Betik saves the day AGAIN !!!

[Scottintexas]

As I think about this forum and what a great place it is, besides making my jet boat experience great, has taught my kids so much life experience in boating but I think the best part is the friendships I have made with people, knowing you can call someone, no matter what the hour for help or advice is a true blessing,

I bought a 2014 Toyota Avalon Hybrid yesterday in Houston ( I live in Dallas ). The first hybrid i have owned or even ridden in. I had spoken with Betik a few times about hybrids because he owns a Prius.

The sales experience at Lexus dealership of course ended on a sour note (another post later, I can't stand car dealers!) but the car started and ran fine even though the battery level was very low at the time (Betik had advised my not to worry about that)

About 9pm and halfway into our 4 hour trip we stopped in Podunk (middle of nothing) for gas a break, I get back in the car to start the engine, dash board lights up but no engine start, oddly enough the steering wheel doesn't lock, spend the next 45 minutes trying everything, reading the manual, googling, youtube. It just won't start so I know my local mechanic isn't going to answer his phone and I'm already starting to think about a hotel somewhere and if I have to tow it and then I have a thought " call betik", sure enough after 5 minutes on the phone listening to my symptoms he says " this sounds crazy but lets try it, activate the key, put in drive and then step on the gas and see what happens" Sure enough I started driving under battery power only.

I have been so trained for the engine to start I didn't even consider it driving on battery power. At the dealership the battery was so low that the engine had to start to drive but my 2 hours of driving had charged the battery so that on startup I could go battery only.

Thank you Betik for being my friend and always being there to help,

Scott

 

[Scuba_ref]

Well done community!

I know this is too late but DON'T buy a hybrid! What you save in gas you will have to spend on a new battery. The batteries last up to 10 years - you will be putting a $2000 battery in a couple of years!

 

[Julian]

Well done community!

I know this is too late but DON'T buy a hybrid! What you save in gas you will have to spend on a new battery. The batteries last up to 10 years - you will be putting a $2000 battery in a couple of years!

If the battery is only 2k, then it would depend on what type of driving you do as to if it is worth it or not. Here is the quick table I put together:



City driving it is worth it at every mileage level (unless you end up driving it less than 50k miles.) Highway (ONLY) driving it is only worth it if you drive more than 125k miles.
Most likely you will drive a mix of the two - my guess is it would be worth it in the long run - because you'll only pay the 2k for the battery if you keep it for 150k miles.

 

[Beachbummer]

If you can stand the smaller size, the Volt is a CHEAP car to run. Well appointed and the first 40 miles per day are ALMOST free. (Plug in hybrid) and the rest of the miles are 35mpg+. If it had 3 more inches in the rear seat it would be the perfect car for me. I'm tall enough it's really hard to seat 4 when I push the seat all the way back to fit in.. Otherwise it's awesome, and they can be had used for a good price. (should have bought mine used but too late now)

And when someone asks if it can fast charge, I tell them, Sure, at any gas station

 

[Scuba_ref]

If the battery is only 2k, then it would depend on what type of driving you do as to if it is worth it or not. Here is the quick table I put together:

View attachment 161758

City driving it is worth it at every mileage level (unless you end up driving it less than 50k miles.) Highway (ONLY) driving it is only worth it if you drive more than 125k miles.
Most likely you will drive a mix of the two - my guess is it would be worth it in the long run - because you'll only pay the 2k for the battery if you keep it for 150k miles.

2k minimum before installation. Can't remember the total for our Camry but it was substantially large enough to make me never want to own another! Granted the battery had to be shipped to Hawaii!

 

[Neutron]

At my toyota dealer we only really replace 2nd gen(05 to 09)prius hybrid batteries that are very high mileage. I have only seen one highlander hybrid battery replacement on an 06. Some older lexus hybrids, Two camry 08ish. All very high mileage. Newer hybrid batteries are much better built and last much longer.
We see thousands of hybrids per year and all with lots of mileage. Very small percentage of failures.

 

[swatski]

Well done community!

I know this is too late but DON'T buy a hybrid! What you save in gas you will have to spend on a new battery. The batteries last up to 10 years - you will be putting a $2000 battery in a couple of years!

That's probably true but I would buy a hybrid in a heartbeat for their performance. SOme of them, like the new Highlander hybrid are crazy fast/quick.

I wish they made Landcruisers hybrid, I know it's kind of coming but not really, the new one will be a bullshit lexus in US, so no thank you.

@Scottintexas thanks for posting. @Betik is my personal favorite here. Unfortunately, he knows.

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[Neutron]

@swatski your wish may come true since the tundra will offer a v6 twin turbo hybrid option (30ish mpg) a future land cruiser could get it also

 

[Betik]

Actually the first 3 minutes I was thinking of the logistics of driving to Madisonville, but then he said the green "Ready" light is on

 

[Betik]

Well done community!

I know this is too late but DON'T buy a hybrid! What you save in gas you will have to spend on a new battery. The batteries last up to 10 years - you will be putting a $2000 battery in a couple of years!

I am not entirely sure that I agree. My legendary 2016 prius has 142,000 miles. It has lost no more than half the capacity of its battery. Besides oil changes, tires and 3 unnecessary transmission fluid changes I have put no other money on it. Still run great, still tow my ski to Florida and back.

Aside from saving on things such as brake pads ( still half the original pad is there) only on fuel at Dallas TX we broke even at around 82,000 miles. This is compared to a honda civic.

As far as the batteries go, my prius is like $1,400 installed. Plus keep in mind that most toyota hybrids will run with a dead battery, but they will be just supper slow. So in a nutshell, my take is that you will not be saving tons of money ( unless you uber), but it will pay for itself. We are so happy with out prius that I almost bought a prius prime, but I could not justify having a 5 vehicle.

 

[Betik]

@swatski the new LC & tundra will have a hybrid, but I believe it will be similar to a Ford F150, not the planetary gear tramismision ( apparently it does not work well for heavy vehicles). Don't know enough to have an opinion about it. I will probably buy a tundra when it comes out, but for now I am eyeing a Sienna 35 MPG, 4 wheel drive and can tow 2 skis .........

 

[swatski]

I am not entirely sure that I agree. My legendary 2016 prius has 142,000 miles. It has lost no more than half the capacity of its battery. Besides oil changes, tires and 3 unnecessary transmission fluid changes I have put no other money on it. Still run great, still tow my ski to Florida and back.

Aside from saving on things such as brake pads ( still half the original pad is there) only on fuel at Dallas TX we broke even at around 82,000 miles. This is compared to a honda civic.

As far as the batteries go, my prius is like $1,400 installed. Plus keep in mind that most toyota hybrids will run with a dead battery, but they will be just supper slow. So in a nutshell, my take is that you will not be saving tons of money ( unless you uber), but it will pay for itself. We are so happy with out prius that I almost bought a prius prime, but I could not justify having a 5 vehicle.

They do seem to last. I believe @robert843 is pushing his Prius towards 500K miles; he will get a new one for free from Toyota at that point, lol.

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[swatski]

I bought a 2014 Toyota Avalon Hybrid yesterday in Houston ( I live in Dallas ). The first hybrid i have owned or even ridden in.

Okay, so what's going on with your legendary 350?

Let me guess, daughter leaving for college and will no longer be able to fix it for you so you threw in the towel? lol

 

[Scuba_ref]

Maybe it was just the fact that it was an '07, but when I looked into getting it fixed there were lots of reports of batteries only lasting about 10 years. Even relayed to me by the mechanic. Trust me, I like how it drives, but I will have to be convinced by some hard evidence before I buy another.

 

[Scottintexas]

Okay, so what's going on with your legendary 350?

Let me guess, daughter leaving for college and will no longer be able to fix it for you so you threw in the towel? lol

Oh no, the big boy is still kicking and the little own above just drove it for the first time last week after we got the door panel back on (she quickly learned why we separate screws/fasteners when we take them off and why we need to start labeling them also).

just figured out it developed a pretty good fuel leak at the filter so we'll be changing that in the next few days and that the front shocks need to be replaced (trying to figure out if I should attempt that ourselves or pay the mechanic and get the whole front end redone)


.

 

[YamPat]

I have a 2018 Accord Hybrid and I still love it
Great car