New to the Prius World, thanks to VW and their TDI Scandal

Hi All,

I am just one of the many VW TDI owners that is selling back their car to VW. I bought that car used one month before the whole scandal broke out, so I get to cash in. It was a beautiful Jetta, manual transmission (which I will miss in a big way). I modified the car tastefully... I lowered it, put on very nice factory R-Line VW CC 18" wheels, did up all the lighting, dark tint, roof racks, etc... The TDI ruined me, with regards to spoiling me with the insane mpg. I would get 55+ on the freeway and probably 38 overall. I couldn't go back to a normal car. Since it was time to find something different, I looked heavily into a Prius.

Well, yesterday I purchased a 2014 Prius Two with 19,100 miles from a local dealer. It's in very good condition (not perfect, but pretty darn good)... dark gray. The rear windows are tinted. When I buy cars, I modify them tastefully. I have big plans for this car...

I plan to do the following:
Lower on Tien H springs
19" wheels (haven't figured out which ones I like most yet, something that looks like a stock wheel is preferred and not black - I know I'll lose mpg, but I'll still be way ahead of any other car out there)
Dark tint on all windows except windshield
Katzkin leather (I'll need a good local installer here in San Diego area)
Replace all lighting with LED (except headlights)
Figure out what headlights will produce a 6000k bright white light
Back up camera (I thought they all had this, but apparently not)
Full audio system (amps & audiocontrol signal converter) while keeping the factory head unit
Heated Seats, which I'll install myself
Whispbar roof racks
Dash camera install
Lip kit of some sort
Sharkfin antenna
and one of those cool gear shift button setups I have seen.

My goal is always to upgrade the car to what I think it should have looked like off the showroom floor, and I've done a good job at that so far. I'll post pics of my TDI and my Fiesta projects before and after later on.

I enjoy being active on Forums, and I like to come for advice and share progress of my projects.

Anyway, I paid for it yesterday and I'm picking it up this afternoon. I'm looking forward to being part of the community.

 

Thanks for all the warm welcomes! Yes, thankfully no snow here Every once in a while a little water falls from the sky, but usually not for more than a couple hours here and there. When that happens, we stay off the roads because people lose their minds. So as for kc5dlo's question, I actually did well with the TDI situation. I bought the car back in August of 2015, one month before the whole issue broke out. It was used at the time, a 2012 with 23,000 miles. I've driven it now for about a year and a half, and put 25,000 miles on it. I'm actually getting back a couple grand more than I paid, so I'm happy. Plus, it's had some minor but annoying issues that make me happy to get rid of German ownership before the mileage really gets up there. I think it would be a very expensive car to maintain once it hits 75K miles or so. It was a beautiful car though, by the time I was done with it...

Here's what she looked like when I bought her...


And when I was done...




And here's my car just previous to her - Day 1...


And the finished product...



As you can see, I just go for clean and tasteful upgrades. I don't do a whole lot, but I think I make them look good. Now it's time for project Prius! I already bought my wheels, off the forum. For now I went with stock Corolla 17" wheels, and just a nice coincidence that they are dipped to match the car. I like the mpg I get from them, so I may ax the idea of 19s. Eeh, I'm sure I'll eventually go with 19s purely for cosmetic reasons. So many upgrades to go! Next up, that ridiculous wheel gap! Tein springs on order!

Here's day 1...


And here she is with her new shoes...





The final product....
TO BE CONTINUED

 

Tideland, thanks for the props on the Fiesta and Jetta. They were two fun cars to modify... the Fiesta because it was the most boring car ever from the factory, and the Jetta because I wanted to make it sporty and luxury... sort of wanting to make it look more sleek than a basic Audi A4.
I must say, I never thought I'd buy a Prius... I think it's going to be a challenge to get it where I want, but I'm excited about making it happen!

As for the XRS wheels, I've always liked wheels that look stock, versus aftermarket looking wheels. I think these pull that off. I can't wait to see how they look once it's lowered.

As for the JDM tray, that was actually on the way into the car I got that from a member here, Formula02, the same guy I purchased the wheels from. He's selling Clazzio gray seat covers right now on the forum. I would have bought them but decided I want black instead.



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Thanks, I take that as a huge compliment.. and funny you say that! I have a colleague that had been riding around with me for months whenever we would go anywhere. When I told her I have to sell back my Jetta due to the TDI issue, she stopped me and told me she swore it was a Passat the whole time. I think the wheel choice (both offset and size), along with the stance, gave it a larger look than it really is.

That was actually one of my biggest motivators in buying this car. I was sick and tired of junky cars. My fiesta... only car I had even bought brand new. At 6K miles, that's right, 6,000, I needed to have the transmission replaced. Sure it didn't cost me anything, but really? With regards to the VW, my service advisor (who I knew all too well - there's a sign for you right there) told me that I need to get rid of it while I can. He was telling me all of the issues I need to expect if I try to keep it up to 100K miles. He said the canister/soot system will likely go out, and when it does that will cost 6 grand. The car won't run if that dies, unless it is fixed. He said to expect that around 90K miles. Then around 100 or 105K he said to expect a pin in the fuel system to burst. when that happens, it shatters this piece of metal and that gets into every component of the fuel system (tank, lines, etc.). The car won't start until it is fixed. He said that will run close to 8K with labor. He told me that I would be a fool to keep it and not take the payout... and this is a guy who makes a living off of commissions from broken VW's. Go figure. I had some knowledge of this in advance, as ironically years ago I sold VW's. I learned that there can be good money selling cars, especially a product like VW, but I also learned that VW's are junk. VW consumers are like apple consumers... they would come in and have their mind made up, that they were buying a VW. No need to test drive other cars, it was like a cult (don't take that the wrong way, iPhone peeps... you know you wouldn't even consider an android ). Even after having multiple VWs cost them a fortune to maintain, they would buy another. I don't get it. I told myself I would never buy one, but when I stumbled across my diesel manual, and it was a really good price with low miles, I went for it. I'm just lucky to get out of it ahead.

Your list of more reliable and less reliable is spot on... same exact list I would have made! One objection I couldn't overcome when selling VWs was when a customer would tell me that VW was 18 out of 20 on the JD Powers reliability list... well, I would humbly say, you are right and since you knew that bit of information and that is a concern, I'm surprised you even came to test drive one. All I could do is agree and understand.

I am very happy to be a Toyota owner! I am looking forward to not needing to get to know a service advisor. And in the short time of ownership, it's been so easy to just get in the car and go... not shifting gears. I still have a small roadster with a manual, so this is a welcome change. Can't wait to keep modifying!