuel consumption on such stretches, that comes into play whilst commuting.

jaapv said:

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I drove a Jaguar Xtype before and find the PHEV clearly superior on long-range continental driving, and I do my bit of long-distance. More quiet, more relaxing. Not really interested in the fuel consumption on such stretches, that comes into play whilst commuting.

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I think you'll find that most modern SUVs provide a similar driving experience - your PHEV is running on its engine most of the time on long distance runs and all modern petrol engines are pretty quiet and smooth.

True, but there is a difference. The PHEV revs up to power demand, a normal SUV to road speed. The extremely low centre of gravity does help handling too. Another thing that aids in long distance driving is the linear acceleration at motorway speeds. On the Jaguar I hated the Diesel growl and black smoke when hitting the accelerator (yes- that was normal, especially on the 1.9)

I agree the new VED rates in April will take the shine off the Phev in UK especially you want a 4hs or higher

36 mpg still is better than I ever saw on any of my diesel LRs and a lot less than I'm getting even on the occasional long trip in the cold weather so I'm still happy with my decision to ditch the diesel especially with the free RFL and company tax incentives

I have no problem with the radio :?

The hands free phone works well for me apart from the phone book but I've spent £46 on a Brodit cradle kit and can now see who is calling and decide if I answer. Answering a phone while driving even hands free is looking increasingly dodgy - recommendation is now to let phone take a message or answer briefly - best to explain you are driving and will call back when stopped - anything longer is likely to be viewed badly

https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/legal/mobile-phones

I'm used to big SUVs and towing caravans so haven't noticed the wind being a problem

jaapv said:

True, but there is a difference. The PHEV revs up to power demand, a normal SUV to road speed. The extremely low centre of gravity does help handling too. Another thing that aids in long distance driving is the linear acceleration at motorway speeds. On the Jaguar I hated the Diesel growl and black smoke when hitting the accelerator (yes- that was normal, especially on the 1.9)

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I am tending to assume that diesel is on its way out - one of the attractions of the Ateca is the availability of a petrol option - which has been rare on non-hybrid SUVs recently.

Amr79 said:

...

As I said the car is not for me just yet.

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The this PHEV is not for everyone ... (but there is a car that fit the need of everybody :?: )

For me the PHEV is perfect for being driven in the "daily commuting traffic", if the daily usage allow to be 99% in EV mode.

Long trip should be not so common with a PHEV, since on long trip the PHEV fuel economy is poor

About fun factor ... it is a heavy SUV which has its limits ... and without the EV button, for people that got the car for use it mainly in EV mode, it is an other bit fun factor limitation.

Still ... this is the only real AWD/4x4 PHEV ... unfortunately they have no competitor that could bring innovation in this segment

PS: For you that come for a 335d Xdrive ... I can see the pain of making this change ... BMW fun factor is hard to find elsewhere ... in my case I have a 335i cabrio for the fun .. and the PHEV for the boring commute

With the launch of cars like the Ateca, even drivers that only ever drive within the EV range of the PHEV are paying a pretty high premium for it. I just did a quick calculation that indicated that, without the significant tax concessions that are now disappearing (in Britain, at least), someone who never drives more than 50 miles per day and is able to charge twice would take at least 5 years to break even - and that assumes that they drive that trip every single day of the year and never exceed the EV range.

I don't get the comparison between the Outlander PHEV and a generic SEAT Ateca

I even don't get what is special on the Ateca

If somebody is looking for a SUV cheap as chips .. Dacia Duster is the best option.

What I can agree .. is the CAPEX vs OPEX ... and the car devaluation after X years of expected time before jump on the next car .. in this case ... even having a theoretical OPEX to 0, due to running electric for free from solar panel .. still the difference in CAPEX can make more economical a car that have "high" OPEX

Anyhow ... car is mainly about taste ... design, driving style ... are possibly more important then pure economy of car usage .. else everybody would be driving a Dacia

:ugeek:

elm70 said:

I don't get the comparison between the Outlander PHEV and a generic SEAT Ateca

I even don't get what is special on the Ateca

If somebody is looking for a SUV cheap as chips .. Dacia Duster is the best option.

What I can agree .. is the CAPEX vs OPEX ... and the car devaluation after X years of expected time before jump on the next car .. in this case ... even having a theoretical OPEX to 0, due to running electric for free from solar panel .. still the difference in CAPEX can make more economical a car that have "high" OPEX

Anyhow ... car is mainly about taste ... design, driving style ... are possibly more important then pure economy of car usage .. else everybody would be driving a Dacia

:ugeek:

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Hang on a minute! The PHEV is nothing particularly special apart from the unusual drive train - you have written dozens of messages criticising almost every aspect of its design. Externally. the Ateca looks very similar, the specification seems to be at least as good as the PHEV in most respects and the MMCS/phone/media functions look substantially better at least from a superficial inspection. The Dacia is certainly cheap, but it is pretty basic, the Ateca seems to come in at little more than two thirds of the price of the PHEV and seems to be better in almost every respect apart from the lack of a hybrid drive train. My point is that even a driver who rarely, if ever, exceeds the EV range is not going to break even with a PHEV for five years or more.

maby said:

Hang on a minute! The PHEV is nothing particularly special apart from the unusual drive train - you have written dozens of messages criticising almost every aspect of its design. Externally. the Ateca looks very similar, the specification seems to be at least as good as the PHEV in most respects and the MMCS/phone/media functions look substantially better at least from a superficial inspection. The Dacia is certainly cheap, but it is pretty basic, the Ateca seems to come in at little more than two thirds of the price of the PHEV and seems to be better in almost every respect apart from the lack of a hybrid drive train. My point is that even a driver who rarely, if ever, exceeds the EV range is not going to break even with a PHEV for five years or more.

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I'm not going to bring flowers over the PHEV

I have to say .. I just quick look the Alteca (starting price around 17k for what I can see), which being a Seat must be a rebrand of a VW Tiguan ... so it is a bit smaller then the Outlander ... also personally I don't like VW or VW sub brands (I got forced twice to get as company car a VW Passat, which I never did like)

About Dacia being basic ... they now offer all the main optionals as the other brands, like integrated navigator, leather seats and other stuffs (Maybe no ACC or rear camera .. but .. this is not what make a difference)

In my book a PHEV that has over 30km real EV range, is perfect for daily commute ... and the low noise, no clutch , etc ... is a more relaxing way to commute

Economy wise ... it maybe hard to justify to pay much more for a PHEV vs a standard car ... but in case of the Outlander the PHEV does cost the same as the equivaent Diesel version ... but .. no doubt that there are other SUV that have better value/price ratio compared to the Outlander (which is in theory the top SUV for Mitsubishi ... an ASX PHEV would be potentially better priced, and maybe even more attractive for most of us, personally the Outlander is "too big' for my taste)