General thoughts on Hybrids
SLIGHTLY off topic as I'm asking more about T(oad)Vs rather than T(ow)Vs. BUT, this is the motorhead sub-forum - engines and drive trains and MPGs and all that fun stuff. What do "we" think abou...
Forum Discussion
A while back I owned a 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid. Not the most thrilling vehicle to drive, but it never lacked for enough power to keep up with traffic. It regularly turned in about 28 mpg in combined driving, which is pretty good for an almost 4000 lb 4WD SUV. It was very reliable for the most part, I only had two issues which resulted in the car shutting down. The first was failure of the battery pack cooling fans. When the fans fail there is no indication by a CEL, but when the battery temp hits 45 C (about 113 F) the car shuts down abruptly. Through some diligent research I was able to troubleshoot and replace the fans for about $250. Cost at the dealer would have been over $1000. I had a similar issue with the coolant pump that cools the car's propulsion electronics. The pump failed, and the car again would shut down abruptly without warning. That was replaced under recall.
Apart from that, the car was reliable, and when my son traded it in it had over 175K miles and the battery pack still performed like new, the car used no oil and still got good mileage. If I saw a "basket case" Escape Hybrid for sale cheap I would be tempted to buy it since I've learned what makes them tick.
However, like Turtle's video states, these cars are incredibly complex and it can be difficult to recoup the extra expense over the life of the car. I kind of enjoyed the challenge of troubleshooting and fixing something that most shops were terrified to even open the hood of, but they aren't for everyone.
Apart from that, the car was reliable, and when my son traded it in it had over 175K miles and the battery pack still performed like new, the car used no oil and still got good mileage. If I saw a "basket case" Escape Hybrid for sale cheap I would be tempted to buy it since I've learned what makes them tick.
However, like Turtle's video states, these cars are incredibly complex and it can be difficult to recoup the extra expense over the life of the car. I kind of enjoyed the challenge of troubleshooting and fixing something that most shops were terrified to even open the hood of, but they aren't for everyone.
