Considering 2017 e350 estate

[robdmarsh]

Hi everyone
I'm considering one of these as I love my old 220 cdi (w204) but it's kind of dying and doesn't have the pep it once had. I'm intrigued if the hybrid set up of this car might work for me and prices for 2017/2018 models are tempting. I fully really that the manufacturer's claims for mpg are pie in the sky but I do quite a lot of short trips: 18 mile round trip dropping my partner's kid to school, often stuck in traffic on this one, out of town supermarket runs, and only occasional blasts on the motorway to Devon and back, then 90 mile round trips to Cheltenham on A40 from home in Oxford.

Could you get around 50 mpg average with this kind of scenario? Does the overall weight of the car mean this is still pie in the sky? What are the service costs like for this kind of car and are there more reliability issues with this PHEV than the standard diesel or petrol issues? How compromised is the load space/ passenger space by the battery? And finally, can someone explain the confusing road tax situation for these? Is it true there is no tax to pay for cars registered before mid 2017? Thanks to everyone in advance.

 

[Smiley]

My personal view of hybrids such as this (not just MB) is that there are utterly 100% useless. Why add all the complexity of a hybrid system and a puny battery (about 6kWh?) to do what? Give you about 10-15 miles on battery power that you've charged up at home? So you save a couple of litres of fuel. And after that it is just a petrol car except it's always lugging around the extra weight of the battery, the electric motor, the hybrid control functionality. So how on earth can it possibly be MORE economical than a non hybrid model. And on top of that it is only a matter of time before there is a potentially expensive repair needed for the added complexity that gives you.....err nothing. I am not surprised that they look good value secondhand; who in their right mind would buy one. IMHO the only reason hybrids exist at all is because the emissions look good on the test bed so they help the manufacturers to achieve global emissions targets for cars sold.
The best hybrid solution is two cars; an ICE for longer journeys and an EV for town / city driving.

 

[phobos]

My personal view of hybrids such as this (not just MB) is that there are utterly 100% useless. Why add all the complexity of a hybrid system and a puny battery (about 6kWh?) to do what? Give you about 10-15 miles on battery power that you've charged up at home? So you save a couple of litres of fuel. And after that it is just a petrol car except it's always lugging around the extra weight of the battery, the electric motor, the hybrid control functionality. So how on earth can it possibly be MORE economical than a non hybrid model. And on top of that it is only a matter of time before there is a potentially expensive repair needed for the added complexity that gives you.....err nothing. I am not surprised that they look good value secondhand; who in their right mind would buy one. IMHO the only reason hybrids exist at all is because the emissions look good on the test bed so they help the manufacturers to achieve global emissions targets for cars sold.
The best hybrid solution is two cars; an ICE for longer journeys and an EV for town / city driving.

I am with Smiley on this one...If you are after MPG, I would consider a nice W213 220d with the nice OM654.