Prius Costs vs Jetta TDI Costs?

I don't know if anyone has mentioned the high cost of constantly having your VW in for repairs, and waiting for parts so long that the parts manager tells you he would never buy a VW. That sort of thing. So figure that in.

 

The experience of taxi drivers suggest otherwise. Taxis have a rough life yet there is a very low incidence of transmission failures on Prius taxis.

We were recently on vacation in Charleston and we took a Charleston Green Taxi (in this case actually a TCH) to the airport. From my conversation with the driver (who in conversation discovered that both he and my wife prefer to drive their Civics rather than a Prius), they have a number of 2009 Prius with 200k to 300k miles on them. They do all of the conventional work themselves but have dealerships do the hybrid system work. Except that they have never had dealerships do any work because they've had zero problems with the hybrid systems.

 

I have now had both a 2010 JSW TDI and a 2011 Prius base. Loved both. A few things that stick out to make a difference. I'm 5'10" and when the Jetta was set to cruise control there is no where to put you foot except to lift your knee and rest it on the center console which hurt my knee. If your into road racing then the Jetta wins, however the Prius does just fine 10 mph over limit through the curves. The Jetta is bigger inside for the rear passengers and frankly feels bigger throughout. The big one though is the mileage. If you ad it up the Prius kills it to what I think is 10 to 15 on the hwy and 20 or more in the city. I've driven the Jetta for 25000 and the Prius for about 5000. I thought I would be wanting to be back in a Jetta, but of the gas mileage, taxi drivers getting 300k to 400k in a Prius and not have knowing a German car of mass production to get over 200k without going into repairs on a continuous bases, has left me wanting to stay in the Prius. I have taken both of these apart, as I grab salvaged cars and bring them back to life. What I noticed reminds me of the old Tiger tanks of World war two and the fact that they were so over engineered it had an effect on the outcome against Russia. Ever wire connector in the Jetta is designed differently and much more complex then the Prius. Even simple fastners are the same. And of course if you read about the exploding high pressure pumps that contaminate the entire fuel system at a cost of about 9k, it will stick a bad thought in the back of your head. You mentioned fuel prices, well I was paying upwards of 12% higher for diesel just 5 short months ago.

All in all, I would go Prius over the Jetta.

 

I had a 2006 TDI with DSG transmission. It was hard to start below freezing. It had real lag issues at the low end, almost unresponsive, especially in 2nd gear. In first gear you could spin the tires on dry pavement, but in 2nd it was useless. I think the DSG had buggy programming.

I like the low end electric torque on the Prius. No problems in the cold except the occasional knocking (ironically).

 

my neighbor got a Jetta the same week i got my first Prius. she lives in town, works in town. well, she went to visit her parents which is basically a 500 mile round trip and ended up with like 43 mpg and then thought that is what she would always get. well, eventually i got tired of her telling everyone that and had her track her mileage. she was shocked to find out in her normal day to day driving, she was only getting 30-34 mpg

 

Automotive diesels have very little efficiency advantages over Atkinson cycle engines per pound of fuel. They have many more problems with emissions particularly during starts and stops. That is probably why you haven't seen any hybrid diesels in the US yet.

 

No, it's a simple cost issue: diminishing returns on the 2nd technology.

 

Yep.

The fuel economies of diesel and hybrid techs are not additive. In fact to a large degree they overlap.

 

I drove TDIs for years and now I drive a Prius. As newer and newer TDIs come out, they are becoming much more complex and for me, they were no longer worth it. The VW experience wasn't worth it, either.

Just a few more things here. Since 2005, the TDIs have an electric auxiliary heater to start warming the cabin sooner. The 507 oil changes aren't very expensive. I was buying 507 specific Mobil 1 for about $8 a liter and the filter for about $8.50.

 

Just traded my 2009 TDI for a Gen III Prius II.
I am a TDI mechanic, drove my last one for 110K miles, did all of my maintenance, have no regrets on the trade, don't miss the TDI or associated worries. I am also a first gen Insight hypermiler/moder.

The TDI's are amazing cars in their own right, but are very German in design/maintenance, both good and bad, as eluded to in an savedpius's earlier post - very well stated.

 

I traded in a 2009 Jetta TDI for the Prius. I never owned a car that had been back to the dealer as much as that POS. The DSG alone was on its third mechatronics unit. The rest of the problems were the icing on the cake.

 

Wow. That cannot be typical though. I'm surprised the car did not trip a Lemon law.

 

Lemon laws are generally for safety related issues only.


REV

 

Wow, some people on other forums sure do talk up clean diesels, but I don't see great results on fueleconomy.gov ...

they say Jetta TDI sedan automatic uses 11.2 barrels oil and spits out 379 g/mi GHG ...
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=31575&#tab2

compared to Prius which is 6.6 barrels and 222 g/mi.

3 owners are reporting avg of 42.9MPG on TDI's even though they are 30 / 42 EPA mpg estimate. Overreporting?

 

My lifetime MPG on our CTh bought in December (read: waiting for warmer weather) is a little over 53 mpg. EPA sticker is 41/43 I think.

I wonder what a doubting dieseler would make of those numbers

 

Not true. Lemon Law is governed by the State in which you purchased the car. CO and IL are probably the 2 worst States for consumers, WI is probably the best.

 

There are quite a few hypermiling TDi owners over at ClubTDi. I'm sure they can average 43mpg. There are enough Prius owners averaging 55+ in GenIIs that were only EPA rated at 46mpg.

 

I would say that the cost comparison between a VW TDI and a Prius is completely moot. These are completely different vehicles. The Prius has outstanding fuel economy, excellent reliability and great space efficiency. The VW (Golf TDI for example) has excellent handling, braking, ergonomics and a very pleasing manual transmission. I personally don't see the basis for comparison. It's like trying to decide if a parakeet or a cat is a "better" pet.

If you want to do a strict cost comparison, you might want to compare the Prius against an Elantra Touring (also excellent reliability with great space efficiency, without the hybrid, but at a price of about $17K). You might want to do this parametrically against fuel cost assumptions.

 

Good observation. Elantra Touring had good looking interior room at the SF car show. Looked better than matrix and Mazda3 hatch inside. This format of car is still a little rare in US.

 

The TDIs seem to do well compared to the EPA ratings. It's a very easy car to hypermile.

Reality check: Will your car actually achieve the advertised 40-mpg?

2012 Volkswagen Jetta MPG Reports | Fuelly