And another one

[mikal83]

yep i am thinking of going down the PHEV route BUT.......

3 years ago, we bought a Forester XT, top spec as all XT;s are. So much power, 237 bhp. Bought it mainly as we needed to tow 2 to 2 1/2 ton around and it does that easily. Downside, reg driving it does 35-38 mpg. We dont use it more than 3 times a week and then for only 20 miles ish max. Now have no need for that towing capability, but might occasionally need to pull 1/2-1 ton. Last year we had a 5.6kw solar array fitted but due to the ageing line/transformer, we are limited to exporting 3.6kw, so when it all nice and dandy, we have 2kw to use.....washing machine/dryer/kettle but most days its wasted....so would Mit PHEV fit the bill??

The 2013 Forester is worth maybe £10-£11k....so a 2014/2015 ish PHEV would fit us right yes.

Well I thought so until I started reading about the battery degradation etc. 25 miles range fine, 20 errrrr, 15 nah. So thats where we are now. Theres 3 for sale near me in Plympton. What should I be asking the dealer......and of course we all know that dealers can be a bit, ahem, evasive at times....Would they let me go for a 20 miles ev drive??? or what should I do..... TY

 

[mikal83]

700 views for the last 4 topics and yet not one reply apart from this to my own post!

 

[AndyInOz]

Most likely due to when you posted your question.

I have no idea how often people visit the forum, but activity is higher on the weekends. (I think)

I didn't reply, because I have no experience to offer you.

Bought mine in 2015 and there's nothing wrong with it, but it has very low usage, I've only just gone over 30,000 km.

Naturally I can't comment about newer ones because I haven't even driven one.

 

[DaveL59]

Likewise Andy, mine is a 2019 with circa 46K miles on it, bought earlier this year. Still seems to give me 20+ miles on a full charge quite comfortably (hilly around here). I see around 35-37 MPG on the usual trips I do which are >60 miles each way and no in-trip plug in charging. I haven't used it enough nor had it long enough to be able to comment on how the battery will degrade.

The one thing OP will find of course is it ain't going to be quick off the line or top end like the Subaru, same for me coming from an Alfa v6 but that hasn't really bothered me particularly and a fair trade off vs 22-28 MPG I was getting on the Alfa ;-)

 

[DaveL59]

Something you'd ideally like to know re a vehicle you're considering might be how it was used. As in, if it was mostly long trip or mostly local short runs. The short trips probably mean the battery was charge cycled far more and could well then show that with very much shortened range. Of course there's not many ways to be able to get that detail for sure, what I did when looking online at what was on offer was to check the MOT history and mileage recorded, if possible also check the service history and mileages.

While it would be guesstimating, you may then be able to infer type of use by comparing the miles/year from those recorded data. Low (say 6-8K or less) may mean a lot more short local trips, high, esp higher than 10K miles/year may imply longer trips on the ICE. It's not a secret that many company car users possibly never plugged it in at all as they got them for the tax breaks, in which case the battery could be in good shape other than the in-built degradation algo that'll tick a little away/day or week on what is reported even if the battery is in better shape. Only way to test may be an extended test drive, esp if you can borrow it overnight and see how long it takes to charge up to full.

When I looked at records tho, I was shocked/disappointed to note that some which I might have been interested in had 1.5-2 year gaps in between services and quite often higher than average miles in that gap. To me that implied lots of long distance on the ICE and it not getting serviced, instant red flag and loss of interest. I did eventually find the current 2019 4HS 2.4L model I now have and its been just great.

 

[mikal83]

There are 4 for sale in Plympton all advertised on autotrader that I intend to look at next week.

Now from the reply above. I am 99% sure if i asked any of those ?? to the dealer selling they will just throw their arms around with a "dunno mate". Thats the usual to trying to extrapulate what the previous owners did will be impossible. Borrowing the car for a day/night...aint gonna happen.

I note the dash read out in the middle has the petrol level gauge on the right and the ...what you call, The guess o meter...on the left. Is there a numerical figure anywhere that I can see what the "mileage" left on battery , is???.
My price range is around £12-£14k. I am hoping that trade in on my Subaru will be around £10. I did put 1 cars details thru webuyanycar....and it came back with a figure of £7.5k and the dealer is asking £11.5k . My Subaru on the other hand, a 2023 XT came back with £10k! The valuation was way lower to the asking price...interesting I thought.

I am sure that "IF" the PHEV got 20+ mileage then that might work....closer to 15 may not! Stuck between a rock n a hard place.

 

[littlescrote]

The petrol level is ion the right, the battery charge level is on the left in the centre of the dash.

The "guessometer" which tells you the remaining range is on the range screen that you can have with the nav map on the centre console display. It is very much influenced by the last time it was driven though, so may not reflect what you will get out of it on your journey.

You need the dealer to have fully charged the vehicle before you drive it, and then see how far you get on that full charge doing a journey similar to what you expect to do. 'High' speed over 40mph will have a very much reduced range due to aero losses, but stop/start will also have a reduced range as low speed regen recovery is low.

You'd be very unlucky to get one that won't do 20 miles on a full charge.

 

[mikal83]

errrr I am pretty sure i wrote all that already, or others have.

So looked at the 3 in Plympton. Shame they knew not a lot about the cars, the rep actually said that you can NOT drive the car above 20 mph on EV mode!!! AND that another rep drove the 2014 car with 95000 over last winter and "consistently" got over 25 miles on battery/percharge. Interesting comment thought!!! They had no idea if the batteries were original/replaced/state of charge....nada, zip, diddly....grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I am still between a rock and a hard place. With the sun on my panels I am wasting 2kw away....when it could be charging a PHEV. I only really have £14/£15k to spend hoping to get at least £10k for my Subaru BUT its really all down to the battery condition I guess.

I just wish there was another PHEV....similar.....to the Outlander out there...(in my price range).. Hey ho

 

[mikal83]

OH forgot to ask. If I bought a phev, whats the power draw to charge? Does anyone know? 1kw, 2/3.........?? Or if you only know in amps, I can work it out pretty easily... I have a 5.6kw solar array. I am limited in my export which is 3.7kw so on a nice day I have 1.5/2kw ish being not used.....so hence me looking atb the Outlander