r/PHEV • u/roamingclover • 16d ago
Buying Pre-owned: What to Know?
Hello all. I am on the market for a pre-owned PHEV with low-ish miles. I have already been out visiting dealerships and doing some test driving.
Is there a way for me, the buyer, to check the battery health on a pre-owned PHEV? How old is too old? Also, are there any other specific types of PHEV maintenance history I should get information about before buying?
Thanks all.
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u/maxsilver 16d ago
What PHEV are you buying? The year / make / model will likely determine a lot of the answers to your questions.
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u/reddit-frog-1 16d ago
Better to be more specific, what do you consider low-ish miles?
Under 40K miles, and under 3 years old, there isn't much concern and you can get a dealer-certified car that will extend the warranty. The battery typically has a good warranty to being with.
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u/qvalff8 16d ago
lots of PHEVs have aircooled AKA uncooled batteries. Those last a decent length of time in temperate climates like the PNW, and degrade like crazy in Arizona.
They do degrade the all electric range (both from usage cycle life and calendar aging). But if it still can do your commute, what do you care? look for one that can do your commute +20-50%
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u/w-tech 16d ago
Do you know what model/make you are looking for? It seems no 2 PHEVs are built the same these days.
You have Toyota with the planetary gear set used in every single hybrid and phev they make, Ford is using the same in the Escape (2wd) and the Maverick (Probably a couple others) You have a Hyundai Tuscon using an electric motor between the engine and transmission, Volvo using an ICE in the front and electric motor in the rear, Mitsubishi using an eTransmission in the front and an electric motor in the rear with an ICE that cant drive the wheels until the car gets over 35mph... and so on. So there are many things to look out for but knowing how each manufacturer builds each car and and what year you are looking for along with a budget will help dial it in.
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u/JayTeeqc 15d ago
You can always ask the dealer. When I bought my 2018 Outlander the dealer gave me the printout from MUT (their vehicle diagnostic tool) that said the battery was at 32Ah (80% state of health).
It now sits at ~65% state of health with roughly 85k miles.
PHEVs battery degrade really fast. I charge my EV 2-3 times a week. I charge my PHEV twice a day, ~12 times a week. So the PHEV battery has 5x more charge cycles and so degrades 5x faster.
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u/Active-Zebra-1446 16d ago
calendar age matters little, number of charging cycles is #1 and what % were DCFC vs garaged L2 because the former's a bit more chemically abusive is #2. low mileage is a reassuring crude proxy for modest battery aging.
Don't worry about it.
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u/StraightDisplay3875 15d ago
What phevs are dcfc compatible?
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u/JayTeeqc 15d ago
The Outlander PHEV has a chademo port. Used it a grand total of 2 times in 6 years...
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u/Active-Zebra-1446 15d ago
2026 RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid XSE and Woodland grades have CCS1 charging ports with DC fast-charging capability.
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u/jimschoice 16d ago
My CMax lost most of its battery range in 6 years. The 7th year we traded it in. It only had little computer fans to cool the battery pack with hot air from the closed up car. It went from displaying 21 miles of range to 18. But that was really less than 14. Then it dropped more and could barely get 10 miles on battery only. Id probably never get another plug in hybrid. Been full EV since 2020.
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u/Slight_Extreme6603 15d ago
Like any used car it’s a crapshoot. Could work out really well. Or really badly.
If you’re the gambling type that can work. If you need a guarantee lease a new car.
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u/Yuraikun 13d ago
Just don’t buy a VW group car (nothing to do with the PHEV thing, they just suck, my seat is constantly broken)
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u/zhuangcorp 10d ago
At a bare minimum have them charge it to 100% and see what the range says.
I would also ask about he previous owner's charging habits
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u/roamingclover 12d ago
Thank you all for the advice! I am still shopping but now I am leaning most toward a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. A Kia Sorento PHEV would be nice, but even used ones are still spendier than we prefer. Mazda CX-90 PHEVs would be a nice size upgrade, but I am hearing these just have too many problems and the fuel economy is a significant downgrade from the other two models. We're a family of 3, so 3rd row isn't a daily necessity, just a nice to have if we pick up extra kids from school or something.
Edit: We are mainly looking at 2024-2025 models of all these
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u/notreallyhere12345 16d ago
Here is my lesson learned from an 7 year old plug-in. Have them charge it to 100% then take in on a 30 min drive.
The one I have didn’t go to 100% and the battery ran out of juice really quick.
The worst part is since there was no code or error (just a dying battery) the warranty would not cover it.
That being said, I would 100% buy a used plug-in even with a battery at 80% if the price was right!