Soon to be adding another car to the family

[NavalLacrosse]

I've had my DJ for about 2-2/3 years.
Me and the wife have been sharing the one car. It's working really well, but now is the time to get a second car for her to have 100% of the time.

 

And before we go any further: Yes, I know the DJ is the perfect addition as a second car- from a price point, and by familiarity, it makes sense.... but the boss says "I want a car that is fun, and youthful, and doesn't look like the DJ" So, here we are.

 

Ideal cost: $5,000 usd

Max allotted: $12,000 usd

My front runners (used)

Chevy Volt 2012-2019. 

Ford Mustang 2011+ (Convertible, or GT)

Camaro 2010+ (Convertible, or SS)

Escape Hybrid 2009+ (and 2013+, any powertrain)

 

My front runners (New-Lease, All GM because # I work for GM)

2020(21?) Trailblazer (It's a chevy trax, but bigger.)

2020 Silverado (because employee leases are cheap - <$250/mo)

2021  equinox (new body style)

 

 

[jkeaton]

Mustang. 

[larryl]

Trailblazer looks decent

[NavalLacrosse]

I test a 2012 v6 mustang convertible, and ultimately wasn't thrilled (There wasn't any joy from the car). The V8's are out of my willingness to pay. (Side note, the mustang convertible weights the same as the Dodge Journey, and only generates 20+ HP. It's nearly the same performance in a straight line...)

 

I could get a decent lease on the new Blazer with the GM employee incentives (230/mo) but I've got a bone to pick with GM about how they screw us on lease deals, so I wont give them my money yet... (maybe for the Journey's replacement in 1 year, though.... )
I mentioned equinox in my original comment, the the price for GM employees on the 2021 MY are really high, so Blazer is the cheaper option for me.

I bought a used Chevrolet Volt, 2013 Base, with 90,000 miles on it. I'm 100% in the honeymoon phase right now, but It's super great not needing to pay for gasoline for my work-home commute. Free chargers at work really made it worth it for me to go with the VOLT. I'm only 11 miles from work, so every day I can still come home from work and get another 28 miles of 'free diving' from charging at work. Yes, it takes 12hrs on 110v(8a) to give full charge (38 miles), but as I said, I only need 11 miles to get to that sweet sweet 240v 20a charger at work, so as long as my car is on the 110v charger for 4 hrs each night, I get a full day's worth of electric goodness.

 

My wife will drive the journey when I'm at work. She'll ultimately want to sell it off to buy a more fuel efficient SUV... But for now, I get to see my DJ parked in the rear-spots of the condo every day I drive my volt to work. :p

Edited February 25, 2020 by NavalLacrosse

[NavalLacrosse]

Chevy Volt Update: 6 months of ownership:

 

 

The Volt has become me and my wife's primary car. The fuel savings are too tantalizing. When I charge at home it costs $1.40 usd for 40 miles of range- but my work provides free charging so I only charge it at home on the weekends 1 or two times a week.

 

I've put 6k miles on by Volt in 6 months, and 1k miles on dodge Journey.

What's good: 

• (with at work charging) it's essentially free travel. The hybrid gas mode gives me 38mpg at 80mph and a 300 mile combined range with it's 8 gal fuel tank on premium gas.
• SMOOTH. in every mode, there are no shift points. Acceleration is glossy! fast by 2013 normal car standards between 10 and 45 mph.
• Rear hatch is nice. very roomy for a sedan. drop the seats flat and you've got loads of storage.
• for just shy of 100k miles, there is no degradation on battery. 

 

What's bad:

• blind spots. Mine doesn't have rear camera or side radar... resulting in me double checking my blind spots more frequently that the DJ.
• in winter, the heater consumes 25% of the EV range. There are tricks to get around this (run the Generator to get engine heat), but it means I can't do a full day's grocery getting on EV only while in the winter.
• rear seats are a bit cramped, but not an issue if you never have rear passengers.
• brakes are jerky. You get used to them, but the volt's miracle of engineering hybrid regenerative brakes/throttle/Electro-mech-brakes/abs controller/traction control can be a little weird in certain stopping conditions.

What's Quirky:

• It CAN run on regular. but, don't bother. you'll get 25% less economy which when you mathematically back out the cost savings: You're paying the same dolar per mpg with regular and with premium. Might as well use premium to gain the benefits of longer lasting injectors and prevent the fuel from stagnating.
• at 70mph, while running gasoline mode, the clutch for the re-gen and the gas-gen will engage, creating a direct drive from the gasoline engine to the wheels. what this means is that at 69mph ( or thereabouts) you'll get 38mph... and at 71mph you'll get 45mpg. a sneaky and smart way GM eek-ed more efficiency out of the car- ultimately sacrificing the 'It's a pure EV with a range extender' by using the range extender to actually propel the car at high speeds, gaining 25% high speed fuel economy. 
• For my wife, she puts it in 'D' and let's the car do all the power management. It does an amazing job without any intervention of seamlessly managing the gas generator, and electric propulsion... why I love it? When I drive I can toggle modes and pretend I'm controlling the generator turning things on an off with a lot of information I can fiddle with the power modes and try and eek 1 more mile. like an old manual transmission; this car gives me something to do while driving which improves the experience over a 'put it in drive and go' experience... (which is still an option, if you so choose)

 

 

 

 

Edited August 31, 2020 by NavalLacrosse