Hybrid motor died

What ECU reprogramming? You mean for dieselgate? My car isn't registered in California, so I guess that makes me exempt from having to get that done. I highly doubt VW would do a buyout - too expensive. Everyone seems to think for the older CR TDIs, it would mean both a software fix and hardware (maybe urea injection). But it's all just speculation at this point.

I only have one car registered in CA right now, but it's a gasser, so it just needs a biannual smog check. I don't think I'll ever register another vehicle in CA - not only are the smog requirements ridiculous (especially in a state where you have police cars, city/gov't vehicles and emergency vehicles running 24/7 putting out who knows how many emissions), but the registration costs are through the roof. I'm quite happy with paying $62/year for my registration.

 

That's also assuming it's a mandatory buyout. I have no plans to sell it anytime soon, if ever. And besides, what else would I be able to get that still gets 35-40mpg and can also tow 2000 pounds? A lot of states don't test diesels for emissions. Texas is one of them, although some areas, particularly the more liberal counties (like Travis County, home to Austin), do test for emissions. It would be interesting to see how it goes as to states rights v. federal. Of course, that could end up opening a can of worms for other things, besides EPA regulations.

The Prius was nice while I had it, but I honestly don't think I could own a hybrid again. Aside from the Insight, I don't know of any with a manual transmission. Automatic transmissions are deal breakers for me. And I've found I got horrible gas mileage in the summer with the Prius when the air conditioner was running full blast, while also using inverters hooked up to the 12v accessory plug.

Probably not. According to my local sheriff's office, it's also not a problem to burn my trash (since I live rural). Actually, almost everyone here burns their trash, or extra brush. I've found it's a great use for my used motor oil, as the nearest collection station is an 80 mile round trip.

Yeah, well, that's thanks to the crappy stealership service personnel. I'd NEVER take my TDI to the dealer. Then again, I never had good luck with the Toyota stealerships, either. But working on a hybrid is a bit different than working on a conventional ICE vehicle.

But other than that, I haven't really had any major problems with my car. 152K miles and still going strong. I put about 30-40K on it a year. If it were unreliable, I would've bought something like a late 90s F350 Powerstroke, but I like my fuel economy.

 

To each their own I guess. True, the Prius might've been a little bit cheaper to maintain, but as I started taking long trips East to visit family, it wasn't fun driving the Prius anymore. I honestly don't think I could go back, unless there's a manual transmission or dual clutch version of the Prius. But it seems almost all of Toyota's offerings these days are automatic only. And did I mention trying to pass on the highway is damn near impossible with the Prius?

Oh, since you're a mechanic - I don't suppose you know what the towing capacity of the 2nd gen Prius is, do you? I couldn't find anything on that.

 

On that note, I got more speeding tickets when I had my Prius than any other car. Usually for doing 80-85 in CA. None in Texas, since the speed limit is sometimes 80-85 here. But when trying to pass a line of 2-4 cars going 15-20 under the speed limit, it doesn't have as much pull as my TDI. Of course, the minimum tune I've always had has been a Stage 1.

I'm only looking to tow up to 1500-2000 pounds, which includes the load and trailer weight. As it stands now, I usually just pack about 800-1000 pounds of feed or hay bales in the back of the Jetta, but a trailer would allow some more flexibility.

Nor do I. I don't personally like Toyota that much, and I've owned three of them over a period of 12 years - Corolla, Camry and Prius. I will say I'm impressed with my mom's 4Runner, using that to tow heavier loads (5000 pounds-ish) - the fuel economy is better than most trucks without a load. Nice to see I'm not the only one who's not a tree hugging liberal either. Maybe my original problem with the Prius is isolated, but the response of Toyota persuaded me away from the brand. Sifting through prior threads, I'm well aware of the 150K warranty on hybrids in CA. Supposedly, the dealer did replace the hybrid battery, or at least it was notated on my SO, but they did not replace the transmission/hybrid motor. At least when stuff did break on the Jetta, VWoA was nice enough to do goodwill repairs. Even so, all maintenance on the car was done either by myself or by my best friend, who has been a mechanic for the last 36 years. I guess I might be biased, because I always get my fluids and parts at cost and don't pay retail, so that's helped some.

Now if you want to debate a gas VW, I'm sure we'll agree that reliability and TCO sucks...you won't catch me dead owning one of those.

 

Obviously, the Stage 3 makes for less parts to go bad. I've had countless O2 sensors fail. Usually the same sensor. Now it's no longer there.

I actually did all the suspension work myself, although I had someone assist me when putting on a thicker rear swaybar.

My best friend is the same way - sold his '83 Porsche 930 because it was in someone else's shop - after doing 16 hour days, 6 days a week for several years, the last thing he wanted to do was work on his car at home, plus, there's nowhere to really drive fast in CA.

I think it all boils down to what an individual person likes, the intended use, and also factoring in TCO like you said. I honestly don't regret either decision, buying the Prius or the TDI, although I still wish I never paid the dealer premium for the Prius.

 

I'm loving these prices - paid $1.599 as well for 87 along I-10 last Saturday, and $1.82 for diesel. And the crazy part is they say the prices are still going further down!