My New PHV

[Ten Ninety]

21 hours ago, HectorG said:

Couldn't agree more. Regarding JLR, six of my last seven cars have been Japanese with the one exception being a Freelander 2 diesel auto.  I was on the verge of trading my seven year old Subaru Forester XT for a new Outback when I was talked into a new Freelander (my wife had a financial interest in the new car). Dreadful mistake - rear diff failure literally on the last day of the warranty and a pathetic 30.3 mpg (brim to brim measurement) over 33,000 miles. Needless to say I got rid. A friend who had one the same age as mine had a £2,000 bill 2 months after the warranty ran out.

My wife had a habit of buying new VW's despite a catalogue of failures - gearbox failed in Polo after 13 months; engine replaced in Golf TDi after 2 years, plus new cylinder head, DMF, sunroof motor, door seals, etc. She eventually realised her folly and bought a Honda Jazz, despite my preference for a Yaris (she didn't like the look of the Yaris at the time).

I have a very nice 1 year old Westfalia camper van which is unfortunately based on a Mercedes V-Class. Very car-like to drive, lovely interior and very bling. However, it's spent the last 5 weeks at the local Mercedes dealers having a new pop-up roof, various bits of corroded metal replaced and investigations into intermittent failure of the fuel gauge. I didn't have much more luck about twelve years ago with a new VW California which spent most of its downtime at the dealers having niggling faults repaired until I got fed up with it.

I am always amazed by how tolerant motoring journalists are of failures on brand new cars. Their 'long-term' reports are littered with tales of mechanical and electrical gremlins, yet they never change a car's rating as a result. Reliability and dependability are surely absolutely massive contributors to overall enjoyment of a vehicle, yet they just don't seem to care about them. Mind you, based on friends and colleagues' experiences with French, British and German marques, most people just seem prepared to accept that their cars will break down every now and again. It doesn't have to be that way!

I've owned nothing but Japanese for the best part of two decades now, and nothing but Toyota for seven years... apart from an unfortunate dalliance with a car that was supposed to combine fun and economy, but was unfortunately designed by Germans and built in France. That was never going to end well, and it didn't. Yes, I owned a Smart Roadster. 

  

It actually broke down on my very first journey to work, and was plagued with erratic electrics that were the product of spectacularly stupid design and shoddy build (the ECU was placed right underneath the wiper tray, which was either sealed badly or not at all at the factory). In many respects it was a cracking little motor - the holy grail of commuter cars, being genuinely entertaining and simply impossible to get below 50mpg. Even though it didn't actually leave me stranded again, I found it impossible to relax and enjoy any journey because every misfire or failed gear change or strange noise or flickering warning light would put me on edge, fearing another roadside recovery. I had to keep it for three years, because my wife had told me it was a stupid idea and insisted I had to learn my lesson. I certainly did! 

[HectorG]

After a week in my ‘new’ PHV I have a couple of queries that the experts on here may be able to help me with.

1) When braking there is a noise similar to the one you get when I car has been left for a few weeks and the discs get a coat of rust on their surface. I wondered if this was a result of the regenerative braking effect. But it seems Moore pronounced than on my RAV4 Hybrid.

2) How do I get more info than the mph on the HUD? I understand that the Hybrid System Indicator can be displayed, but I’ve read the manual and I’m still not clear how to do it!

[johalareewi]

1 minute ago, HectorG said:

After a week in my ‘new’ PHV I have a couple of queries that the experts on here may be able to help me with.

1) When braking there is a noise similar to the one you get when I car has been left for a few weeks and the discs get a coat of rust on their surface. I wondered if this was a result of the regenerative braking effect. But it seems Moore pronounced than on my RAV4 Hybrid.

2) How do I get more info than the mph on the HUD? I understand that the Hybrid System Indicator can be displayed, but I’ve read the manual and I’m still not clear how to do it!

Could be generator whine when you brake.  Or could be rust being scraped off the discs.  🙂

If you want to know a lot more about what goes on with the hybrid system you can download the hybrid assistant app and the hybrid reporter app.

http://hybridassistant.blogspot.com/p/about.html?m=1

 

 

[PeteB]

 

2 hours ago, HectorG said:

...How do I get more info than the mph on the HUD?...

Press the HUD button again - it cycles through:

• off
• speed
• speed and Hybrid System Indicator

[HectorG]

3 hours ago, johalareewi said:

Could be generator whine when you brake.  Or could be rust being scraped off the discs.  🙂

It’s definitely not a generator whine (I’ve been a hybrid user for 3 years) and definitely sounds like a scraping sound similar to pads on rusty discs. I assumed it can’t be that as it’s been driven 650 miles since acquired 10 days ago. Although much of that was on the motorway it’s been driven about 250 miles on shortish local journeys.

I’ve just looked at the discs and the front pair are shiny, but there is a very small amount of rust on the rear pair. However, it’s difficult to decide if the noise is coming from the front or the rear, or both.

3 hours ago, johalareewi said:

If you want to know a lot more about what goes on with the hybrid system you can download the hybrid assistant app and the hybrid reporter app.

http://hybridassistant.blogspot.com/p/about.html?m=1

Thanks for that. Unfortunately I have no Android devices.

[HectorG]

1 hour ago, PeteB said:

Press the HUD button again - it cycles through:

• off
• speed
• speed and Hybrid System Indicator

Thanks Pete - never thought of that as I’ve just left it on all the time!

I’m sure I’ve seen somewhere (possibly on YouTube) that you can also display the turn signals on the HUD when the sat nav is being used. Is this the case in the UK?

[TonyHSD]

Hi, yes it’s a rust buildup and may be more from the inner side of the discs so not visible through the wheel. You can try few harder stops in Neutral while driving downhill like that you are not using the regen and only breaks so easier to clean them of. The car been sitting for a while in dealership so it’s normal behaviour. 

Regards 

[PeteB]

38 minutes ago, HectorG said:

I’m sure I’ve seen somewhere (possibly on YouTube) that you can also display the turn signals on the HUD when the sat nav is being used. Is this the case in the UK?

'Fraid not.  The 2009-2011 Gen 3s with SatNav could show route info on the HUD, but a different system was used for the 2012 onwards facelift version, on which the PHV is based.  This did not do the Nav info, and one of the HUD buttons is blank - it would have been labelled "NAV" on the pre facelift models to turn the Nav info on or off.

[Ten Ninety]

16 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

You can try few harder stops in Neutral while driving downhill like that you are not using the regen and only breaks so easier to clean them of.

Good advice - I find this technique also has a positive impact on the 'creaking-when-you-stop' noise, that is a common occurrence on Toyota hybrids.

If driven for economy, these cars will rarely see pads touch disks other than those last few yards before coming to a halt. Does wonders for the lifespan of braking components, but does mean unusual braking noises are routine.

[johalareewi]

17 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

 You can try few harder stops in Neutral while driving downhill like that you are not using the regen and only breaks so easier to clean them of.

Regards 

A long time ago on this forum it was suggested doing this while reversing if the noise persisted after doing it going forwards.

[kithmo]

Y

17 hours ago, HectorG said:

I’m sure I’ve seen somewhere (possibly on YouTube) that you can also display the turn signals on the HUD when the sat nav is being used. Is this the case in the UK?

You can't show turn signals on the HUD, but you can on the MFD. Select the compass display on the MFD, when on a navigation route and it will display turn and roundabout exit arrows.

[PeteB]

4 hours ago, kithmo said:

You can't show turn signals on the HUD

I think he means turn by turn symbols that the SatNat generates rather than direction indicators.

[kithmo]

1 hour ago, PeteB said:

I think he means turn by turn symbols that the SatNat generates rather than direction indicators.

That's what I meant, I was just being lazy not typing "by turn" 🙂

[PeteB]

OK, I'll go back to sleep! 😁