To hybrid or not to hybrid...

[benjamin163]

 

Hello there,

I am looking at buying a Toyota Vellfire 2.4. 2012 model, 65-70k miles on the clock.

The difference in price between a hybrid and a non hybrid is about £5K.

Regardless of whether I'd make that back on petrol saved alone, I wonder if anyone has any strong opinions as to whether upgrading to a hybrid is a good idea.

I'm thinking specifically about any reliability issues with the hybrid and also about sell on value. I don't know if a hybrid makes the van more desirable or less to future sellers.

I would value any thoughts on the above.

Thank you

 

 

[Michael Brown]

Hello  Ben

Last year my Hybrid Inverter packed up and I had a chap reccommended to me, Peter Holland. Who specialises in car and boat electrics, sort it out for me. Peter could not find and parts to repair the Inverter, but said the Inverter was still made in Japan. For £5,200. inc del and VAT it could be ordered. Well I don't have that kind of money floating about, so I rang my bank and explaining what the money was for, managed to borrow over 3 years. I rang Peter back, having to pay upfront for the new Inverter was told it would be 10 days. 2.5 weeks later it arrived and as he already had Alfie, then fitted it, set it up, road tested it and Peter rang me. Not had a problem with engine since.

Things have a limited life, I hopefully will get at least 10 years life out of it. I saw it as an investment in Alfies future

[benjamin163]

23 minutes ago, Michael Brown said:

Hello  Ben

Last year my Hybrid Inverter packed up and I had a chap reccommended to me, Peter Holland. Who specialises in car and boat electrics, sort it out for me. Peter could not find and parts to repair the Inverter, but said the Inverter was still made in Japan. For £5,200. inc del and VAT it could be ordered. Well I don't have that kind of money floating about, so I rang my bank and explaining what the money was for, managed to borrow over 3 years. I rang Peter back, having to pay upfront for the new Inverter was told it would be 10 days. 2.5 weeks later it arrived and as he already had Alfie, then fitted it, set it up, road tested it and Peter rang me. Not had a problem with engine since.

Things have a limited life, I hopefully will get at least 10 years life out of it. I saw it as an investment in Alfies future

Very useful thank you for sharing.

Do you feel the mileage you do and the petrol you save makes up for the extra money you fork out?

Do you see nay other benefits to the hybrid other than more MPG? 

Does it make any difference to performance? (sorry if that's a dumb question, I'm no engineer!)

I don't think I'm going to be doing a huge number of miles in the course of a year but I'm wondering if there are any other real benefits to a hybrid over all petrol.

[Michael Brown]

I drive fair distances  and often, keeping within the speed limits. The hybrid comes into its own in slow moving traffic as under 10mph most of the driving is on the electric motors, either front or back or both unless the battery bank wants charging up and the engine kicks in to charge up the bank. Its a a stop start engine, that took a bit of getting used too. My Alphard cost me £9,500. in August 2022, the most I had ever spent on a motor and I have always wanted to try a hybrid. So when the Inverter packed up the Alphard was useless and I did not want to have to throw it away and finding Peter Holland on reccommendation was my saviour. I'll bet when Alfie was new they would have given the Battery bank and Inverter a set life and mine ran out when he was 16 years old.Now I would hope to have at least 10  years use, should I keep it that long.

My biggest problem is my insurance is crippling me, because I had to write off two Estima's and a claim made against me. Been trouble free since June 2022. I just hope my insurance comes down conciderably next March or I will be thinking of selling Alfie and buying a motor made for the British market and not an import, as that is I am told will get my insurance down.

I am getting 36 -38 mpg on a regular basis and most I have had is 40. So I have been happy with that. The Estima only did 32mpg on a good day and that was a 2.4 engine too but not a hybrid. When I drive to southern Scotland the journey is 410 miles. On the Estima on a full tank, I would have to refill at Carlisle, 65 miles short of my journey. But now not only can I make my journey in one hop, I can drive around for a week whilst there and only filling up before return journey. So I am pleased with my hybrid.

[Michael Brown]

Its also ULEZ compliant

[benjamin163]

11 hours ago, Michael Brown said:

Its also ULEZ compliant

Great Info Michael.

Forgive me I'm not familiar with the tech, with your hybrid, if the hybrid malfunctions can you still drive the car on the normal engine? Does it all work fine except it won't kick into hybrid more or is it more complicated than that?

[Michael Brown]

No, it's usually a fault in the hybrid system or the inverter, you get warning lights come on and the engine won't start till its fixed

[smurf]

The gen 1 and gen 2 hybrids are completely different beasts, so do bear that in mind when researching whether to buy one or not. 

Some simplistic differences are the gen 1 uses the original Toyota Hybrid System, gen 2 uses Hybrid Synergy Drive. Gen 2 has a more powerful engine, is more economical, and can go faster on just electric drive. The gen 1 has a CVT gearbox with a belt drive, but the gen 2 has a CVT like gearbox with epycyclic gears. Both types contain a motor/generator within the gearbox so they are not interchangeable with non hybrid gearboxes. 

[benjamin163]

22 minutes ago, smurf said:

The gen 1 and gen 2 hybrids are completely different beasts, so do bear that in mind when researching whether to buy one or not. 

Some simplistic differences are the gen 1 uses the original Toyota Hybrid System, gen 2 uses Hybrid Synergy Drive. Gen 2 has a more powerful engine, is more economical, and can go faster on just electric drive. The gen 1 has a CVT gearbox with a belt drive, but the gen 2 has a CVT like gearbox with epycyclic gears. Both types contain a motor/generator within the gearbox so they are not interchangeable with non hybrid gearboxes. 

Thank you for this useful information.

I can't tell whether you think Gen 1 or Gen 2 is better.

Do you have an opinion on that or does it depend on circumstances?

Your thoughts are gratefully received.

[smurf]

I own a gen 1 hybrid, which I am happy with, but from an engineering standpoint the gen 2 hybrid is the better of the two, and not just because they are newer. As you were looking at a gen 2 I just wanted to highlight they are different and if you go googling you will no doubt find horror stories than aren't applicable to the gen 2. 

[benjamin163]

13 minutes ago, smurf said:

I own a gen 1 hybrid, which I am happy with, but from an engineering standpoint the gen 2 hybrid is the better of the two, and not just because they are newer. As you were looking at a gen 2 I just wanted to highlight they are different and if you go googling you will no doubt find horror stories than aren't applicable to the gen 2. 

That's brilliant, thank you for clarifying.

Makes a lot of sense.

I've actually put the deposit down and it's a gen 2.

So excited!