VW Hybrid Nightmare (6K!)

 A friend of mine, Dave, has a Jetta Hybrid vehicle. He noticed a month ago that when he would push the gas pedal down, the car would shift into drive then to neutral, back and forth. But no forward momentum.

Long story short, his electric motor is fucked, and they cost at least $6K to replace in parts ALONE. He had a difficult time even at the VW dealership identifying the issue. To his credit, he found out it was the motor and found his extended warranty paper. 

That single piece of paper might have saved him spending $6,000 alone. However, the labor to replace this motor will cost over a $1,000. 

I strongly suggested he sell or trade this vehicle as soon as it's fixed. He plans on getting an older Toyota Rav4 or Honda CR-V. There's a reason you see the Toyota and Honda vehicles still on the road 15-20 years after they were built. 

Toyota has mastered the anti rust corrosion protection. Both manufacturers produce excellent engines and transmissions. They typically over-engineer them to last far beyond their intended life span. 

If you watch Scotty Kilmer on Youtube, his 1994 Toyota Celica is still going strong, even with 275,000 miles on the clock. Even the air conditioning still works.

I came this close | | to buying a used Toyota Camry Hybrid. But what stopped me was the replacement cost of the 10-year battery pack: $5,999 + labor and tax. No fucking way would I buy that. 

Dave's VW has about 2 years of warranty left on the battery pack. That alone would keep me awake at night. The inherent risk of buying a used hybrid cannot be understated: They are expensive and complex machines requiring complex cooling systems to draw heat away from the battery pack.

GM has been testing a 500-mile battery pack, but I will believe it when I see it. One significant risk that cannot be overlooked is the crash and fire risk with these battery systems. Lithium batteries burn with horrific efficiency. 

It would be a cold day in hell before I would consider buying a Tesla vehicle. The main problem I have with this manufacturer is their 'locked in' service demands. You cannot get a Tesla fixed anywhere unless it's actually from a Tesla service tech. And holy shit, they are expensive to call out. 

If you watch Rich Rebuilds on Youtube, the content creator of that channel buys written off Teslas and somehow manages to get them working again. Of course, he has an ex-Tesla technician working for him. But even he had issues getting parts for his wrecked Tesla. They flat out refused to sell him any parts.

Once again, Scotty Kilmer rips apart the Tesla Model Y as "One of the worst driving cars I have ever driven". And I believe him. I still believe Elon Musk designed the Cybertruck while high on Crystal Meth. No other explanation makes sense.

TL/DR: Don't buy a VW hybrid, or VW in particular. Stay with Toyota, Honda, Lexus, Acura, or Mazda.