New VW TDI Commercial disses PRIUS

The GenII Prius with the strut brace and rear stiffening plate is a different car as well... I really didn't expect as much difference as that has made. It was nice getting back to the more planted feel that I was accustomed to with previous cars. Combine that with 52.6 mpg (last six tanks) and I really don't feel like I'm giving anything up.

The TDI is more of a car for the young DINK's from what I've seen. Nothing wrong with that, but their world view is a bit narrow.

 

This is the second time you have posted this. Volkswagen has NEVER made an 8 cylinder Jetta. You are simply misinformed or making things up.

 

The Passat had the W8 motor, I don't think that ever made it to the Jetta

 

He has a point because they are really not comparable, especially the unique features. What extra premium features TDI come with? More of the same.

Prius has many of innovative features only made available by full hybrid:

• Gas engine shutdown for ultra quietness
• EV driving for a smooth, quiet responsive driving
• Electric Transmission (No delay or shift shocks)
• Regen Braking to reduce brake wear and instant slow down
• Exhaust heat recover for faster cabin heat
• Lowest emission (beating the best category by a mile)
• Highest fuel economy (A car so well designed that the only thing that can drag MPG down is wind resistance [external factor])
• Plugin upgrade capability

If you are looking for more of the same, TDI is a great choice to improve fuel economy. If you are looking for cool new 21st century features, only Prius or other full hybrids can offer. Feel free to add more to the list if I missed anything.

 

I'm not making it up. I do have the name wrong (it was a Passat).

My buddy has the invoices of repair to prove it. If you like, I can give you his email address, and he can tell you his tales himself.

You should be glad it's not YOU who got stuck with that car.

 

Yep, my bad (got the name mixed up).

However, the basic point about VW reliability stands. There are some of my wife's family members who hsve VW's and have had more problems than normal.

CR routinely dings VW on this issue as well.

 

Yes, you did get the name mixed up. I would think after the first time you would have gotten it right. The Passat had the W8 in the top trim levels. (It cost ~$40,000 base)

The 4th generation VW's had lots of problems especially electrical problems. The 5th generation VW's have been a lot better and CR now recommends a number of VW's. (Jetta, Golf, GTI, Sportwagon, maybe more) VW is launching the 6th generation models this fall with the A6 Golf. It has been for sale for 2 years in other markets and has even better quality than the 5th generation models.

Yes, VW tarnished their reputation by putting out some poor quality cars from 1996 - 2005. That doesn't mean that VW can't and hasn't changed.

 

You guys crack me up, I have a TDI, I have ridden in my buddy's Prius, The TDI is no racecar, although if you want to make power it's not so hard to make big gains, chip, injectors and bigger turbo and intercooler. The prius is no race car either, I don't know what type of mods you can do, seems like there is a conversion that claims to boost the mpg up to around 80mpg? I assume it has something to do with adding batteries and charging at home and running more on the electrics. Prius is deffinately a cool car, they should go farther with it and run it on LPG or hydrogen.
I have had no major issues with my TDI, I had to change a battery the other day, cost about $90. How much will it cost to change out the batteries in the prius when the time comes? I know Toyota offers a nice warrenty but they are not stupid, I think they expect the batteries to outlast the warrenty. Better start a savings account with all the money that you save in gas milage.
Without taking into account maintanence cost what is the cost/mile?
Prius @ $2.50/gal, 58 MPG = $.04/mile That is pretty impresive
TDI @ $2.50/gal, 48 MPG (some get higher, some lower) $.05/mile still pretty impressive.
I don't get as good milage kind of crappy 43 mpg, wife's got to have an automatic
TDI @ $ .80/gal, 43 MPG = $.02/mile Did I mention I am using home brewed biodiesel using recycled oil no sulfer emmisions, carbon footprint at least for the fuel, near zero:first:
I'm not knocking the prius, I just think it's funny the way people get worked up over a comercial that is meant to be funny, you guys are just way too serious.

 

Look mate, it was an honest mistake (I got dyslexic with the name; us lefty's do that)

I've ridden in his car, and when it runs, it's nice. Unfortunately for him, that model, in a word, STUNK! (the poor bugger still has it).

I would wait a bit before giving VW a clean bill of health. I actually think Ford has a better track record over the last several years, and the new Fusion hybrid is a winner (and, it's American, imagine that).

 

Or just drive it and get excellent mileage.

The secret is not in the fuel. The two you mentioned are really too expensive and provide no significant value.

It varies from $40 to $200 depending on the type of 12 VDC battery needed.

The problem is since the redesign in 2004, the traction batteries have very seldom failed. Even the 2001-03 traction batteries have a very low failure rate. They seem to fail at about the same rate as TDIs.

It turns out, the Department of Energy conducted fleet studies:
Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity - Hybrid Electric Vehicles

• VIN 1052 - $.19/mile (NHW20)
• VIN 2721 - $.20/mile (NHW20)

This is total cost of ownership including the sale value later.

Every Prius is an automatic and we don't have to pay extra for it.

Strange, the user reported mileage numbers for the automatic TDI diesel are:

• 21 TDI automatic diesels -> 40 MPG

Oh well, you know how TDI advocates misrepresent their mileage ... all 21 of them.

Sounds good to me. You just dump it in the tank, no separate tank and valve, right? I understand it is great in the winter too.

Actually after all the diesel "clatter," I'm amused that they tout diesel engine noise. Understand, I have no problem with folks who like the vibration and noise, I had to put up with it too ... until I got my Prius. Nothing like diesel "clatter" and the noisy engines too.

Bob Wilson

ps. My Prius is also a dandy, 1 kW generator:

The fuel consumption is equal to a Honda generator but the emissions and noise are much, much quieter. Best of all, the 11.9 gallon tank runs for several days at maximum load without refueling. At partial load, it is good for a week.

 

Who said VW has a clean bill of health? I said they are getting better and that CR recommends some of VW models. (You are the one that brought up CR, I don't value them nearly as much as many here do)

Your friend has had a terrible experience with a W8 Passat. I've had a great experience with a Jetta TDI. (Nothing but routine maintenance for 185K miles) Antidotal stories have little real value, it is the statistics that matter. VW has been steadily improving their reliability statistics.

Ford has been doing very well lately. JD Powers ranks Ford (Ford, Lincoln, Mercury) higher that Toyota (Toyota, Lexus, Scion) in their 4 year dependability rankings.

GM has also improved greatly over the past 5 years and most of their recent redesigns are well received by journalists, buyers, and industrial quality rankings.

The difference between the best car brand in America and the worst is fractions of a problem. The reason that quality is ranked in problems per 100 vehicles is because today's vehicles have so few problems.

 

Gotta wonder about the depth of thought involved in buying a turbo from a company with a history of recent reliability issues. Even more humorous is some pointing to a 10,000 mile oil change interval on a turbo. Yep, that's a swift move...NOT!

There's a lot of DINK mindset with the TDI crowd and it comes through in spades in a thread like this. It's that point in your life when you have fewer obligations, don't need as much car, and are seeking different things out of it. Been there, done that. Fun while it lasted.

The Prius set tends to be more mature on average. Many of us went through our DINK period a decade ago... Not that I wouldn't mind having my 240 back, but a diesel? Sporty? Ha!

Some of this could be influenced by my experiences with VW's: I remember my parents having one of the VW's back in the 55 mph governor days. And I drove one of the Mexican beetles on vacation once. It was the worst piece of crap I've ever driven...have some funny stories from it related to basic design failures, nothing that would ever prompt anyone to buy a VW. It comes in behind an Alaskan fuel truck that was completely rusted out, had only half its gears functioning, the doors often swung open on corners, and I had to wire the fenders into place so they wouldn't fall off. It was still more roadworthy and dependable than the aforementioned VW.

 

Can you elaborate? The TDI's have been running 10k mile oil change intervals for 10+ years, and the turbos never had a problem with that if the proper oil was used. If my DINK mindset starts showing through in spades, please let me know and I'll try to cut it out

A little more on the reliability subject. VW as a brand is still ranked pretty low. But you need to break it down further into the different models to get a better picture of the story. They have some very unreliable models such as the Touareg which really drags them down. The Jetta and Rabbit are better than most other VW's and are rated average to above average by Consumer Reports. Not Prius level, but not as bad as the Touareg makes them appear when all vehicles get grouped into a rating for the entire manufacturer.

 

My understanding has been that turbos (bearings) are less forgiving of extended oil change intervals. Just something I picked up from turbo owners a decade ago.

Since we've got all these hotshot TDI owners bragging about how sporty their diesels are, you can bet they are going to be harder on their oil than your average driver. Couple that with a long oil change interval on a turbo, plus VW's reliability issues, and they are just asking for trouble. I find the cognitive disconnect below pretty amusing. :brick::doh:

Ever considered that it might have something to do with their reliability problem?

By the way, care to talk about clutch life? You dodged that one before.

 

Turbo bearings are less forgiving of extended oil changes with conventional oil. The people that are complaining about turbo's going bad are most likely using cheap bulk oil from a quick change place. A lot has changed in bearing technology in 10 years. Most turbo's use ceramic bearing now that are very tolerant of heat but they still require oil designed for use in turbochargers.

If a good synthetic oil that has been designed for turbocharged diesel engines is used, extended oil changes are not an issue. I use Shell Rotella T full synthetic. This is the same oil that my father uses to maintain a fleet of commercial diesel stake trucks used to deliver pallets of asphalt shingles.

I have 185K miles of trouble free service from my TDI engine.

VW's reliability problems have centered around electrical issues. Even the very troublesome 1.8T (turbocharged gasoline engine) has had minimal issues with the turbochargers. Instead it has been sensors , connectors, and switches that go bad.

185K miles so far on the the original clutch.

 

VWs are great cars... but they drink gas like as if your tank's leaking... the needle goes from F towards E very visibly while you're driving.... sorry VW, but that's not cool... period.

 

In the EU, a diesel powered car, and for that matter a gasoline powered car, is far more likely to receive service with the correct ACEA and VW 50x.xx rated oil. These oils are engineered to provide up to two YEARS or 30,000 MILES of service

Contrast that to the typical no-name bulk-lube-in-a-tote-bin crap oil at an Iffy Boob, which I personally would not run in an old lawnmower engine, let alone a modern engine

Most of the Mobil 1 oils sold in North America meet the basic ACEA A1 specs, some also meet the ACEA A5 specs for somewhat extended oil changes. AFAIK the proper extended service Castrol and Mobil oils are only available in the EU, eg the 0W-30, 0W-40, and 5W-40 oils

Mobil 1 0W-40 European Car Formula sold here meets the older specs for mixed EU petrol/diesel engines, such as BMW LL-01, GM LL-B-025, and VW 503.01/505.00. So does the Castrol Syntec 0W-30 that claims Made in Germany

The heavy duty oil you mentioned is intended primarily for semi truck motors, as it meets various Detroit Diesel, Cummins and Cat specs. Another oil that is good in that service is the lineup from Esso Canada, the XD-3 series, which can be bought in 0W-30 and 0W-40 for winter use

Or, the Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel 5W-40 is another heavy duty engine oil that may work in a VW, though it has not been specifically tested to any of the EU light duty diesel engine requirements

An oil that is rated for VW service, such as Mobil 1 0W-40, is way overkill in a Prius engine. I had good lab results running Mobil 1 0W-20 up to 16,000 km, which incidentally is the regular oil change interval for the Prius in the EU

My FJ motor seems to have much better results running M1 0W-40. Currently running Castrol Syntec 0W-30 in it, will know in fall how the oil tests out. I expect similar results, and the Syntec is much easier to find than M1 0W-40

 

I don't feel they are asking for trouble. The interval in Europe is 20-30k miles. Some here have been pushing 15-20k miles with oil analysis showing no unusual wear. Now, if someone were autocrossing or racing their car then it would be wise to shorten the OCI. But for the average driver, 10k miles is sufficient and shorter intervals don't show significant differences in wear.

Not really. If you want to talk about their "reliability problem", then you should first understand what the problem is. Longer oil change intervals shouldn't cause bad coil packs or window regulators. The long OCI can relate to the 1.8T sludging if improper oil is used. But I imagine I could also cause some problems in the Prius if I used the improper oil with the OEM OCI.

My apologies, I thought JSH handled that question well enough. My car has ~80k miles and no clutch issues. I do know of some with 300-400k miles on the original clutch. Those who drive their cars hard with performance upgrades find that the OEM clutch isn't always enough. The 1999-2005 clutch is reasonaly solid, while the 2005.5-2006 is a bit more fragile. The 2009 is new and relatively unknown.

 

jayman, many feel that the Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck 5w-40 is among the best oils for the 1999.5-2003 TDI. Of course, they don't get our Esso XD-3 which is also very good. Incidentally, I found that Wal-Mart here seems to have stopped carrying XD-3 0w-40, so I switched to the Mobil 5w-40.

 

In March I picked up two jugs of Esso XD-3 0W-40 at Wally, the one at St Vital Centre. If they have indeed stopped carrying it since, I'll be ticked off

Not sure where you live in Winnipeg, but on the South Perimeter at the Oak Bluff turn, is Terraco. They handle the entire range of commercial and industrial Esso and Mobil lubes

Locations | Terraco

It's where I pick up the Mobil Delvac Synthetic 75W-90 I use in my FJ Cruiser axles. I just quickly called them, they have cases of 0W-40, but not at Wally pricing. Hope this helps