Any Prius newbies consider a VW TDI?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bob Allen @ Sep 28 2006, 02:18 PM) [snapback]325183[/snapback]</div>

Hello, first post for a former lurker [smile]. I think the main problem with diesel is that you can get less of it from a barrel of oil than gasoline (19.4 for gas and 9.7 for Diesel) that means although you get better milage from diesel you will use more oil than a gas car. But on the other hand biodiesel would negate this, but I am not sure where to get biodiesel in Virginia.

As for the car itself: I like the way VWs drive (I drove a Golf when I lived in Germany) I don't like the reliabilty.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bob Allen @ Sep 28 2006, 01:18 PM) [snapback]325183[/snapback]</div>

My partner and I considered the Jetta TDI before we bought our 06 Magnetic Gray Pkg 6 last month. VWs don't have a very good rating according to consumer reports whereas Toyotas do. Also, my sales person stated that 06 is the last year that VW will be selling diesel engines for a few years due to cleaner technologies that are coming available. Driving a Prius says alot about the driver. The tax credit is a plus as well. Also, most comparable vehicles don't come with all of the perks like the Prius does (i.e. back-up camera, MFD, smart key, etc.)

Just my thoughts

 

I drove VW's tdi for years, and even fool around making bio-diesel and using it. I sold my jetta tdi 2001 right after the gas prices shot up and people got excited, and I made $2000 extra, over blue book, so it was a no brain-er. I got 50.9 mpg on trips so it was great.
The fact that diesel prices around here in the Midwest are around .40-.60 cents a gallon more also played into the decision, and don't forget the $3150 rebate, which tipped the scales.
I,m waiting for a hybrid diesel/electric, then I;ll rethink all of the above.
On another note, i always read/heard that there's more diesel per barrel and a lot less refining than compared to gasoline, easier and faster than gasoline to produce.....

 

Well I don't have a partner (and I didn't know the Prius was such a queer car, but I guess it makes sense ), but the Jetta TDI is very dirty. I had worked for a VW dealer once, and TDI intakes get clogged in no time which seriously reduced performance and mileage. And they sound like semi-trucks.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bob Allen @ Sep 28 2006, 02:18 PM) [snapback]325183[/snapback]</div>

I have a 2000 VW Jetta VR-6, it is the best car I have ever owned. I planned to buy a new Jetta TDI but was not very happy with the new Jetta design but went ahead with a test drive anyway. I must say that it was very much a "German Ride"and that is very good, but I still could not warm up to the new body style. Then I started to see a few Prius on the road and did some reserch on this new drive-train. Then I rented a Prius for 3 days and was sold. I still have moments when I think about the TDI. I hase a much better interior and a little more get up and go. Am I happy with my Prius?, FORE SURE !!!! Would I have been happy with the TDI?, I THINK SO !! I do drive the Prius differently, and probably act more like an old man behind the wheel, but we all have to grow up sometime.
My advise----get a good looooong test drive in both and buy what you fall in love with.

 

I don't think I could by a Volkswagon given the state of their company at the moment.

 

Check also on the cost of routine maintenance... my Volvo used to cost me $600-700 every 15K miles for "routine maintenance", and I've heard that VW's are expensive to maintain as well.

BTW... What's B Rad doing with my old avatar??? Glad PriusChat's back up but things are definitely odd around here!

 

I was really thinking about going TDI and doing biodiesel (homebrewed biodiesel). Then I got honest with myself and admitted that I already have way too many hobbies and that I'd never have time to make the stuff. That and I dont' really have a place to make it and with two young daughters I really didn't want make the stuff around them. Some of the intermediate chemicals are pretty nasty. So in the end I decided that a prius would suit me well... and it really has. I've had mine for almost a year now and am glad that I made the decision to buy one. I still think that the biodiesel option is cool. It would be fun to play around with.

 

I considered it but MA is a CA emissions sate (which means you cannot buy or register a new deisel with <7500k miles) so they are difficult to come by. When a dealer finally gets ahold of one the premium is well beyond the perceived hybrid premium. IOW they sell well above blue book. Regardless it wasn't really an option. However, my second car is a beater Benz 300D which I use to run biodiesel. I would be hesitant to run anything higher than B20 in a TDI anyway. As stated above, they are not that dependable to begin with and the injectors can be suspect. Add on the fact that if you are running BioD you are also flirting with a voided warranty. Too risky IMO.

 

I definitely did. Having some experience with older OM617 Benz diesels in the past I was certainly familiar with diesels. However, VW has marginal reputation of recent and shabby build quality from what I test drove, saw. Toyota has always been very reliable and excellent in my experience, and this Prius is no exception. Also, the hybrid technology seemed like casting a vote with my buying dollars for new technology and developments for the future... BS walks, money talks.

 

I rented a Golf TDI 2.0 ("New" body style) in Europe last year. In a two week vacation, I was getting the equivalent of 48 mpg. I think the VW handles much better, has better seats, and a more solid overall feel (probably heavier?) than the Prius. I've had reliability issues with my last VW Scirocco (years ago), but I have a long memory. At the time the equivalent TDI wasn't available in California, so I got the Prius. Short answer, Vw: better handling, more solid, better seats, similar MPG and acceleration as Prius with questionable reliability, and fewer dealers.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bob Allen @ Sep 28 2006, 12:18 PM) [snapback]325183[/snapback]</div>

That's an easy one. I wanted a new car and in the state of CA, they don't currently allow the sale of new diesel passenger vehicles because of the particulates they emit. I think I heard that the state will soon allow them back onto the market, because the automakers are working on cleaner-burning diesel engines that meet the CA emissions standards.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Soylent @ Sep 28 2006, 04:18 PM) [snapback]325219[/snapback]</div>

:lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Essayons @ Sep 28 2006, 03:35 PM) [snapback]325192[/snapback]</div>

You get less diesel than gasoline because the refineries crack the petroleum molecules and re-combine them into gasoline. Otherwise the percentage of gasoline would be very small. This is done because of the large demand for gasoline, not the other way around.

Tom

 

Bob: Your earlier discussions about your partner's bio-diesel car made me see that there are valid arguments for bio-diesel, principally that it's carbon-neutral. But you've also talked about the time and equipment your partner invests in the bio-diesel process.

A friend of mine uses bio-diesel, which in his case he buys by the 55-gallon barrel and keeps in his garage.

I personally have two reasons for not using bio-diesel: the particulate emissions, and general laziness. It's easier to fill up at a gas station. Having to collect and process my own fuel is not something I'd consider, and having to keep two 55-gallon barrels of fuel in my garage is distasteful to me. (Two so that when one is empty I'd still have fuel until a new one can be delivered.)

The Prius is a much easier way to be green. And the dirty exhaust of a diesel affects me more deeply on an emotional level, than the intellectual concern over the carbon cycle.

Of course, what I really want is a plug-in hybrid. (Our electricity here comes from hydro.)

 

diesel is noisy and dirty (pollutes). VW reliability compare to Toyota? There is NO comparison here. And I can't buy a VW TDI here in California. They're so dirty, they don't meet california emission.

 

Initially I was planning on getting a diesel. I have lots of family in Europe, and the ones with cars (you often don't need them) all have diesels. THey really are the future for IC vehicles.

Of course I wasn't really looking at a VW (except for the Touareg V10 diesel, my god that thing had TORQUE!). I was actually going to get a Ford F350 Superduty. Of course that was before I knew I was going to be driving almost 120 miles a day. Even with the better milage I'd still be paying a fortunes for gas. I'm still going to get one, but just later.

Also, once the new diesel standards kick in in 2008, the emissions of diesels will be much, much lower. Particulate emissions, which is the black smoke you see, will be almost gone. Diesels will be exceptionally clean IC engines.

When I deceided to get a Prius, I did take a cursory look at some other efficeint cars, all diesel, but didn't find any I liked. If the BMW 3 series diesel had been available I may have gone that route.

The good news for everyone is that with the new diesel standards the US will be caught up with the rest of the world, so all those tasty models they get will finally be easier to get!