Yaris Cross

[Arborbridge]

I'm thinking of replacing my diesel B class Merc and still need a car of similar size to transport loads of sailing and boat equipment, plus stepladders from time to time.

Looking towards taking baby steps towards the fashion for being "greener" I thought of the Yari Cross (none-plug in Hybrid).
About the right size (actually, looks bigger than the Merc but is slightly smaller) and drives well with far too many gizmos for my liking, but that's what people want, I suppose.

Well, my query is about the green improvement or otherwise, particularly the confusing array of numbers given for CO2 emissions. For this Yaris Cross the manufacture gives 112-117g/km but I have also seen other numbers quoted of 102-117g/km for the cheaper model - not the AWD version. In the "full" version of the specification there is a large choice of CO2 numbers one could pick out, and I am not clear what they mean, or which is equivalent to other car quotes.

The fuel consumption is given as 54-56mpg though I've also seen 53mpg "average" somewhere quoted. Again, the cheaper model is slightly better, presumably because there are fewer items requiring power.

Contrast all this with my Merc, which gives 107g/km and an overall average since I bought the car of 53 mpg, and I wonder why of earth anyone would bother to manufacture a complex hybrid which - on the face of it - doesn't seem any greener.

What am I missing?

[redsturgeon]

Diesel is and incredibly efficient fuel compared to petrol but it is also a dirty fuel, hence the move away. They have tried to clean up diesel engines with DPFs but they have proved troublesome. AWD will always be less fuel efficient than 2WD, more moving parts more friction.

The Toyota will probably be as efficient and reliable a car as anything else available and if it meets your needs then it would probably be a good long term choice.

John

[Arborbridge]

Diesel is and incredibly efficient fuel compared to petrol but it is also a dirty fuel, hence the move away. They have tried to clean up diesel engines with DPFs but they have proved troublesome. AWD will always be less fuel efficient than 2WD, more moving parts more friction.

The Toyota will probably be as efficient and reliable a car as anything else available and if it meets your needs then it would probably be a good long term choice.

John

Thanks. I was taken aback really -even the 2WD Cross does not compete for CO2 nor mpg with a seven year old model. Not only that, but to add insult to injury the Yaris will cost £145 in road fund tax and my Merc is only £20pa. This makes no sense to me if they are trying to wean people off diesels.

Yes, the Cross seems a good option for me, though I am open to other suggestions if anyone has one in a similar size and price bracket. At my age, I can't see much point in spending too much of the kids' inheritance so will stick to middling type cars. My luxury days of company cars are long gone!

Arb.

[Watis]

Diesel is and incredibly efficient fuel compared to petrol but it is also a dirty fuel, hence the move away. They have tried to clean up diesel engines with DPFs but they have proved troublesome. AWD will always be less fuel efficient than 2WD, more moving parts more friction.

The Toyota will probably be as efficient and reliable a car as anything else available and if it meets your needs then it would probably be a good long term choice.

John

Thanks. I was taken aback really -even the 2WD Cross does not compete for CO2 nor mpg with a seven year old model. Not only that, but to add insult to injury the Yaris will cost £145 in road fund tax and my Merc is only £20pa. This makes no sense to me if they are trying to wean people off diesels.

Yes, the Cross seems a good option for me, though I am open to other suggestions if anyone has one in a similar size and price bracket. At my age, I can't see much point in spending too much of the kids' inheritance so will stick to middling type cars. My luxury days of company cars are long gone!

Arb.

£145 road tax, eh?

My 2009 1.33 petrol ICE Yaris is only £30 pa.

Watis

[Arborbridge]

Diesel is and incredibly efficient fuel compared to petrol but it is also a dirty fuel, hence the move away. They have tried to clean up diesel engines with DPFs but they have proved troublesome. AWD will always be less fuel efficient than 2WD, more moving parts more friction.

The Toyota will probably be as efficient and reliable a car as anything else available and if it meets your needs then it would probably be a good long term choice.

John

Thanks. I was taken aback really -even the 2WD Cross does not compete for CO2 nor mpg with a seven year old model. Not only that, but to add insult to injury the Yaris will cost £145 in road fund tax and my Merc is only £20pa. This makes no sense to me if they are trying to wean people off diesels.

Yes, the Cross seems a good option for me, though I am open to other suggestions if anyone has one in a similar size and price bracket. At my age, I can't see much point in spending too much of the kids' inheritance so will stick to middling type cars. My luxury days of company cars are long gone!

Arb.

£145 road tax, eh?

My 2009 1.33 petrol ICE Yaris is only £30 pa.

Watis

For cars registered after Apr 2017 the rates changed When you swap your car you will be paying more too.

This is meant to be an incentive to go green, but looks more like an incentive to keep old diesels!

[Howard]

I'm thinking of replacing my diesel B class Merc and still need a car of similar size to transport loads of sailing and boat equipment, plus stepladders from time to time.

Looking towards taking baby steps towards the fashion for being "greener" I thought of the Yari Cross (none-plug in Hybrid).
About the right size (actually, looks bigger than the Merc but is slightly smaller) and drives well with far too many gizmos for my liking, but that's what people want, I suppose.

Well, my query is about the green improvement or otherwise, particularly the confusing array of numbers given for CO2 emissions. For this Yaris Cross the manufacture gives 112-117g/km but I have also seen other numbers quoted of 102-117g/km for the cheaper model - not the AWD version. In the "full" version of the specification there is a large choice of CO2 numbers one could pick out, and I am not clear what they mean, or which is equivalent to other car quotes.

The fuel consumption is given as 54-56mpg though I've also seen 53mpg "average" somewhere quoted. Again, the cheaper model is slightly better, presumably because there are fewer items requiring power.

Contrast all this with my Merc, which gives 107g/km and an overall average since I bought the car of 53 mpg, and I wonder why of earth anyone would bother to manufacture a complex hybrid which - on the face of it - doesn't seem any greener.

What am I missing?

I don't know if this helps but the greenest option is probably to keep your old Merc if you are happy with it.

We have a petrol car and a BEV. The ICE car is brilliant and three years old. After investigating the options I decided to keep it for two more years as I expect greener cars to develop fast and the alternatives to be quite different in a couple of years.

The BEV is very spacious and similar in internal size to a B Class. However with a max range of 300 miles it probably wouldn't meet your requirements.

regards

Howard

[Arborbridge]

I don't know if this helps but the greenest option is probably to keep your old Merc if you are happy with it.

We have a petrol car and a BEV. The ICE car is brilliant and three years old. After investigating the options I decided to keep it for two more years as I expect greener cars to develop fast and the alternatives to be quite different in a couple of years.

The BEV is very spacious and similar in internal size to a B Class. However with a max range of 300 miles it probably wouldn't meet your requirements.

regards

Howard

I haven't looked at BEVs yet, but will do. From what I've seen discussed here, they seem expensive and either too big or too small

What make is your BEV you say is aimilar in size to the B Merc?

I have been in the "habit" of changing cars before the current one's value drops of off a cliff, and it is now seven years old. Interestingly, checking my records, my previous Merc was changed with the same mileage as this one, and it was also in the month of October! Not deliberate, but obviously no coincidental but some clock in my mind triggers.

There's a good argument to say that now I am not earning, I should just run cars until the drop.

Arb.

[Howard]

I don't know if this helps but the greenest option is probably to keep your old Merc if you are happy with it.

We have a petrol car and a BEV. The ICE car is brilliant and three years old. After investigating the options I decided to keep it for two more years as I expect greener cars to develop fast and the alternatives to be quite different in a couple of years.

The BEV is very spacious and similar in internal size to a B Class. However with a max range of 300 miles it probably wouldn't meet your requirements.

regards

Howard

I haven't looked at BEVs yet, but will do. From what I've seen discussed here, they seem expensive and either too big or too small

What make is your BEV you say is aimilar in size to the B Merc?

Arb.

It's a KIA Soul. We previously had a VW Golf and earlier a Merc C Class Estate. Despite the compact exterior size, with the rear seats folded, the car will swallow a couple of bikes and similar loads to the previous cars. Especially if the rear parcel tray is removed as the car roof is quite a lot higher than previous cars and there is a lot of headroom. My neighbour has a B Class and it seems similar inside. The Soul may have too many gizmos for you but you can turn them off. I particularly like the head-up display which shows me speed (the limit as well) and the satnav instruction for the next turn. The infotainment system is surprisingly good, easily linked to Android or Apple, similar to a new Merc or BMW and better than a Tesla I have driven!

We lease our cars and I was lucky in timing the start of the new lease from KIA contract hire in March. The cost of the lease is very similar to the previous Golf, under £260 per month and it includes all maintenance costs etc. I paid six months up front and at the end of three years can either give back the car or negotiate to buy it at the going rate.

To be realistic, the KIA is a brilliant as a second car and costs pence to run on off peak electricity from Octopus (hope this continues!) However, we also have a petrol car with a range of 600 miles so if we wanted to do a long run and range was a problem we'd use that.

I've only used a public charger once - for fun to see how it worked. We have to go to London next month and researching parking, to my amusement, we can park in Mayfair for four hours in a BEV for 83p so we'll go in the KIA and save around £30 or more .

regards

Howard

Parking research details below - seem too good to be true! And I think no £15 congestion charge either.

https://en.parkopedia.co.uk/parking/met ... 2110281500

[Arborbridge]

The first line of the Soul bullet points: No more searching for petrol stations,

They have sense of humour, it seems