Are there more economical alternatives to the Outlander PHEV

[DeltaFoxtrot33]

Hi all,

I've been reading so many threads on here the past few days, the 'should I buy', 'is it worth it' kind of thing. It has been fantastic to read real world experience with them. Yet still I am struggling with the decision.

I get to the point where I think yep, definitely a good idea! But it is a lot of money to spend on a vehicle that I then read comments about such as 'not much car for the money', 'abrupt slow down when taking foot off accelerator to coast', 'seats are not very comfortable' etc.

Today I found a website comparing some SUVs which stated "When you do the sums, the Mitsubishi starts to look like a very complicated way of arriving at a less satisfying version of the same conclusion."

Our budget really only allows us a 2013 model, possibly a well priced 2014. The main purpose in getting one is to reduce running cost. Needs to be an SUV for trips away and also needs ability to tow a trailer (lawn mowing equipment).

We are in New Zealand so looking at Japanese imports. I found a 2013, 55,000km one I liked, but they were advertising '78.8% battery SOH!!!' like it was a good thing, and after reading on here I thought that wasn't actually good enough??

From my research it seems that the Outlander PHEV is the cheapest to run in it's class. But does fuel saving get cancelled out by the cost of charging??

Are there any other alternatives we should be considering that would be cheaper to buy and cheaper to run and offer more car for money? Either hybrid or straight petrol??

Lots of questions, sorry! Thanks in advance to the patient advice givers on here!

 

[maby]

I don't think there is a simple answer to that question. Looking at UK prices, the cheapest Outlander PHEV has a list price of more than £36,000 with a high specification coming in at over £40,000. The SEAT Ateca - which is a comparable pure petrol car in most respects - starts at about £22,000. That £14,000 buys a very large amount of petrol. Even if you get your electricity completely free, I doubt that anyone will get that price difference back within a realistic life expectancy for the vehicle - it would take the Ateca more than 110,000 miles.

Outlanders don't hold their value very well and the economics could work out rather differently if you look at cars which are a few years old - the question then becomes one of battery life expectancy. The jury is out on that at the moment - some owners are seeing worrying levels of degradation and the current price of a new battery is estimated at several thousands of pounds - which complicates the sums further.

We purchased new at a time when the UK government were offering significant tax concessions - particularly to people taking a PHEV as a company car. Those concessions are disappearing now and I would not buy another PHEV under the current rules - I would go for the Ateca. You are in a different country and the economics may be different.

 

[AndyInOz]

I didn't buy mine to save money.

 

[AndyInOz]

By the way, the quotes you've offered above are just rubbish.

Regenerative braking can be turned off to coast if that's what you want to do, that's what the paddles are for.

The seats are incredibly comfortable, and the heated front seats are are brilliant.

Having a set of electric motors and batteries as well as an engine costs more. Duh!

I'd suggest not bothering to read any further reviews from the person/s that wrote the one/s you quoted.

They're as shameless as the time that Top Gear lied about the Tesla running out of battery. (Which didn't actually happen but was in their script before they started testing)