Your fleet running reports

[Mito Man]

Yeah, this has become a big PITA. Found the very same issue with RockAuto, which has been frustrating as they're my go-to for parts. Although as you allude to, not their fault; it's the parts suppliers who haven't confirmed they're compliant with sanctions

In this case I wanted to buy Lemforder suspension parts. Rockauto sells them for $70 but the same part is £200 here - ridiculous price gouging. I’ll try to find an alternative US seller that is less strict but I’ll happily pay £100 in postage to not support the rip offs here.

[Jobbo]

BMW first service today. I've deliberately gone slightly over the 1200 miles for the running in service because I wanted to make sure the engine had actually been used for enough to make it worthwhile. It's on 1394 miles of which 819 miles have been on engine so that meets BMW's criteria for maintaining the warranty and my own criterion of a reasonable amount which wasn't purely EV.

Overall fuel economy so far is 39.7mpg. It seems to recuperate quite a bit when it's run out of battery power; I did ~50 miles down the M6/M5 yesterday starting with nothing left in the battery and by the usual traffic jam at the M5/M6 junction I had enough battery power to do the 3-4 miles of stop-start without starting the engine, then enough when I got off the M5 for the fuel miles from the junction to my home. I'll be intrigued to see how it does on a much longer journey soon.

[jamcg]

That’s a truly excellent mpg. I wonder if many of the reviews have forgot the original trump card of the m5, do all the mundane everyday stuff like a 520d, then let all hell break loose when you floor it

[mik]

Overall fuel economy so far is 39.7mpg.

So around twice as fuel efficient as a 2009 VXR8 weighing 1820kg and pushing approx 440bhp. Pffft - and they call that progress.

[Jobbo]

Imagine how economical it could be if they removed all the hybrid gubbins and saved 400kg!

[I am aware I am becoming a hybrid zealot - but I am also aware a diesel was by far the better choice for me when I bought the S6 and was expecting to do 30,000 miles a year. I've managed to buy something which suits my use really well.]

[integrale_evo]

X5 finally has a new screen. I wonder if they do a vin lookup because they came with one with a top tint and rain/ light sensor bit. Definitely didn’t ask me about those things before turing up.

It’s weird, but even just looking at the car from the outside it looks a lot cleaner. The old one wasn’t particularly bad before I cracked it.

However, now it’s non-original it’s probably worth about £5

[V8Granite]

Imagine how economical it could be if they removed all the hybrid gubbins and saved 400kg!

[I am aware I am becoming a hybrid zealot - but I am also aware a diesel was by far the better choice for me when I bought the S6 and was expecting to do 30,000 miles a year. I've managed to buy something which suits my use really well.]

Does it change the regen to match your trip ? Or was the sat nav not set ?

Dave!

[Jobbo]

Imagine how economical it could be if they removed all the hybrid gubbins and saved 400kg!

[I am aware I am becoming a hybrid zealot - but I am also aware a diesel was by far the better choice for me when I bought the S6 and was expecting to do 30,000 miles a year. I've managed to buy something which suits my use really well.]

Does it change the regen to match your trip ? Or was the sat nav not set ?

Dave!

Sat nav was set for each of my 3 journeys but it didn’t know in the morning where I was going in the afternoon. It seems to be quite happy to use up all the battery and then bounce around between zero and about 1/8th full once used up, but I haven’t set it for a 100+ mile single journey yet.

As a counterpoint I didn’t charge it Friday night then did 150-odd miles yesterday, partly motorway then around the Cotswolds, and got 34mpg for the day. It started with about 1/4 charge which would be ~10 miles. If you took off that 10 miles then the extrapolated figures would be 140 miles at 31mpg. It’s very usable anyway, a ~400 mile range on petrol from the 60l tank seems to be pretty realistic.

[V8Granite]

The weight is still an issue for me, the carrying around the extra hybrid stuff seems silly but those numbers just don't lie.

So it appears that a hybrid with a suitably large battery could genuinely do all you need for a fun daily.

Dave!

[Matty]

My issue with hybrids - that may be born of ignorance and reflecting my Dad's lifelong mantra of modern cars being "there's a lot to go wrong there" - is how viable stuff like this is past 3/5 years old once mainstream all inclusive snooter-to-tooter warranty ends.

[jamcg]

My issue with hybrids - that may be born of ignorance and reflecting my Dad's lifelong mantra of modern cars being "there's a lot to go wrong there" - is how viable stuff like this is past 3/5 years old once mainstream all inclusive snooter-to-tooter warranty ends.

When looking for a car to replace my focus, I was discounting every ford mild hybrid, as I personally know 2 people who have had to have their hybrid batteries replaced. While they aren’t actually that expensive because they’re a small battery, it shows that failures do happen

Mild hybrids don’t make sense to me anyway, they’re not that economical and add complexity. Full hybrids make more sense but I’d be nervous buying one used

[Jobbo]

I was a bit concerned about my Audi with its 48v system and electric turbo spooling - the mild hybrid tech did make it appreciably more economical than the similarly engine Allroad (with less power) which preceded it though. Hybrid Toyotas seem to last forever and BMW have been doing hybrids for quite a long time themselves so I'm less concerned about this than I was the more novel tech in the Audi.

[Simon]

My issue with hybrids - that may be born of ignorance and reflecting my Dad's lifelong mantra of modern cars being "there's a lot to go wrong there" - is how viable stuff like this is past 3/5 years old once mainstream all inclusive snooter-to-tooter warranty ends.

Can't speak for others' costs, but the Merc warranty on my C Class finally expires next month when the car turns 10 years old. They've never rejected a claim and it's been well worth the expense. About £35-£40 a month or so since I got the car. That's the original Merc extended warranty. The only thing it doesn't cover is lights, but that's it.

[Matty]

My issue with hybrids - that may be born of ignorance and reflecting my Dad's lifelong mantra of modern cars being "there's a lot to go wrong there" - is how viable stuff like this is past 3/5 years old once mainstream all inclusive snooter-to-tooter warranty ends.

Can't speak for others' costs, but the Merc warranty on my C Class finally expires next month when the car turns 10 years old. They've never rejected a claim and it's been well worth the expense. About £35-£40 a month or so since I got the car. That's the original Merc extended warranty. The only thing it doesn't cover is lights, but that's it.

Manufacturer warranties are probably the only ones worth having TBH. I'd have no concerns there.

It's the 3rd party warranties I've yet to see one worthwhile.

[V8Granite]

Due to a nerdy enjoyment from hypermiling every so often a new record has been reached!

When I was away the good lady wife used the Clio for a break with the kids at Great Yarmouth. 45/50 mph most of the way there and back as we don't do rush hour travelling. Another 150 miles doing bits and bobs since coming back and....

41.4 litres, 470 miles - 51.59mpg

Bored of that now so off to play in the fens for a bit

Dave!

[DeskJockey]

The Aircon compressor (I think) on the Zoe has started making an awful racket. Checked and it isn't the fan, and I can't see any obvious problems from the outside. Booking it in with the mechanic to look at. Hopefully it isn't a major issue (in terms of cost), but I'm doubtful.

[Broccers]

Bought two new tyres for the old boxster to match the fronts.

Sold mini.

Got a countryman coming who knows when as shortage of something important like wheels.

[mr_jon]

The Aircon compressor (I think) on the Zoe has started making an awful racket. Checked and it isn't the fan, and I can't see any obvious problems from the outside. Booking it in with the mechanic to look at. Hopefully it isn't a major issue (in terms of cost), but I'm doubtful.

Common problem on the zoe. A/c line gets chewed up, compressor runs dry and is kaput. Quite expensive.

[DeskJockey]

The Aircon compressor (I think) on the Zoe has started making an awful racket. Checked and it isn't the fan, and I can't see any obvious problems from the outside. Booking it in with the mechanic to look at. Hopefully it isn't a major issue (in terms of cost), but I'm doubtful.

Common problem on the zoe. A/c line gets chewed up, compressor runs dry and is kaput. Quite expensive.

Great. Add that to the list of Renault quality items.

[Jobbo]

Bought two new tyres for the old boxster to match the fronts.

Sold mini.

Got a countryman coming who knows when as shortage of something important like wheels.

The new Countryman is a funky thing. I had no idea there was a delay on delivery currently. As BMW’s smaller cars have got uglier the Countryman stands out as a far better choice.