TDI vs Prius decision making

Yes, I did as a matter of fact if CARB had not banned the sale of diesels in 2004, I would have bought a 2004 VW Jetta Wagen TDI. The "Pry-us" (as our British cousins call them) was my second choice. Seven years later in 2011, I was able to pick up a fine 2005 Jetta Wagen GLS TDI that had been traded in at my local VW dealer. So far the TDI has been great except for the original battery finally dying one day but it WAS over 10 years old. I love it.

The Prius has been a fairly decent car that does what we need, but there have been some major problems such as the inverter coolant pump going out and the steering linkage breaking (3 times in 6 months). The handling really sucks though. We've had it over 11.5 years and will probably keep it until the main battery goes; we'll downsize to a smaller car then.

 

The HPFP is only in the 2009 and on TDIs with the CR engine. In 2004 it was the PD design. Another drawback to 2009 and later TDIs is the DPF problem.

The repairs were done by the dealer under warranty. I'm approaching 130,000. The Prius is my wife's car, my 1990 Miata is my car along with the Jetta Wagen TDI. I bought the TDI for one major and one minor reasons: First to chauffeur my late mother around when she gave up her license on her 92nd birthday in 2011; and second to have as a backup for my wife if the Prius is in the shop and I'm not around with the Miata (she can't drive a stickshift).

 

The inverter pump broke several months BEFORE the recall (Toyota later reimbursed me for the repair). The steering first broke in November 2010 and the intermediate shaft, yoke sub-assembly, gear assembly and outer tie rods had to be replaced. They were able to do all repairs except one shim for the alignment. I had to take it back for that shim so technically it hadn't broken. Then in May 2011 as my wife backed out of the garage, she heard a snap and the steering wheel just spun in circles. They replaced the steering shaft assembly, yoke sub-assembly, and a cable sub-assembly. This time they absorbed the cost. They inspected the steering for 2006 recall and pronounced it OK; for the 2012 recall, they replaced a steering bolt.

Nope. 2009 with the CR 2.0 engines. There weren't any 2007 or 2008 TDIs in the NA market.

Yes, I wash it regularly!

 

The problem was using too light an oil. While VW specified VW 505.01 5W-30 OR 5W-40, it has been shown that use of 5W-30 resulted in the camshaft problem way more than the use of 5W-40. Add to that the fact that just about all VW dealer service departments just use bulk oil supplies rather than to myriad of prescribed oil specs, you not only got the 5W-30 weight, but also the wrong spec. The 505 and 507 spec oils do not meet the specification for the PD engine. The first is for the VE (pre-PD) and the second is for the CR (post-PD).