Edmunds Long-term Prius c story

Really tired of the TDI owners hating on the Prius cars, been getting really bad lately. I personally don't care either way, I grew up with turbo diesels, always liked them, but holy crap, these TDI folks thrive on any chance they get to publicly complain/bash/hate/bitch/whatever about a Toyota Prius. 1 comment in that article you linked, and sure enough, it's a TDI owner.

 

If Volkswagen can only come up with a Diesel-Hybrid. Then we can be talking. Otherwise, The Prius wins by a large margin when it comes to gas mileage.

When it comes to acceleration, 60 mph to 90 mph acceleration, driving around twisty curves, climbing hills, and quietness on the highway, there are points in the TDI's favor. But in terms of mileage, the Prius wins.

Note that the Volkswagen TDI costs only about $680 more in fuel a year compared to the Prius. If you can afford this, then both cars are equivalent in cost to drive.

The Volkswagen TDI does kill you however, with the cost of service and maintenance. This starts once the warranty runs out at 36,000 miles. Then, at 40,000 miles and every 40,000 miles thereafter, you have to pay $900 for service - including a $450 for changing the transmission filter on the automatic.

 

Whether you can afford it or not still doesn't make it equivalent in cost!

A $900 service fee for every 4oK driven equates to an additional $.0225 per mile. Not very cheap at all! To put it in a Prius perspective, if you paid $3.75/gal and get 50 mpg it would be like getting 15 mpg less per gallon.

$3.75 per gal/50 mpg = $.075 cost per mile.
$.0225 per mile cost of service / $.075 per mile cost of gas = 30% cost or 15 mpg.

 

Also have to factor in the brakes being replaced around roughly 35k on the TDI due to lack of regen. braking.

 

The brake pad replacement is very driver dependent.

My prior car, a 08 Kia Rio that was almost always at max GVWR due to me using it as a service "truck" for my spa repair business went 125K before I replaced the factory pads.

Travis

 

Welp, can't say I'd want to own a Prius c. The 99 HP thing just wouldn't work for me. I'm sure the Jetta TDI feels more solid. Don't know the tech term, but VW uses fully welded seams where the roof joins those metal sections just above the windows that run from hood to behind rear window (what do you call those??)

I'll bet the TDI is likely quieter on highway and the bigger tires must help a lot.

If want max MPG, Prius c is obvious choice, but for more robust car with bad repair reputation, Jetta TDI is it.

btw, I have a stack of receipts proving over 50 at pump on my liftback, mr. VW lover.

 

My two friends have TDI, and always claim how powerful and money saving their vw are. And how their tdi is so fun to drive. So yesterday when we had lunch, I showed up with my Rav4ev. They were shocked that this was a bigger, faster, and even more fun car than their TDI. And on top of it, fuel is free at our work to recharge. They suddenly could not believe they got a 2nd class car for similar price.

 

Like that!!

 

Your right, the Jetta does feel like an upscale German diesel. Very solid and less road noise by a long shot. Two things have kept me away from the VW brand in general, questionable reliabillity, and cost of service. The Golf TDI which I was figured was the perfect commuter had some electrical gremlin at the dealership where it would not start without pulling the key from the ignition. I stalled the car in a busy intersection (no excuses here except I'm used to a car with massive torque and a heavy clutch) and it wouldn't start up again. We nearly got rear ended three times in about a minute. The car finally started after I removed the key and replaced it. The Golf had quite a bit of road noise compared to the Jetta, but was nimble and the manual trans was smooth as silk. Long story short, the VW is out.

 

Actually, I've read a lot of good reviews of The Prius c. Seems to me it was just mostly Consumer Reports that got a wooden fiberous plank like material stuck up their sphincter because they stepped back and determined The Prius c looked a lot to them like the Yaris, and they already had given bad reviews to the Yaris.

But it seems to me that whatever negative publicity the Prius c has had to face, it's doing pretty well with the owners and the people, and that is what counts.

 

The ignition thing isn't a gremlin--it's a feature that I had in all of my Volkswagens. It's supposed to prevent you acccidentally engaging the starter after the engine has started. You have to turn the ignition off, then it will allow you to crank. Removing the key locks the steering column so sometimes that's a bad idea if you you're still in motion.

 

The car will not restart until the key is returned to the "off" position, not sure if you tried that or not or whether there actually was a problem with the car.

 

I drove a new C back in February because I like small cars and from what I can tell, it is the reigning champ on fuel economy and at a better price than the regular Prius. Unfortunately, I did not find it to my liking. Since I wasn't ready to spend all the extra money required to move up to a regular Prius, I bought my 2010 model. I really like the Prius and my wife does too. Wish I'd bought one years ago.

 

H'm. I've been doing a lot of research on half-a-dozen cars, and I really haven't seen the ragging on the Prius you mention, at least not on TDIclub.com and myturbodiesel.com, which are the two I frequent. Perhaps if you could give me some links.....

OTOH, partisanship exists on every forum, including this one. I was just reading a Ford Fusion Hybrid owner who claimed he was lucky to survive being savaged on a Toyota Camry Hybrid forum, after responding to an invitation to post his views on the FFH. People have to rationalize a large investment.

 

We're in somewhat the same boat. If the 'c' fit our needs, with that performance we'd already have one in the garage. But the 'v' is the only one that fits, and that brings its fuel economy down into the range of other similarly sized cars. And our new car is going to spend enough miles as a highway cruiser that the downgrading the seats have taken pushed it off the table altogether. It's coming down to either the still to be released Honda Accord (non-PHEV) hybrid, the Ford Fusion Hybrid, or the VW Passat TDI.