For Christmas I'm considering purchasing a used vehicle primarily for city usage and as such I'm looking at various hybrids. I have it down to three preferences right now:
2019/2020 Ford Fusion Titanium Hybrid
2017 Chevy Volt
2017/2018 Honda Accord Hybrid
I'm most familiar with the Fusion as we have had them as rentals a few times and they are great. We just had one for the last week and managed 5.3L/100km. I like the fact that it is feature rich including adaptive cruise control, heated and cooled seats, heated steering wheel and it is pretty comfortable and large. The trunk is a bit small because of the battery configuration. The Volt I haven't had much experience with especially with the current model. I liked the first generation a lot and I'm not sure what the newer ones are like when they switched to the Cruze platform. It is the smallest of the three but it has the most electric range although I think it is lacking in features. I don't have any experience with the Accord hybrid but I think it is the largest and probably the most comfortable and I believe it is the most powerful (not that this really matters.)
I'm interested in hearing opinions on these three and other hybrids. I'm not a big fan of the Prius and likely would not consider one.
My vote goes to Fusion (value priced with lots of safety features), then Accord (I don't see too many hybrids on the road, but Honda tends to be on the "sporty" side than Toyota's soft side), then Volt (not a GM fan and this model is discontinued so there may be limited non-OEM part availability should anything go wrong). Have you looked into Bolt as well? Lots of good reviews for Bolt over Volt.
I don't have any real experience with the Bolt other than sitting in it at the auto show the other year and it is way too small and doesn't offer the features which I would consider essential. We ended up buying a Fusion Hybrid. It offered the best value and best combination of furl economy, features, ride and comfort. The only limitation on the Fusion is the trunk space. Because it is a conventional gasoline vehicle converted to a hybrid their battery packaging is worse than other hybrids but it is something that I can live with.
I grabbed the NOCO Boost GB40 and it gave me enough power to boost the E550 when our -30 degree weather played merry hell with the aging battery. Brilliant little unit, was $140 on Amazon.
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-James
GO FLAMES GO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Azure
Typical dumb take.
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Any suggestions for a decent trickle charger? With all the working from home, my car doesn’t get enough of a workout right now and I don’t want to slowly kill the battery with the cold weather.
I just use the Battery Tender Junior. If you order this, you can have a plug you just connect occasionally. When my truck feels a little sluggish to start, I plug it in and it is full in 24 hours. Super easy with the extension bit. Don't even need to pop the hood. I put one on both our vehicles.
Any suggestions for a decent trickle charger? With all the working from home, my car doesn’t get enough of a workout right now and I don’t want to slowly kill the battery with the cold weather.
I have a NOCO Genius G1100 that I got essentially for free, which has been superceded by the NOCO Genius2. $75 on Amazon, has a few different modes for different battery types and does auto-detection. It comes standard with the alligator clamps, but I ordered the +12V accessory plug for mine as I've got a spot in the trunk to plug it in that way.
__________________
-James
GO FLAMES GO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Azure
Typical dumb take.
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They don’t look super expensive for the part, but the labour I have no idea.
I don’t remember what exactly you have, but based on a 2014 Dodge Charger 5.7L Hemi that I pulled simply for part estimating, the water pump itself costs between $68 and $180 CAD on RockAuto.com depending on which replacement part you choose, there’s a bit of variety in domestic replacement parts.
Yeah what vehicle is it? It's not bad on a truck because you have room to work, pull the fan shroud out of the way and you're good to go. Something smaller like a charger probably have to get the radiator out to get decent access.
Make sure you get a thermostat at the same time since they're so cheap and you're in there anyway
