New VW TDI Commercial disses PRIUS

Don't care, I have a Prius, I made the right choice.
I'm on a Prius forum and I own a Prius, you're on a Prius forum and you don't own a Prius. Most people who come here who don't own a Prius are looking at buying a Prius.
When you get your Prius, enjoy.

 

I understand the thought, but the '09s move quite well. I put a fair amount of thought, energy, and $$ into getting the '03 to a sweet power point...then the '09 at least matched it...probably exceeded it.

Honestly, I was a little impressed last weekend when I stood on the Prius from 0-100 getting on the highway. Quicker than I gave it credit for. It's not so much the power, but the full handling package that concerns me...something I've given my opinions on at length in other posts here.

As is typcial of him, David_594 did a good job, IMO, of summing up the difference in strategies of the two companies. The Prius will always be more of a mainstream car, which is fine because there are a LOT of people out there who drive because they have to, not because they particularly enjoy the experience of driving. Plus, for the most part, Toyota has been REALLY good about dealer education.

I've said this before, but there are quirks with diesel that you have to put up with to drive one. Many fewer with the '09+, but they're still there. It's a trade-off between driving experience and overall life impact (finding diesel, understanding the differences, dealer service, etc) that needs to be considered. Now that I have a vested interest, I'm hoping VW does some reasonable dealer training and doesn't bugger up the situation....

I'm not saying the TDI is a car for everyone...but neither is the Prius.

 

A 16sec 1/4 is still slow...

Here is that stereotype again. You guys gotta stop doing that. People here DO enjoy driving their car period. I enjoy driving my car more than I did all my others cars except the truck once it had 800rwhp. It is just a different kind of enjoyment. Have you ever slung the Prius down a super twisty country road while trying to hypermile it? I wold argue that is safer and more fun than just trying to see how fast you can without ending up in the wall or the canyon. I do this once a week or more and, hold your breath, I enjoy it even more than I did driving the same canyon in the Corvette. Driving for efficiency can be every bit as fun as driving for sheer speed which dare I say will not come from a VW Jetta diesel without serious mods and you know how modding goes...

I'm not picking on the VW because I feel they are still a great option for many people. I do however, take offense to being labeld a "non-driver" as if owning a VW makes you a "driver" or "enthusiast". It just is not so. Many Prius owners absolutely love driving their car.

I' in total agreement

 

That's true but it is a car and cars are slow. Even the $105,000 Corvette ZR1 is slow with a quarter mile of 11.5 seconds @ 128.3 mph.

If you want fast vehicles you need to look at motorcycles. Even the Kawasaki Concours 14 touring bike will rip off a 1/4 mile in 10.52 seconds @ 130.5 mph.

Cars are slow but quite practical to go from point A to point B. They even keep you dry when it rains. So it is best to have one of both. Motorcycles for fun and cars for when it rains or you need to carry stuff.

 

You have a great point BUT having spend many years on a race track I will say with confidence that the vast majority of people could not pilot a 10sec anything down the track without practive ESPECIALLY a bike without wide tires, an extended swing arm AND nuts! Haha

Too much "accident" potential so I usually don't recommend them but you are very right. I had to run nitrous on my Trans Am to get it to do 11.12@123mph (1.56 60's N/A) and a good bike would cream me on the freeway. lol

On a side note, 128mph trap speed in the 1/4mile is easily enough for a mid 10sec 1/4mile if you can throw down a good 60' time on slicks. Otherwise high 10 should be a breeze.

 

Yeah, I know how modding goes...but just about everything I did to the '03 (except the wheels/tires) did not inherently effect the milage. Using it did, of course, but cruise on the highway still did quite well. From what I've seen here, power mods are practically non-existent, suspension mods are ridiculously priced, and even things like wheels/tire effect the mileage in a Prius much more than a TDI.

Yeah, you're right...that's poor of me. I think my major hangup is that I don't really enjoy driving this car the way I like to drive on the back roads. Frankly, I don't particularly like the stability on the highway either. I know there are ways around that, but a TRD setup and a bunch of braces become awfully expensive awfully quickly.

I enjoy driving. I own a VW. I've given my thoughts as to why. I don't think one necessarily enables the other, though. I'm not trying to suggest that no one here is an enthusiast, nor am I trying to offend anyone personally here.

 

I totally agree. I bought my Prius to use as a tool. I use it to get from point "A" to point "B". I never understood this macho crap about "drag racing" or "cruising". I could care less that my Prius is "ugly", doesn't "corner" with those wannabe "sports cars" or that I get passed on the highway by most every other car out there. Your speeding and foolish driving is ruining this planet. Until we all can get mass transportation, I believe the Prius is the next best thing.

 

Just to poke fun at this VW commercial dissing the Prius, a few in the community set this one up (some in the clip are PC members too)

Cheers;

 

Nah, I just put it in quotes for effect and it seemed right after "say." It is the most congested place I've lived and driving there was distinctly unpleasant. It's the only place I've lived where folks would show up half an hour late to a meeting a few miles away because of the bizarre traffic snarls. Punctuality went out the window there.

 

thats just honda civic IMA propaganda

 

The manual 2003 TDI Wagon (since that is what I would be looking at) was a 12.5 second 0-60 car in a review I just looked up. That is 1st Gen. Prius slow/not at all sporty. The new 2009 TDI Wagon has been tested at 8.9 secs by Motorweek with 17 sec 1/4. (Their description of the handling was more in the family driver vein than sporty.) Sub-8 seconds 0-60 becomes sporty to me. Of course, I'm not calling the 2nd Gen. Prius sporty either...although with the electric motor a Prius can be surprisingly quick when needed.

My primary performance concern with the '08 Prius when I test drove it was whether or not it would be able to "get out of its own way" on highway entrance/exits and up hills. It passed those tests with no difficulty and it had more interior room than I anticipated, making it a good fit for the family sedan need.

 

DOH !!! You're very right.:doh:

Psst... but... some of our TDI friends don't know that because some still claim "hybrids" are no good on the highway.

Cheers;

MSantos

 

I meant with regards to things breaking or warranty issues.

It's all good man. I understand what you are saying and I appreciate your honesty and intent.

 

They are right! Compared to Efusco or Wayne's # my Prius sucks on the highway. I only get 52mpg unless I try some SHM or other tricks.

 

Wrong! 675 miles in 10 hours 37 mins comes out to 64 MPH.

Prius has been accused of lugging the HV battery around on the highway and now being accused of needing to replace after 7 years of lugging around. Prius use the HV battery charge/recharge cycle less on the highway so the pack will last a lot longer than 300k+ miles that the Prius Taxi achieved.

How much does it cost to change your TDI turbo, transmission, fuel injector, or the exhaust? Assuming it still pass the state emission test.

OK, thanks for letting us know that you voided the warranty.

Are you saying, we Prius drivers have miserable time on the road? Not! Have you driven 2010 Prius with 17" wheels? We know you like to drive your Diesel tanker (fuel being the heaviest part of the vehicle).

Believe it or not... Prius has less moving parts.

Be careful. You don't want to find out another bolt broken when driven at speed/power over the designed spec. Who are you pretending to be?

My worse tanks is 45 MPG with the 17" rims. 65 MPG is my best. My daily commute is mostly on the highway.

 

TDI is a good car

 

I am sure it is for interstate highway drivers. However, the commercial shows urban area where Prius can double the TDI's MPG.

 

VW's quality is not good. Check out Consumer's Report, and you will find VW is worse than the US cars in reliability.

A friend of mine has the 8 cylinder Jetta, and that car has had 40,000 dollars worth of warranty work!!!

You could not get me to buy a VW on a bet.

 

LOVE this commercial!!! its HILIARIOUS!!!! My first love however was a 1974-ish vw bug; Dad still drives a baha. Love my prius just as much!!

Gotta love it when we get some airtime, Jeff Dunham has an awesome experience with the Pri, however I hate that commercial for Traveler's Insurance with the teenager backing over trash cans.. how can you miss that in a back up cam??

 

Consumer Reports recommends the VW Jetta and Rabbit and GTI. Why would they do that if VW still had reliability problems?

VW has never made an 8 cylinder Jetta so your 2nd comment is purely fictional. If you are going to make things up at least get the details right.