The last month has been an interesting learning experience for me with our new wheels. Thought you might be amused at how my 62 year old head is coping with this new fangled bit of technology.
Even now, after a month of driving our new wheels, I find my right hand reaching for the non-existent ignition key when I want to start the engine. Except there’s no key to stick in anywhere on the dashboard. You don’t exactly start the engine either. Instead you press the Power button and the car starts the engine if it wants to, otherwise it uses battery power.
I have, however, adapted very easily to driving an automatic car. Never have I been tempted to reach for the gear selector or press a non-existent clutch pedal. That’s the easy bit!
The hard bit is coping with the weird feeling I get from the cruise control being activated. You see, this is the first car I’ve driven with a cruise control feature. It makes me wonder who’s driving who, me or the car. Not only does it maintain a constant speed (nice) but I can feel the steering wheel move a little as it keeps the car in the middle of the traffic lane (weird). Then there are the times when it speeds up (scary), or slows down (is something wrong?), all according to what the other traffic is doing. It is truly a bit weird and unsettling to a novice like me. Furthermore the car ticks me off if I’m not holding the steering wheel tightly enough!
Petrol v diesel
In all seriousness we have been pleased with the fuel consumption, which has been a bit of a gamble. As you can see from the above photo, we were averaging 59.4mpg but now, some four weeks and 1,500 miles later, it seems to have settled at around 58.5mpg. This, by the way, is a petrol car with a 2.5 litre engine and automatic gearbox.
Just to give you a flavour of the economy, yesterday we went to a National Trust place near Bath and this is how the app records the two journeys:
Before we bought the car, I spoke to a few friends who I knew would have an opinion on which type of car to buy. Knowing that I drive about 20,000 miles each year (lots of motorway journeys) I wanted something economical, as well as comfortable, quiet, reliable, smooth etc.
One said to buy a diesel. My high-ish mileage would justify the extra cost of buying a diesel car and the extra price of fuel at the pump. He said I could expect around 60-70mpg on a motorway journey. This had me feeling quite excited and, of course, I asked what type of diesel car should I buy?
The suggestion was to look at a German car; Audi/Volkswagen Group or perhaps BMW or even Mercedes. Well, there is quite a bewildering choice but it did seem I would need to spend over £20,000 to get something decent. That was more than I wanted to pay but I gradually accepted this was a reality.
What, you might ask, about my liking for Toyota and the superb reliability we all come to expect? Well, they stopped making diesels a few years ago, everything is petrol hybrid nowadays. I asked my diesel supporting friend if I should consider a petrol hybrid. He advised not, suggesting the battery would drain quickly at the start of a journey (within the first 50 miles) and then the petrol engine would be 100% powering the car including dragging along the weight of the battery.
I asked another friend, who disagreed. “Even so” he said “diesels are more costly in the longer term. While they can last a long time there is so much to go wrong and expensive repairs are not for the faint hearted – modern fuel injectors cost £800 each and expect to replace all 4 or 6 at the same time”.
He had me worried so thoughts of cruising around in a smart looking BMW 320 diesel were fading fast. He urged me to stay with Toyota or, if I wanted something a little plusher, Lexus. He reckoned a petrol hybrid engine would still be reasonably economical on fuel (but still unsure of motorway fuel consumption) and worth it in the long run, especially as they guarantee the cars for 10 years or 100,000miles.
So far I think he’s right. Our new Lexus hybrid seems to tick all of the right boxes but I do still keep thinking I’m driving someone else’s car – it is so different to the old Toyota! It hasn’t quite begun to feel completely natural. I still need to consciously press the Power On button when I get in. I still need to remember the salesman’s advice of “your left leg doesn’t exist when you’re driving this car” as he is spot on.
The infotainment system, which all cars seem to have these days, still baffles me a bit. I don’t think it’s very coherent but I’m gradually getting the hang of it. I might be looking for the radio and instead it shows me the climate settings. And then just how many clocks do you need in a car? Do I really need to have the steering wheel glide out of the way before I get out of the car? Hardly. Apparently this was a design feature with the American market and their rotund tunnies. Apologies to American readers but I’ve just disabled that.
Swings and roundabouts
With our new wheels we might be spending considerably less on fuel and road tax (just £180 a year) but other costs are rising. Servicing costs are going to average about £500 every 10,ooo miles, plus tyres.
However, is it correct to make such a comparison? To compare a 17 year old Toyota with a newish Lexus; two completely different kinds of cars. Definitely swings and roundabouts, apples and pears.
