My 2005 FEH is now 11 years old.
The Manufacture date was in December, 2004.

I am now at 189,000 miles.
The MPG is better than ever.
Maybe California has decreased the amount of ethanol, otherwise I can't explain the boost in MPG.

70 mph freeway with some mountains: 34.5 mpg on a 450 mile trip.

The reverse trip, I was sick and in a hurry to get home, and with light traffic I was able to set cruise control to 80 mph for the bulk of those miles, and still net 31.1 MPG.

Those are fantastic numbers for the first year of the first generation model which is shaped about as brick-like as they come.

I still get "up to" 2 miles of EV drive in ideal conditions, with about 1 mile typical. Regen and battery boost behave the same as they always have.

I can still pull 54 MPG out of the car in ideal driving conditions around town using a few "hypermile" techniques learned over the years.

The FEH has original everything except tires, oil, electric water pump, and spark plugs. And I only changed the spark plugs because I was bored one day and they were easy to do.

The original brakes are still on the car, and there is a decent amount of pad thickness left, as early on I learned to use regen braking for nearly all stopping. However, the past 2 or 3 years the car has been used in San Francisco, with some steep hills that require brake pads each and every time. My rotors must be warped now because there is a moderate to sometimes strong "wiggle" in the car when pressing the brakes hard.

Question 1: has anyone had the rotors "turned" on a lathe to smooth out the warp? Is this a big or slight cost savings to replacing the rotors?

At this point I do not know if one, or all are warped. What did past experience tell you? Do all 4 get warped or just one?

Question 2: I am at 189,000 miles on the original serpentine belt. If you have changed your belt, what did it cost, and how many miles were you at?

Thanks so much!
-John

 

Rotors don't really get warped, they get worn unevenly. In the industry it is call DTV - disc thickness variation. I would buy quality new rotors from Rock Auto and install them myself. You can measure them with a dial indicator gauge to find the out of spec ones.

Can't help on your other questions, but it is encouraging as I'm only at 82,000 on my 2007.

 

Modern rotors have enough "meat" on them to be turned once. (In the old days, rotors could be turned several times, but this made them heavier when new, and reduced parts replacement profits for the manufacturers.)

Rotors thinned by being machined will need replacement sooner as there is less material to absorb heat and stay straight. Fortunately rotors are cheap.

Usually either the fronts or backs need work. The forces on them, and the size of them to cope with those forces, vary a lot. Note that the pulsing will come and go as the rotors, because of going around corners, get into and out of synch with each other.

Don't know about the serpentine belt. This should be in the maintenance schedule somewhere.

Great to hear a summary of your experience with the vehicle. Just today I ran into someone considering buying an FEH, and he was concerned about costly replacement of the hybrid battery. I was able to thoroughly dismiss his concern as an urban myth.