I bought a deisel Volvo V60 a few years ago. It has 230,000 km, and I’d like to get rid of it. I was planning on buying an old used Toyota Yaris petrol car with under 130,000 km on it. My concerns are, however, that current and near-future carbon-control and environmental laws will either make petrol cars illegal to drive or economically penalized, thereby defeating the purpose of owning them. Some places (in the US and possibly in CH), for instance, require Subaru Outback petrol car owners to buy new catalytique converters every few years, which can cost a few thousand francs. Hybrid cars, however, can sometimes not be as long-lasting and not as reliable as their petrol versions, I hear. Should I buy an old used petrol or an old used hybrid? If so, what brand and model? Thanks everyone.
For me, its old used petrol or recently new diesel (especially with those ultra frugal engines - approx. 3.5-4 L/100kms) or brand new electric.
For used cars, I always prefer Japanese - so a Toyota/Honda/Mazda kombi.
Hey thanks a lot for your reply, Sirob. So you recommend a used petrol Japanese car over a used hybrid Japanese car. Anyone else?
Get a motorcycle so you can still enjoy the road, and whatever home appliance on wheels (NB meaning electric “car”) has the best cost/benefit.
On regulations, I think nothing to worry about Diesel with Euro6 or even Euro5 emissions standard at least in CH. I’d go with something up to 2018 and Japanese as Sirob mentioned. Still good economics, parts are available and usually durable.
(why older ones? Well, I’m the paranoid and conspiracy theory one, who fears that the EU and so CH will shut off cars over the air or limit the amount they may drive or charge. All newer cars have to communicate with some shady agency somewhere. Further, not hackable…)
You do know that initially Tezlas and now VW and soon others have a “pay as you go” feature to enable or disable horsepower, right? So you’re not sold the complete item with all of its features. It’s like buying a stovetop where only some of the heating elements work. And more importantly you never quite know if it’s really yours.
I don’t think the day when Tezlas will remotely start having problems, lock and unlock unexpectedly according to whims of whoever commands them, is far. A form of present day Zersetzung. I mean the technology is already here for years, no need for ICE to check your phone in Kennedy airport, you’ll never get there because your Tezla will drive you to a ditch long before you make it to the airport here. Meanwhile I can completely command my motorcycle with a few steel wires (3, to be precise), two levers and a few gears rotating in oil 
I hear you on the new cars, but regarding the Euro 6 and Euro 5 standards, it’s pretty hard to find a petrol Yarus that meets those standards.
So you don’t drive a car then?
Hybrid japanese are super reliable.
You don’t want to appreciate fancy driving though, especially for Toyota.
I do, of course, a 2019 KIA Ceed GT, manual. I specifically asked for manual because automatic is not real driving, but I gave up on expecting enjoyment out of cars a while ago. Review guy proceeds to say how good it looks inside, how fun it is to drive, great quality interior, great handling, great engine…and then calls the review “A Boring Car For Awkward People”, and finishes the review with “It’s a great first car, weekend and weekday car, interesting enough to have no need for something interesting for the weekend…very practical so you don’t need a diesel…it’s a great boring car”! I love it as much as I can love what is basically a good quality family car that doesn’t cost all that much to buy and own.
So you recommend that I buy a used Japanese hybrid instead of a used Japanese petrol car?
Let’s say there is no disadvantage imho going hybrid with a toy, more the opposite.
However v60 to Yaris is somewhat… a huge downgrade. Depending on how much you drive, and car utility/loading.
Toyota Corolla / Auris (if you need space for luggage, I’d recommend the Touring Sports / Kombi version). Comparing the performance to the Volvo V60, possibly it will be to weak (1.8 hybrid engine is not much “fun” to drive)…
You could look for newer Toyota Corollas with the 2.0 liter hybrid engine versions, this can last almost forewer if you can find a good one, which was handled with care.
Before you buy, a TCS occasion check (costs around 250 chf) if definitely worth to invest (if you already have the impression you want to buy the car).
The questions are:
How will you use the car?
- Only long trips –> go for a younger solid Euro 6 diesel, in good condition
- Mixed (city and long trips) –> a stronger hybrid (minimum 1.8, but as of 2.0 liter) Toyota could be a good option
- City and suburbs only –> a small Toyota Yaris (1.5 liter hybrid) could be enough, but it won’t be much “fun”
for driving, maybe just in a chilled pace (We have it in a family and I love it for slow cruising and city driving) 
OR a fully electric small Renault ZOE, Nissan Leaf, BMW i3
Well not Yaris… but there are some other versions (1). Or expand search to other car makers.
I failed the A practical twice… I thought Fahrlehrer were scammers…
I will never pay a subscription for a feature in my car, I paid fully off.
Today, no one is considering Windows XP or Vista as secure. But there are a lot of cars from that time on the street. Now fast forward 30yrs… this will be scary.
John McAfee (rip) and Eugene Kaspersky have your back. Intrusive pop ups, false positive and subscription reminders included. Can’t wait until we get Microsoft Automotive Defender.
Last year, 4 out of 5 newly sold cars in CH had an ICE. This, combined with the changing (political! ) climate around the world, leads me to believe that the situation won’t significantly change. I would rather expect that driving an electric car will become more expensive – see recent efforts by Federal Councillor Rösti to tax electric cars.
Taxing electric cars comes with the expectations that we’d be reaching the inflection point of the S curve.
For a while range was a sticking point for many people but that’s going away. so the next point will be price, and given the speed of technological improvement I assume ICE just wont be able to compete eventually.
Probably will be like mobile phone (skipped landline/dsl), we’ll see emerging market skipping one step in the transition (solar+battery+ev is a nice combo for them, esp. given the exponential improvement that are happening)..
@malode This is a key question - your usage pattern.
In case of 1/2, if you go for a Mazda - stick with the petrol versions (skyactiv is amazing); their diesels had some issues in the past.
I wouldn’t mind a hybrid from either one of Toyota, Honda, Mazda (believe they have a partnership with Toyota).
As far as electric goes (for town-mostly driving) - main point for me would be whether I have my own charging spot at home (or work, if you commute).
Ok, so do most of you have petrol / diesel cars or hybrids?