Hybrid vs Petrol question

[Ungarsee]

Looking to buy my first hybrid, a Toyota Estima. It’s a 2.4l petrol hybrid and it looks like the technology is previous generation Toyota so a bit out of date. The alternative is a non hybrid 2.4l petrol version. Majority of driving will be short local runs by my wife doing school runs and her business , with the odd pilgrimage from London to Aberdeen to see the mother in law. In short, is the hybrid likely to be worth it? Premium over non hybrid model is not much but being a Japanese import history is going to be difficult to come by and if it goes wrong it’s going to cost c. £1,800 to fix. Thanks

[Ungarsee]

Thanks for all the comments, clearly a very decisive subject! Definitely not getting a Tesla. Would love one but it’s out of my price range and as much as my 20 year old self would be disgusted with me, an MPV is what we currently need. If it was a UK car I’d be getting the hybrid as more access to its history but, having chatted to a few trustworthy JDM car dealers, I’m going to opt for the non hybrid model.

It’s going to be a £2k premium over exactly the same car without the hybrid (2.4 rather than 3.5). Based on back of a fag packet maths (and assuming the hybrid will be 20% more efficient) it’ll take roughly 8 years to make this saving back and it’s unlikely I’ll still have it after 3 or 4 years. With the potential of a £2k bill to fix it as well it’s just not worth the risk.

Edited by Ungarsee on Monday 20th September 08:55

[Ungarsee]

GT6k said:

Going back to the OPs original question. The hybrid is a rare vehicle in the UK, I had a look at them back in 2007 and, most were Japanese imports not UK vehicles. It uses a different system to the Prius so you are going to be on your own if anything breaks. The only time I have seen one mentioned on an EV forum was someone who bough a dead one (battery was screwed) and as far as I know was never able to fix it.

There’s plenty of hybrids around if you’re in a city centre but having loitered on some Estima Facebook groups for a few weeks it seems they aren’t as reliable as the Toyota badge would suggest. This has been backed up by a few trustworthy dealers I’ve spoken to as well. There’s a guy in Wigan who seems to be an expert in all things Toyota hybrids and will replace all the batteries for just under £2k.