hybrid reliability?

[lolford]

Looking at buying a PIU with ~100k miles or maybe more. Wondering how reliability are they overall with this kind of mileage since there is a battery pack to care for as well.

 

[94Eddie]

It isn't a matter of if, but when, the battery will need replaced regarding a hybrid vehicle. From what I have seen with Toyota Prius', they usually need replaced between 150k-200k miles. Sometimes less. My guess is that what determines the longevity of hybrid batteries is the percentage of miles it has that are city versus highway. A lot of city miles cycles the battery more times which is what wears it out. A PIU likely sees a lot of city miles in higher population areas and less in more rural areas. I would recommend looking into how much it costs to replace the battery so you have an idea of the expense you will eventually have to absorb. I wouldn't buy a high mileage hybrid because the added complexity in its drive train just creates more potential costly repair problems as the miles rack up.

 

[lolford]

It isn't a matter of if, but when, the battery will need replaced regarding a hybrid vehicle. From what I have seen with Toyota Prius', they usually need replaced between 150k-200k miles. Sometimes less. My guess is that what determines the longevity of hybrid batteries is the percentage of miles it has that are city versus highway. A lot of city miles cycles the battery more times which is what wears it out. A PIU likely sees a lot of city miles in higher population areas and less in more rural areas. I would recommend looking into how much it costs to replace the battery so you have an idea of the expense you will eventually have to absorb. I wouldn't buy a high mileage hybrid because the added complexity in its drive train just creates more potential costly repair problems as the miles rack up.

I don't even care thaaaat much about replacing the battery since they don't see so expensive used. It's more like do you end up having crazy repairs like replacing the cooling system etc

 

[94Eddie]

I don't even care thaaaat much about replacing the battery since they don't see so expensive used. It's more like do you end up having crazy repairs like replacing the cooling system etc

Hybrids definitely have a more complicated drive train. That said, hybrids have been around a longtime and have likely had their problems minimized. The question might be if the poor overall reliability of the 6th gen Explorers makes the hybrid versions problematic. One thing is sure though, the cost of a major repair for 6th gen that is out of warranty will be substantial. Right now we don't know what the repair costs of high mileage 6th gens will be since most are not out of warranty yet and/or have 150k-200k miles on them to know their common failure points. Also, buying a PIU is a hit and miss proposition. Some have very little wear and tear while others have been road hard and put away wet.

 

[Sgt1411]

I don't even care thaaaat much about replacing the battery since they don't see so expensive used. It's more like do you end up having crazy repairs like replacing the cooling system etc

One thing to make sure you do with the Hybrid is get ALL the FDRS module updates done before you buy if you can.

Many Agencies are finding out that their drivability issues with the Hybrid are related to the fact their garage or maintenance people don't go in and update modules through FDRS...its a big difference in the drive characteristics especially when the PCM switches from Hybrid battery to ICE.

 

[lolford]

One thing to make sure you do with the Hybrid is get ALL the FDRS module updates done before you buy if you can.

Many Agencies are finding out that their drivability issues with the Hybrid are related to the fact their garage or maintenance people don't go in and update modules through FDRS...its a big difference in the drive characteristics especially when the PCM switches from Hybrid battery to ICE.

Thanks for this! Hopefully ford will do it if I get an oil change or something

 

[Sgt1411]

Thanks for this! Hopefully ford will do it if I get an oil change or something

ahhh yes you would think that and so did I

Then I was educated on how Ford Warranty pays the dealerships.

Logical thinking says when an vehicle comes in for any type of repair or service Ford would hook up the FRDS system through the OBDII and update everything new.

Doesn't happen ever.

Ford Warranty ONLY pays the dealership for module updates when they have a customer concern/complaint associated to the module that needs updating.

i.e. drivers window will intermittently fail to fully close or not close and requires multiple door switch pushes

The tech would hook up the tool and see there is an update for the drivers door module and do that update then check functionality.

There are several great threads on this from owners with way more experience but in my case my 21 ST had 15 module updates pending so I wrote out 15 associated complaints.

Seems really silly but thats the reality of Ford Warranty.

 

[lolford]

ahhh yes you would think that and so did I

Then I was educated on how Ford Warranty pays the dealerships.

Logical thinking says when an vehicle comes in for any type of repair or service Ford would hook up the FRDS system through the OBDII and update everything new.

Doesn't happen ever.

Ford Warranty ONLY pays the dealership for module updates when they have a customer concern/complaint associated to the module that needs updating.

i.e. drivers window will intermittently fail to fully close or not close and requires multiple door switch pushes

The tech would hook up the tool and see there is an update for the drivers door module and do that update then check functionality.

There are several great threads on this from owners with way more experience but in my case my 21 ST had 15 module updates pending so I wrote out 15 associated complaints.

Seems really silly but thats the reality of Ford Warranty.

Wondering how much they'd charge out of warranty? I ended up having to update my sync module which was super out of date, the car has had the engine out multiple times so it's not like it was at the short for short visits