Consumer Reports Rates Niro Unreliable.

Not sure if you mean missing out on new safety features such as blind spot detection or that older cars are inherently less safe. Disagree if the 2nd assertion if a vehicle is maintained properly.

 

For EVs in particular, I wonder if rapid changes in tech would make leasing a better idea.

 

Let's spice it up a little.

I like pretty much all the new safety features in all cars.

The blind spot detection, following distance, lane change, autonomous driving, etc.

But I also wonder if it is not helping develop a class of driver that figures they need to pay LESS attention to driving.

Particular case in point: (this is in 2 commercials I have seen on TV)
family driving down the street, talking having fun, driver is looking all over the cabin, even back to the rear seat.
something happens in front and the car comes to an emergency stop, and everyone is safe and laughs it off.

I think this sends the wrong message, that you can pretend the front windshield is a TV screen and do whatever you want, the car will make up for your inattention.

I won't drive with someone who stops looking at the road and his/her surroundings. I think sending the message that the car will protect you from your poor driving habits is wrong.

Greg

 

I would agree that the dumbing down of driving is happening with all of these driver "safety" systems. People barely know how to drive now.

 

Sometime lease + buy ends up being little cheaper than outright buying.
They give you this incentive hoping that you'll return the lease and not buy it.

 

My only issue at 6000mi is that rats like to eat the windshield washer hose (that cost me $150). Soy-based polymer I've been told.

So I sprayed Rat Repellant there.

We only have rats because the coyotes ate all the neighborhood cats.

 

Dryer softener sheets work well, just stuff a few in the corners. Had this issue with my 2 Fiat EVs.

Greg

 

Thanks. That won’t smell as bad.

 

Also try Fresh Cab, used that when something was making a nest on the cabin air filter in my Ridgeline. Solved the problem and smells nice. Last quite a while. Got mine from Amazon.

 

The sheets are nice because you can tuck them into crannies in the engine compartment, and take them out no fuss no muss.

That stuff looks like treated sawdust... can't just put it in various places unless it is a compartment (which you did I see)

Greg

 

Looks like the dealer missed a leak. Fun.

 

Coincidently the brand of dryer sheets I used have the same name as the giant neighborhood cat that used to eat all the rats...

Breezy

 

It makes sense. A hybrid will never be as reliable as an EV only or a gas engine only. You cannot combine both and expect reliability to increase while keeping it affordable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Marshall, was this review about the Niro Hybrid or the EV? I assumed EV. (Recoil, I do concur with your general assertion. A more complex system has more to go wrong).

 

I walked into a VW dealership to test drive the e-Golf when I was shopping for my Niro EV. The salesperson tried to persuade me to lease the vehicle instead of purchasing it outright using this same argument. I agree that battery tech will continue evolving over the next 10-20 years so maybe leasing is a good idea. I don't care so much about the gizmos that Tesla puts out. The one tech I want in my vehicle is adaptive cruise control that the Niro EV has.

 

Battery tech will evolve, but also look at how much it has changed in the last 10 years...

went from nimh to lithium... pretty much that is it, larger battery packs and lower cost... nothing stupendous has really happened, just incremental improvement.

I leased my 2 Fiat 500e's because they were "compliance cars" and I figured Fiat would not keep them as a product long term (which has happened, they are no longer made)... they had short range, so you worked the battery hard, and the replacement battery cost was ridiculous.

With the warranty on this car and the battery and the longer range, and the uptake of the Niro model overall, I felt it was not a large gamble to buy (i.e. something fantastically better comes along in a couple of years).

My experience with buying cars since 1969 has been buy something of reasonable quality, maintain it well, pay off the loan and it will last you over 100k miles. So far that has worked well, and I have spent way less than leasing, because I have the car for a number of years with no monthly payments, and the yearly repairs are usually 2 to 3 monthly payment equivalent.

Greg