Accident :'(

Update: I have decided to replace my v with a Passat TDI SEL so I will be leaving the Prius family after owning two wonderful hybrid vehicles. After having gone through a severe enough accident to total my car, I decided safety had to be a consideration along with efficiency. Unfortunately, the v is not a top-safety-pick and no longer recommended by Consumer Reports either, although I think it will be in the future once it's modified to pass the small overlap crash test. Unfortunately I need a vehicle now, not later. I want to state I'm not knocking down the v at all - it was a wonderful versatile vehicle and met all my needs. But since I was dealt this hand and have a choice, I made the decision to go in another direction. The PC family has been wonderful - I will check in now and then to see what's going on.

 

Thanks, I'll miss PC too! I'll post of pic of my new car once I seal the deal this week. Lifetime avg of my v was close to 44 mpg, hope I don't take too big a hit with the TDI!

 

Purchased my new TDI yesterday. As I may have said before, I'm usually more excited when buying a new car, but my v was new - only 14 months old when she met an untimely death. Driving to work this morning, the car said I got 40.1 mpg. I'm not tracking mileage on the first tank since the dealer likely didn't fill it up completely but it's encouraging to see the kind of mileage possible from a larger car. It's a bit more quiet on the road so I have to watch my speed - I'll have to use CC once I'm done with break-in! Still have the rental car I'll be returning on Friday.

 

Hi all, checking in to let you know how things are going with my new wheels. Filled for the 3rd time the other day. One thing I like is I can go 600+ miles before thinking of filling up. On this 4th tank, I'm consistently averaging over 40, last tank came in at 40.5 mpg, so it won't be long before I get my lifetime average over 40. I have a trip to FL planned in Nov and looking forward to what kind of mileage I'll get on the open road. I like that that MFI has current trip 1 and current trip 2. 1 always resets back to zero if it's been longer than 2 hours since last startup, and 2 is since it was last reset - which is at every fill-up for me.

There are some 'german' quirks, like at restart of the ICE, the radio doesn't come back on even if I didn't turn it off, and there it a slight delay when you press the nav or radio button, but got used it.

Things I love about the Passat: huge back seat, comfortable power driver and front passenger seats, sunroof, remote start, turns a smaller radius than the Prius v5 so parking in the garage is easier, and passenger side mirror tilts down when I shift into reverse. There's not much to dislike about it, but I do miss not having a rear window wiper. I got so used to having a clear view out the back, no matter the weather. The trunk is also huge, but not quite as versatile as v. I had to purchase a platform setup for the dog in the back seat but not planning on any trips with the dog soon. I have less than 2000 miles on it since I took a 2 week vacation to Europe shortly after purchase. I got to ride in a MB Bluetec Hybrid in Stockholm - that was cool! Why can't we get the cool cars over here?!! I glanced thru 2Fas's updates on his v - sorry to see he's having some problems with his 350k+ miles v, but that's to be expected I guess. I hope his v still has plenty of miles in it.

 

Diesel prices are higher but I can find it for as low as $3.409 here in SC. I don't know about the car falling apart and rattling, the Passat seems tighter and quieter than the Prius v. You can tell when you close the doors, there more of a solid thunk than a tinny hollow sound, especially when you have a passenger who slams the door closed - very rude IMO. It seems like the Nav is a bit better than the v5 base nav since I have Sirius/XM Travel Link with it, but their a 1-2 sec delayed response time when you push a button - something that is well known about VW. I like having the ability to search for fuel prices and giving alternate route info if traffic is clogged up ahead - I'll see how it works when I take my first long road trip. The sunroom does have a small wind screen that pops up and it's actually not bad sound wise when it's open, but I haven't used it much with the high temps recently. Will make use of it during the cooler fall season. Price wise, I ended up spending about $700 more on the Passat than I did with my v5. Sticker was over $34k and got it under $30k. I checked out pricing for both in July when I purchased and there were pretty good discounts on each. The main difference is the Passat SEL looks and feels more like a premium grade car, where the Pri's look and feel like economy cars with a lot of hi-tech hybrid components. I guess it's about the same difference you would see and feel between Toyota and Lexus Hybrids - just my personal opinion. I'll be curious to see how my mileage will compare to the v. On my 4th tank now with 2,200+ miles and will fill up again in next day or two, but last tank came in at 40.5, first time over the 40 mark! I look forward to my fuelly badge showing over 40 soon.
Edit: I should add that the DTE always shows between 700 and 775 miles - don't have to fuel up as often!