Prius or Golf GTI?

Yes, they are very different cars. I went through a similar dilemma about Prius vs. Jetta TDI. My priority was fuel economy in the highway and reliability and I picked the Prius, model 3.

I'm not sure what the fuel economy in the Golf GTI is (actually I just checked it... it looks like the Golf is in the range of 20-28 lower MPG compared to Prius IF EPA estimates make justice to it... that's a lot!). Some people somewhere else criticized me for picking the Prius over the Jetta TDI, arguing that the later has similar or better fuel economy in the highway. I found that to be false driving in similar conditions in the highway (after a long stretch of hwy test driving), although the difference is indeed narrow (HWY EPA estimates for the Jetta TDI is very wrong!)

In the US, Toyota reliability is unquestionably better than VW, I'm not sure how they compare in Finland. In Brazil (my country of origin) VW have great reliability and Toyota is slowly building customer trust and reliability, but Toyota maintenance there is a lot more expensive.

I was also exciting about driving a high torque clean diesel vehicle with manual transmission, but, like I pointed out in my first impressions post (http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...-driving-impressions-thread-9.html#post899283), driving the Prius is a lot more fun than I originally thought.

My advice for you is, unless Toyota has some questionably reliability in your part of the world (it does vary a lot from region to region), get the Prius. You won't regret.

 

That is essentially correct for the US version; you would be fortunate to get half of the FE. City rating is 21 mpg for the 2009 GTI; 50 mpg for the 2010 Prius.

 

Oh, go for the GTI. We have more than enough Prius owners here.
Besides we have to have some one to poke fun at!!!

 

Simple, if you are 25 years of age or younger, get the GTI. If you are older, get the prius. Kids need to get that "zoom zoom" out of their system before they eventually realize that a car is just a car.

 

Yup, this is an 'apples to toothpaste' kind of comparison--two very different cars. I needed a new (or at least different) car, with adjustable lumbar support and telescoping steering wheel to accommodate my <insert very bad word here> back problems. I was on the fence between a Jetta TDI (more fun, better driving dynamics, possibly safer) and the Gen III Prius (better fuel economy and lower probability of reliability problems). The fuel economy issue involves different logic in Europe, where diesel is (I think???) a fair amount less expensive. Here in the US, I'm betting on diesel to skyrocket when (if?) the economy picks up. Of course, so will gasoline, but not by as much, since our short-sighted system ensures that virtually all consumer goods must be transported by truck.

(back to the topic... So I opted for the Prius IV. Coming off of an Acura RSX type S, I have to say the Prius isn't the sportiest ride out there, especially in the back road twisties. But it is a lot more 'fun' than I thought it might be, and over the first ~2800 miles I seem to be consistently getting 54-56 mpg regardless of how or where I drive. All that said, decide what you want and what your priorities are, and you'll probably be pretty satisfied with either car.

And definitely try to ignore advice from people who feel compelled to spout out stuff like "I got an <xyz>, everyone should have one, all other cars stink." They're merely trying to convince themselves...

 

Aww, what the heck--go and satisfy your inner 25-yr old. You're only young two or three times, right?

(I'm 45 going on 17, and I only wish I could have also kept my rsx!)

Cheers
T

 

The Prius is not a regular automatic though, its a CVT... no gears, it just zooms up. I hate automatics. But I love CVT transmissions!

 

To be honest with us and yourself, I think you need to be more specific than saying only that the positives of the Golf GTI are obvious.

If what you want is zoom-zoom and total control over the hand-foot-road feel, than a stick-shift car is going to be more to your liking. I could only drive stick shifts for years, because I just felt more connected to the driving experience. Somewhere across the years I just got "over" it and looked for other things in cars.

Perhaps the stick control and feel are just that much more important to you now. If so, then the Prius shouldn't even be on your radar screen.

Still, there is much more to owning and using a car. I've rented TDIs and ridden in several in Europe. They can have amazing performance, but they aren't as clean and quiet as the Prius. You can guess on which side of the line I've fallen.

 

I used to drive a 2001 VW GTI and I had to visit my dealer average about 1 time per 2 weeks.

My A/C broke two times (both during hot summer two years in a row), my window glass got drop into the door when I was having a road trip (some stranger at school also drives a GTI warned me about the glass two weeks before mine happened and I thought he was the only one in BAD LUCK), head lights kept getting foggy after car wash and rain (water kept getting in), kept hearing some noise while driving and took it in about 5 times at the end had to replace the whole driver seat door to get rid of the noise etc........

I think I can write a book if I tried to tell someone how much problem I had for my VW. I also got a few friends drove the Jetta and Audi A4 and they were having some simlar problem. (my ex gf's dad did warn me about a lot of small problems to VW but once again I thought that wouldn't happen to me)

My GTI was really fast. I got my car chipped, borla cat back exhaust, K&N intake, HK Blow off Vaule and Apexi Turbo timer (all after my warrenty because they will void it). But the speed of the car compare to massive time spending for going in and out of the dealer's service dept and money you might need to spend to get it fix (my dealer tried to blame my A/C problem was cause by changed my side blinker bulb and said dropped the original one in to the car when I had all my original bulbs at home) I had waited to do all the mods after the warranty because I really needed it.

I only kept it 6 months after the warranty expired (because A/C broke one more time) and got it trade in for BMW 3 Series. I just sold the bimmer yesterday and waiting for the Prius III /SR. I hope I didn't scared you about getting the GTI. (you might think I was just in bad luck)

BTW, I am just 26!!!!!

 

Haha you got me there.

 

I may be a little late on the thread, but I have a 2008 G35x sedan (which the Mrs. drives), and a 2010 Prius. Was considering the new 2015 Golf TDI to replace the Prius, but I've gotten to love it so, the Infiniti is going, getting a 2015 GTI, and keeping the Prius. That Prius is not going anywhere!!

 

Ya by like 5 years!!! Seriously admin needs to start locking old threads there has been too much threads that are been dug up from the past.