Jetta TDI vs Hybrid on 1 Tank from Seattle to San Francisco

You've stalked me so you can put me on ignore. That is passive aggressive.

Most extremists do have mental health issues. Follow your doctors and social workers guidence and take your meds

 

I've been getting 55-60 mpg on highway trips with my Prius this summer. And it isn't even broken in yet. The Jetta can't do that. 48 mpg looks low for a Prius on trips. That's what I get in short trips to the store.

 

The VW can't compete with the Prius on city and mixed mileage. It's absurd to claim that it can but in the end how much more would it cost to drive the VW. Maybe $40 a month? The farfegnugen is easily worth $40 a month. A little more than $1 a day.

If you feel guilty buy some carbon credits from Algore and the VW.

 

I've always considered the VW's butt ugly. Isn't that what "farfegnugen" stands for or does it mean "stinky diesel?" I forget.

A coworker of mine liked his VW (and had more granola tastes than I've ever had) but couldn't find anyone to buy his VW when he wanted to sell it. (Not having a decent dealer network, maintenance issues, etc. were a killer.) He was bummed about it and took a real bath on that one.

 

Just so everyone knows that Dave has made his choice which is just fine. I'm sure he doesn't have as much explaining to his friends why he has a VW.

There's the right car for everyone. Right now, for me, this is it. I've had a 57 Ford station wagon, a 68 Pontiac Catalina, 70 and 77 Pontiac Bonnevilles, an 81 Pontiac Grand Prix, an 89 Jeep Cherokee, a 90 Cadillac Sedan DeVille, and still have an 01 Blazer along with my 08 Prius. I've loved them all in their own way and in their own time.

 

Exactly Robby, I like the idea of hybrid and I hope to be back in one in a few years. Toyotas are great too. I had a Solara before the Prius and it was the most reliable car I've ever owned. The Prius just hasn't evolved to meet my needs, yet.

If I lived in the "high density population center" with a lot of gridlocked traffic that the envirowackies want to force me into or even a more rural setting with less traffic the Prius would be a decent choice. For moderately congested freeway driving it's not so good.

I'll be watching this site as a great source of info on hybrid and electric developments. Oh, and to see when THEY want to evict me from my home and give it to a spotted owl. Not just any owl, one with spots.

 

Strange I put 150,000 mies on one without any maintenance issues and there are 2 VW dealers within 10 miles of my house. There's another 1/2 mile from where I work. What have you been smoking?

 

the TDI is nice. I would go for a Rabbit TDI that got 60mpg hhwy

The prius is a fun car sometimes to drive, other times i get annoyed with theMFD and hills/feather pedal and just drive it. Gotta be in the mood to be anal with the driving.

Just picked up a Vstar 650 motorcycle, has sissy bar, saddle bags, the works, good starter bike..that is my FUN ride, first time rider..took the MSF, got license..now it's the open road for me on the bike. I still drive prius aswell

btw my bike is getting 55mpg solid. Of course emissions are crap but thats ok

 

Nothing, I didn't realize I needed halucinogens to appreciate VW's, thanks for explaining. There was one crappy dealer in the area.

 

i do find it interesting how everyone in the USA digs the VW as cool cars, but nobody buys them.

it is opposite of europe - they are boring cars, and everyone buys them.

 

p.s. 140 hp diesel will be a lot faster than Prius, especially between 2000 and 3500 rpm when turbo kicks in. As result, it will feel a lot faster during driving (new Prius will probably be even faster, but lets wait for that). At the same time, you pay premium compared to petrol version of the same car and as an plus, you pay more at the pump for diesel, negating some of the positve mpg gains.

So there are pluses and minuses to every side of equation...

 

I just got an automated e-mail from a VW dealer offering a TDI for $26,900. Way too much of a premium.


There are a ton of VWs around here. Maybe not as many as in Europe but they have a good market share. They've even been noted on the website stuffwhitepeoplelike in the article about the Prius.

#60 Toyota Prius Stuff White People Like

Over the years, white people have gone through a number of official cars. In the 1980s it was the Saab and the Volvo. By the 1990s it was the Volkswagen Jetta or a Subaru 4WD stastion wagon. But these days, there is only one car for white people. One car that defines all that they love: the Toyota Prius.

The Prius might be the most perfect white product ever. It’s expensive, gives the idea that you are helping the environment, and requires no commitment/changes other than money.

The Toyota Prius gets 45 miles per gallon. That’s right, you can drive 45 miles and burn only one gallon of gasoline. So somehow, through marketing or perception, the Prius lets people think that driving their car is GOOD for the environment.

It’s a pretty sweet deal for white people. You can buy a car, continue to drive to work and Barak Obama rallies and feel like you are helping the environment!
Some white people decide to pull the ultimate move. Prius, Apple Sticker on the back, iPod rocking, and Democratic Candidate bumper sticker. Unstoppable!

There are a few ways you can use this to your advantage. If you are carpooling to an event or party you can always say “can we take your Prius? my car doesn’t get good mileage and I feel guilty driving it.†And bam! Free ride! <IMG align=right>
Also, if you see a white person in a Prius you can say “wow, that’s great to see that you’re doing something for the earth.†The white person will feel very good about themselves and offer to drive you home, to Ikea, or drop you off at 80s night.

I

 

The Prius is NOT expensive. I see that trotted out all the time, but when you compare it to other mid size cars with its features and reliability it is priced on target. About the only way it appears expensive is when comparing to smaller econoboxes that can't fit passengers and gear as well.

I fail to see a race connection to the car and the political connections are actually reversed for the "it's a white thing" thesis. Last I checked White voters were the core of the GOP, not the Democratic party.

I've lived in three very different regions over the last decade (mostly conservative areas), and VW's were mostly novelty in all of them. Saw far more Volvo's than VW's.

 

Wow. Just wow.

 

Are you sure it isn't just the europeans who aren't generally bored? And what would we be talking about as suiting them better? What would genuinely pull their heart strings? Toyota?

I don't find power terribly lacking in either the new clean diesel, or the Prius. But, honestly, with 200hp cars all over the $20k+ price range, one would have to conceed they are both dogs. So what?

lovin' the rough and tumble.

 

Caution Dave, I saw it just over there around that corner. That's right, reality is sneaking up on you. Best avoid it at all costs.

 

believe it or not, yes. Toyota.

Thats because VW has huge market share, and there are millions of Passats and Golfs, everywhere. They are boring cars because you see them everywhere, and VW of course plays it safe to they sell to most population - just like Toyota in USA.

In USA VW has awful market share, and they are seen as cool cars.

 

and there is no power lack in that 4cly diesel, compared to any other 4cly petrol engine. People in Europe buy diesels these days as more powerful cars and they are priced at premium as well, so it is not just mpg - it is power + mpg.

Of course, except for large luxury vehicles (BMW/MB) with V6 and V8 engines, but those are a lot more rare than in USA.

 

Both the TDI and Prius have a torque spike that's early in the RPMs, which I think road-mag testers would ultimately define as not useable for ordinary driving. I don't know the specific curves and where they spike, but vs traditional gas engines that have a smoother peak in the 3000-4000 RPM neighborhood, they fall short. Too many in this debate on either side miss the point, IMO, when they argue the raw peak torque spec of each engine.

As a european poster, can you comment on where you think the alleged shrinking diesel vehicle demand in europe is coming from. I've heard gas taxes are dropping, but don't know if VW diesels sell more, or less, because of it. TDI allocations after the official 8/15 "release" in the USA have been nothing short of impotent. Maybe 5-10 states?

 

- gas prices went up - now diesel is 10% more expensive (was cheaper 2-3 years ago)
- new emissions laws mean less performance/mpg at higher cost. Euro5 laws will bring another 500 Euro to the cost of diesel in 2-3 years from now.
- petrol engines are becoming better and better.
- people are buying more smaller cars where petrol engine is smarter choice from cost perspective

Sure, diesels are peaky, but compared to petrol 4cly engines, they have a lot more power that can be felt in normal driving. Anything bigger than Corolla, you will have big advantage in diesel when it comes to speed.

Fastest Toyotas in Europe are now diesel ones. And of course, you pay 2k-3k premium for that.

I had 2 new Rav4's diesels and company Rav4 2.0 Petrol, and not only diesel was faster (except at startup 0-10mph), it was also less noisy at speed (mornings suck) and got easily 30% better mpg. Diesel was 136hp and Petrol was 150hp. They are bringing out new Petrols next year that will be a lot smoother and more frugal while being faster so that might help. Otherwise, around me 100% Land Cruiser sales, 80% Rav4 sales are diesels, 50% of Avensis sales, 70% of Corolla Verso sales. Then 40% of Auris, 5% Yaris.

Problem with diesels vs hybrids is that diesels are becoming more expensive with emission tech and all of that negates any mpg/power improvements since stricter cats mean 10% less of those too, while hybrids are becoming less expensive and petrol engines are improving all the time.

What I personally found always amazing is that hybrids make huge sense in Europe and diesels make huge sense in USA and yet their positions are opposite. It had a lot of do with no clean diesel before in USA and it still probably has a lot to do with more expensive diesel fuel pricing which doenst help. I mean if the fuel is 10%-20% more expensive, then you lose a lot of that 30% benefit.