Vauxhall Ampera - Worth a punt ?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
View Threaded
Sun 19 Jan 2020 20:06
Vauxhall Ampera - Worth a punt ? - RT

I drive a big heavy diesel SUV - most of the time it suits my needs exactly - but my conscience is starting to get the better of me on short trips into town so I'm considering some form of electrified car just for the short trips.

Although I'll make savings by using the SUV less I can't fund any sort of second vehicle on them so I know I'm going to spend more but to keep the cost down I'm looking at 2012 (ish) cars which are now out of their extended warranty so I'd like the Backroomer's views on the risks involved.

Two specific cars have caught my eye - the Mitsubishi i-MIEV/Peugeot Ion/Citroen C-Zero and the Vauxhall Ampera/Chevrolet Volt - I'd welcome opinions on these bearing in mind they're 8 years old and out of warranty.

I also considered the Renault Zoe but at this age, they all need a leased battery which puts the cost up way too high.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 19 Jan 2020 22:14
Vauxhall Ampera - Worth a punt ? - Ethan Edwards

I've seen Mk1 Leaf's (Leaves?) from 5k. Short journeys such as you contemplate surely that would do the job? If I could encourage my employer to fit a recharge box in my designated under office car park space then I'd buy one myself. 75mile a day round trip it'd be ideal. Cheap as chips to run.

Edited by Ethan Edwards on 19/01/2020 at 22:16

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 19 Jan 2020 22:17
Vauxhall Ampera - Worth a punt ? - RT

Some Nissan Leaf(s) need a leased battery just like the Renaults

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 19 Jan 2020 22:27
Vauxhall Ampera - Worth a punt ? - SLO76
At this age (7yrs plus) you’re right at the stage where the battery packs will be dying. These are hugely expensive to replace on the cars you’ve mentioned and In the case of a pure EV the range will be substantially reduced and with the hybrid Ampera/Volt economy will be noticeably worse than it was when new., which it never came close to matching the official figures anyway. A used Honda Civic 1.6 DTEC would probably use less fuel in the real world. Factor in the lack in f specialist knowledge and the huge cost of dealer only parts thanks to the limited number of them sold and there’s no real economic argument in favour of this.

Instead I’d buy a cheap used city car like a Toyota Aygo/Citroen C1/Pug 108 or Hyundai i10/Kia Picanto or Fiat Panda and save both the environment by reducing your emissions and your wallet by keeping miles off the SUV. Buy privately at the right money and you could run it on peanuts possibly more than covering its cost by reducing fuel, servicing and depreciation costs on the SUV.

Edit: Quick look online and I can’t find the cost of a new battery for the Ampera but as 6-7yr old used examples are on EBay at around £1,000 with no guarantees I’d say it’s likely to be close to the cost of the Nissan Leaf at around £6k. These cars are in my opinion worthless at this age.

Edited by SLO76 on 19/01/2020 at 22:32

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 20 Jan 2020 00:11
Vauxhall Ampera - Worth a punt ? - Avant

Agree with SLO, assuming that you want to keep your current diesel SUV.

An alternative would be to chop in the SUV for something like a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV which would do both jobs. Not sure what your budget is, but the Outlander PHEV has been going for a few years now.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 20 Jan 2020 15:46
Vauxhall Ampera - Worth a punt ? - RT

Thanks for your input - my initial thoughts were much the same as as SLO76 but I'd heard recently that battery failure rates and battery degradation were very low, much lower than originally projected - but battery replacement costs seem still to be as high as projected.

My plan may have been doomed anyway as only about 2,000 of my 14,000 miles annually could have been switched to electric and while there would have been a saving for servicing/tyres on my SUV, there would have been extra cost to insure a second car and MoT it annually as well as the capital cost.

I suspect that in a generation, car generation that is, a PHEV would be the right vehicle for me - but I don't expect to be around then which is why my present SUV was bought at great expense as a keeper and I don't intend selling it.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 20 Jan 2020 15:58
Vauxhall Ampera - Worth a punt ? - gordonbennet

If you were going to have a second vehicle for popping down the shops and such, where it isn't just saving fuel involved but not putting excess local wear and tear on your main car, but also a small car is less likely to suffer damage from the legion of people out there who literally can't drive and find parking as impossible as exiting their cars without banging their door into yours.

As SLO, if this were my issue i'd be looking out for little standard petrol cars , preferably unfashionable so cheap as chips, so long as it runs all right and comes with a full MOT what's not to like, if you spent a little more an early Aygo/107/C1 would make a cracking little town runabout, cheaper still if it doesn't have aircon which would hardly matter for local nipping, full set of tyres about £120, clutch fitted £280, £30 tax and well over 40mpg even short town hopping, if you found one of the few Diesel C1's make that 60mpg plus.

There's a trade in 07 C1 Diesel with aircon showing 70k miles up for £1500 on ebay, you couldn't find cheaper motoring.

Edited by gordonbennet on 20/01/2020 at 16:03

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

10 warranty myths exposed

Here’s how to sort the fact from the fiction when it comes to car warranties.

Cheap Car Warranties