James Ruppert: A used hybrid is two cars for the price of one

Well, here you go. A good friend of this page called Peter told me that he recently purchased “a beautiful car that accelerates to 60mph faster than a BMW M3 and does more than 100mpg, according to the New Car A-Z in my latest copy of Autocar”.

He explains: “It’s a Volvo S60 T8 Twin Engine Polestar Engineered. It’s the most comfortable car I’ve ever driven and has none of the disadvantages of fully electric cars.”

I’ve been accused of being a dinosaur and many other less friendly things, because I don’t think that electric cars quite compute, even as a used purchase. They’re still expensive to buy, they have a finite battery life and at some point in the day they have to be plugged in. What we need are alternatives to the alternatives, such as Peter’s Polestar.

If you wanted to buy one, it’s a huge hunk of car and at least admits to having a couple of engines. These cars date from 2019, so the mileages are fairly modest. For instance, an R-Design Plus with 6000-8000 miles is going to set you back ?32k. Not only that but also you will be buying under the Volvo Selekt scheme, so there will be no worries. Peter is correct that it’s a lot of comfy car for a very reasonable amount of money.

Another safe-as-houses hybrid buy is always going to be one of those posh Toyotas. If you want the Volvo equivalent in a Lexus wrapping, an ES 300h registered in 2020 with 1000 miles under its wheels should appeal. Once again, you will be dealing directly with a main agent, and that’s always preferable with high-end automotive things. Oh yes, and the cost is just ?33,000.

If that’s all rather boring and predictable, what about a fancy BMW with scissor doors? You’ve got to be beyond dull not to be moved by an i8. It wasn’t the biggest hit and maybe the absence of a straight six, V8 or V12 really was a factor. An M-series retrofit has probably been done by now, but I’ll take the plug-in hybrid from 2015 with 45k miles for ?40k. Two owners, black-and-white and rather wonderful.

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