"Do you want to buy a car? Not! With! Us!"

"Do you want to buy a car? Not! With! Us!"

The driving bans for Euro5 diesel are getting closer. About 10 years ago, I practiced the "fun" in the classic car area: Berlin was at the forefront of setting up a so-called "environmental zone". Only at the last moment came the exception for cars with H license plate. After all. Now it could again hit a car from its own fleet. An "older" diesel, namely the 1,5er Volvo V2012 II with D40 engine (five-cylinder), which was only purchased before 3 years ago.

At the time, it was quite clear from the environmental zone discussion that air pollution control is only an advanced protective claim. Because actually it should go to economic promotion. So I'm good and look for a new car. And when I say "new", I also mean "new". And I want to put one more on top: Because it could actually be a car, which provides at least in the city center (where rather fewer power plants are) for better air, namely a plug-in hybrid. I have three-phase in the garage and a parking space directly in front of it: It could not be better.

But I made the bill without the host, that is, the automobile industry.

The first car I'm interested in is the recently introduced Mini Countryman Plugin Hybrid. I get in touch with Mini-Berlin when you can not configure the car yourself. We agree to "click together" a normal Countryman and make the mini-man from the Blumberger dam a plug-in hybrid. No problem, I hear, only the trailer hitch, that would not work. You even write me a reason, or send me a mail by a screenshot, probably from a kind of internal FAQ:

“Why can't a rear luggage rack preparation or a trailer coupling be installed?

The additional space required for preparing the rear luggage rack or the trailer coupling is not available on this model because the battery is installed there. The positioning offers the highest level of crash safety. "

Now I've even mounted a couple of trailer hitches on vehicles, and as an accident analyst, I know a bit about the crash behavior of vehicles. I. d. R. is mounted the trailer hitch instead of the rear cross member under the bumper cover. I've checked for extra: The previous model (non-hybrid) is the same. Stiffeners to the front are not provided.

However, I can absolutely imagine that the safest installation space for the batteries in the rear bumper should be in the direct impact area in the event of a rear-end collision.

Since I am interested in the car, I would now like to ask for clarification: I would not want to buy a car with an “explosive charge” in the rear bumper. Or can a trailer hitch be installed after all? I ask the Mini customer service.

There is a text module response:

Dear Doctor. Winning Hoff,

Thank you for your interest in our new Mini Countryman Plugin Hybrid.

We have forwarded your email to the department, the colleagues will contact you as soon as possible.

We wish you a pleasant day.

That was on 23.2.2017. Nothing has changed until today. I'm still researching that the same problem occurs with the BMW 225 XE (which I find visually quite awful), since the car is based on the same platform. So that was it with BMW / Mini.

And Hyundai? Stand dead!

But there are more manufacturers. I come across the Hyundai Ioniq. Never heard. It is available as a hybrid and as a pure electric vehicle. Now he should appear according to website 2017 as a plugin hybrid. I ask at Hyundai by mail, a) when the car is to be had and b) if you can attach a trailer hitch. You stand dead. No answer for a week. Apart from that, the Hyundai, like many other cars (Toyota Prius, for example), is a bit too lame for me, so I let my eyes wander and return from Korea to Germany.

Audi A3 e-tron.

Looks a bit small. One reason to sell the Volvo V40 is that I recently failed to load a wheelbarrow into the trunk. I wouldn't have the problem with my 50 year old Fiat 500 station wagon. So a slightly larger car would not be bad. Emphasis is on something because Bjoern beats me the Mitsubishi Outlander in front. Basically, I have had it on my screen for a long time, but it is definitely out of the question because of its size. So Audi. You even get a trailer hitch for it (which BMW / Mini, by the way, hardly thinks possible ...)

I search mobile.de for used and demonstration cars, and find 3 pieces in Berlin. Great! I think. We'll do a test drive on Saturday. But oh

To my regret, I can not fulfill your date request.

The vehicle is currently in the process of deregistration & then in preparation for sale as a used vehicle.

Unfortunately, I can not name an exact time slot.

I get in response to my question. I thought that cars offered on mobile.de might be available or even available for sale. But far from it!

I'm still begging, it does not have to be exactly that, one of the other would do it and maybe I would even buy a new one. Yes, one would then pass my data to the colleagues of the new car sales. I agree. Since then silence in the forest. That was on 28.2.2017.

But again a golf?

In the meantime, I learn that VW also has a plug-in hybrid with the Golf GTE. The platform is the same as the A3 e-tron, and it also comes with a trailer hitch. I find some used ones, but in the meantime the drive has left me to ask at all, if one would possibly be willing to sell me such a car and even put me in it and go for a lap. The plaid seats are really pretty!

A colleague suggests the Peugeot 3008. It should also soon be available as a plug-in hybrid (but with an unresolved trailer hitch issue). I also have a bit of pride and my opinion: If the car were 10 cm flatter, you could think about it and mess up the quick & dirty with Photoshop. I could imagine it this way:

But alas. The Volvo is actually a great car. And so fast the driving bans will certainly not come, right? And when the time comes, I just buy an old used gasoline engine, which is allowed to drive, the next pennants on the corner. Since you know at least beforehand that one is led around by the nose, if you want to bucket someone somebody in the bucket.