Buying vs lease advice

[zyxelenator]

Hi guys. Need advice from seasoned Outlander Phev owners.
We are expecting a firstborn this upcoming winter and I have been thinking of getting a bigger car.
I have planned to get rid of my wife's car soon anyway once it is fully paid for. (2015 Focus with famous powershift tranny, the clutch was replaced last year, and we mostly don't drive that car due to work from home since covid started).

Anyway as a current owner of the PHEV car, (2014 Chevy Volt, absolutely love it) naturally I'm looking and another PHEV or BEV car as a replacement.
As a family car, PHEV/SUV would make more sense for family trips, especially since the charging network is not the best yet in TX, with long stretches without any chargers available. Having higher clearance and AWD/4wd is good peace of mind when we drive up to the beach waterfronts at the gulf.

I'm also looking at Kia Niro phev (no awd).

With the current hike in used car prices, I started looking at lease options. In US you can lease 2021 Outlander phev for $265, I can find a very nice example of a used 2018 for around 25k. Kia Niro can be had for $169 and used examples are about for the same price, but tend to be higher.
Reviews I have found are not very nice to Kia, saying that regular hybrid and full EV are much more refined and smooth.

How is Outlander? I'm hearing ride quality is not that great? How is reliability? I'm a technically inclined person and usually do all service and repairs myself, other than services that require a lift. We also put 2 50 A outlets on each side of the garage walls, when building our house last year, so charging at home is not a problem.

Would you recommend Outlander PHEV? Would you buy a lease return or lease a brand new one? Any reliability or known issues? Thank you in advance.

 

[littlescrote]

I have no complaints about ride quality.

There are no worries with buying used reliability is very good and you should not expect any issues for years of ownership. The only reason to lease rather than buy might be a preference in the difference between finding a lump sum and funding a fixed amount per month, as well as considering future residual values and if you might decide that you will be looking to change at the end of the lease period anyway (possibly to full BEV by then).

 

[AntsCar]

I would recommend the Outlander, I've driven lots of different cars over the years & think the phev is a nice drive. Also a good size car for a family

Having also owned a Kia & had a niro for a few months, I'd say that's also a nice drive, but I think it felt smaller. There's probably not much in it

If you can do a short lease or rental, go for that. Then if you don't like the car, you're not stuck with it

No idea if warrantees are the same around the world, but I think the mitsubishi is 5 years & the Kia is 7 years, so both are a safe bet on the reliability front - won't cost you if they fail

The Outlander phev was the right car for me, but if if been in the market for a bev, I would have gone for the niro

Edit - did this forum always put in auto hyperlinks to the Kia forum?

 

[Fjpod]

I think the ride is a little stiff...but some people like that. I think the overall build and performance quality is good to excellent.

On the topic of whether or not to buy a phev, I think it depends on how many miles you travel between charging., and, in my belief, only home charging is economical enough to make the whole phev thing pay off eventually. If you drive less than 25 miles per day, its great. If you drive up to 50 miles a day, I would still recommend it. Over that and you are spending a lot to get some EV use, but you are mostly running on ICE. In this case, a regular hybrid may be good.

I have owned numerous gasoline cars, a Prius hybrid (the best all around), an EV and my current Outlander phev.

 

[greendwarf]

I'm one of those who like a firmer ride - but given the estate car like carrying capacity, I think a stiffer rear is inevitable.

 

[mellobob]

I'm one of those who like a firmer ride - but given the estate car like carrying capacity, I think a stiffer rear is inevitable.

I think we all wish for a stiffer rear.

 

[greendwarf]

:lol:

 

[AntsCar]

How is Outlander? I'm hearing ride quality is not that great? How is reliability?

https://www.whatcar.com/news/2020-what-car-reliability-survey-hybrid-cars/n21864

Just seen the what car drivers survey came out, Outlander is over 97% reliable