Showed great promise, several major failures
Because we have solar panels on our roof, the promise of getting much of the power for our everyday drives for free made this plug-in hybrid sound perfect.
Though that promise has generally been fulfilled, other issues have marred the experience to the point that I don’t thing we’ll want to buy this when our lease is up.
Specifically what marred our experience? Failed sensors. Twice, on road trips during the first year of our lease, sensors in the car failed that altered how the car drove. We stopped at a dealer in a large city and were told that it would be 3 days to diagnose it, then repair time would be whatever extra days it took. Fortunately the issue allowed us to still drive the car hesitantly home.
On the other road trip, the oxygen sensor that failed affected how the car drove, making the acceleration cut out intermittently on the freeway.
Another issue that has happened multiple times is that the 12V battery that runs the security system, lights, etc., drains to zero if the car sits for a few days or is accidentally left on. This yields a vehicle that is not only dead, but won’t waken with e-charging. Instead, you must gain entry to the locked car by manual methods in order to release the hood and jump or charge the battery with another car or typical battery charger. Charging it successfully is compounded by unclear photos in the manual attempting to show where to connect clips in the fuse box since the battery is not actually under the hood, and the difficulty of determining the type of 12V battery in the car: absorbed glass mat or lead acid. I had to open up the rear to determine this since the manual was not helpful. Opening the locked rear involves a circus act of dropping a rear seat, removing everything stored in the rear by reaching through that seat opening, then (on your belly) attempting unsuccessfully to use the manual key to release the back hatch, crawling out backwards and finding a flat-blade screwdriver that actually has a chance to release the hatch, and then releasing the hatch. Next, you remove the back compartment covering, then pull out the rigid foam storage thing, then look at the battery to determine what type it is, which is well hidden on a label beneath a frame that holds the battery in.
We’re also disappointed to need to replace the soft “buy this car” tires after just over one year of use (and still under the 10k miles per year).
Verified Owner
