It’s a fair price and totally in line what you’d expect for a cheap independent service.
Approx 50CHF/5L oil + oil and air filters for a total of ~75 CHF and another 75 CHF for labor.
For your mileage the extra cost (and potential maintenance) of a hybrid make no sense, unless your employer or nearby parking offers free charging, in which case you can commute for free to work and back (so at least 13km * 220 days = 2’860km/y * 6lt/100km ~= 170lt saved per year). Not much but there may be a convenience factor at play with sometimes free parking, parking in front of the entrances (e.g. Lidl), etc.
I second the e-bike proposal of the others, although - depending where you live - with a baby the convenience of a car is certainly superior, and sometimes hard to ignore.
1 Like
for hybrids you’re looking more 4-4.5/100km
I used 6 to simulate the savings vs. a pure petrol, in case he gets a hybrid for free charging.
oh you meant the plugin hybrid, those are hardly ever worth it, neither cheap nor fully electric
+1 I would never ever go for a hybrid. You get the unreliability of a regular ICE plus the added hundreds of parts for the electric part which can also break. Pure electric or nothing (well except for a Corvette or GT-R maybe).
that’s a first one, afaik hybrids are actually more reliable so far than “regular” cars, but then I’m not an expert on the subject
Prius are as reliable as any other Toyota, I don’t think I’ve heard any stories of hybrid unreliabity. Where did you get yours?
My brother owns a 10yo Prius and it’s been flawless. Real long term average consumption is 4.6L. I’d say that with a similar driving style a modern engine such as the one in Mazda 3 would burn 5.5 - 6L.
Assuming a saving of 1L/100km (at 1.3 Sfr), you are looking at a mere 2600 Sfr savings over a total assumed lifetime of 200000km driven. Unless there are additional tax/insurance benefits it doesn’t really add up…
3 Likes
I can confirm.
Over the past 40k km, with cca 60-70% highway driving, avg fuel consumption is ~5.8 l/100km (120HP petrol version).
They’ve done great with that Skyactiv-G engine.
2 Likes
I hope you are aware you can unlock it to its full potential (~165-175 HP). It’s limited to 120 HP via software, hardware is the same.
I can only account for the peak consumption of the 165 HP version, as for the love of god I cannot force myself to drive economically. It’s nearly impossible to make it consume above 7.5L/100kmh long term.
1 Like
Yes I noticed that as I was doing my research 3 years ago, from their torque/HP charts (the cutoff seemed artificial) 
[1]
Haven’t seriously considered it until now as it’s still under leasing, but from next Feb it gonna be all mine - so I might check what it takes/entails.
Let me know if you have “contacts” around. 
[1]
The basic tuning is as easy as flashing the 165ps firmware. The only difference is that the throttle doesn’t fully open in the 120ps version, thus limiting the power.
With a full remap on a dyno for your particular engine you can get.175-180ps. I know a couple of adresses in Poland. Price around ~300 Sfr.
2 Likes
Thanks gentlemen/ladies for all the advice, I appreciate each and every response!
To add some more information, I live in a slightly remote part of BL and the nearest Migros/Coop is approx. 2.5 kms away and the nearest Mobility is approx. 2 kms away.
This makes it quite inconvenient with a small baby (and potentially 1 more to come in 2022). Thus, the need for a car mainly for shopping trips, occasional weekend trips and (in winter), driving daily to and from office.
There are some extremely attractive offers on Skodas and Mazdas online.
One point on which I would request some feedback is whether there is 1) a certain preferred band of mileage to look for in a used car, for e.g. a car with 120,000 to 140,000 kms on the clock is preferable and 2) a certain no. of years , for e.g. a car which is older than 6 or 7 years is better.
The above 2 points from the perspective of having the best price.
Thanks again and please feel free to carry on car related discussions which are not linked to my question. They are highly informative!
Actually best combination would be above 140000kms and younger than 6y for my use scenario :-).
This means the car was used for long commutes and is worn much less than a car used only for short commutes.
It all depends how do you intend to use the car yourself. If you indend to drive 20-30kkm/year then the car wont last you a very long time. If it’s only 5-10kkm, it may last you another decade.
1 Like
Yep, my worst case usage scenario only envisions approx. 6,700 to 7000 kms per year usage.
Realistic scenario is around 4,800 to 5,200 kms per year usage.
Another davantage of newish cars is that they may have some more active safety features.
Anyway if you buy something second hand be prepared to keep it as long as possible because I don’t think you can resell any 2016 fuel-based car let’s say in 5 years, unless you are practically giving it away for free. The market will have moved on to electric, no way you can resell a 9 year old fuel based car in 2025 for ‘normal’ prices.
regarding hybrid, my father drove prius hybrids from 2003 until this sommer. had once with prius 2nd gen a problem with the 12 volt battery discharging, but aside from that 0 maintenance. The prius are particualrly good because they use an Atkinson Cycle which is bad to drive but much better for efficiency and durability (the more efficient the less heat, hence less problems). They compensate for the bad power density with the electric motor.
On the other hand right now in non-hybrid you have crazy 3-cylinder 1 liter twice turbocharged and with EGR that are basically asking to break down sometimes or another.
good hybrid are way more reliable because they can use better combustion engine cycle (that cannot be used in regular cars) and compensate for it with the electric part.
This could be true, it is a risk to invest too much in ICE car. On the other side gasoline cars will still be useful for long trips without stop.
I just bought a 6years old car for 10k, 110kKM, I hope to keep it for ~5 years or more to full depreciation.
So CHF150/month of depreciation. After that I will evaluate an EV.
I you buy an old car remember to check when you have to change the Timing Belt, it is the most expensive maintenance.