Prius vs tdi

[Dino D]

I know the Prius has a not so great reputation on these forums but hear me out.

I need a car for a woman that is no more than 7,5k
Nice looking and feeling (in woman's terms)
Automatic
Comfortable
Spacious for a toddler seat and pushchair
Easy to live with
20k miles a year so economical. 90% motorway keeping up with traffic.
Not high miles, must feel fresh


Currently looking at 08 Seat Altea 1.9 tdi DSG in a good spec with only 40k miles and from Seat approved scheme so 1 yr warranty.
She prefers a golf or golf plus but the same spec is out of budget.

Then I had the bright idea of the Prius.
It seems in real world they do 40mpg on this sort of driving which is about the same cost wise as 50mpg on a diesel?

They also seem to be far more reliable than any VAG TDI DSG which attracts me as I don't need her breaking down. She currently has a MK4 Golf 1.6 auto that is falling apart at 70k miles (gearbox issues, knackered suspension, cooling system, starter motor, oil use). Makes me very unsure about any VAG product - it seems to have the same issues as the MK2's we had back in the days...

So is the Prius reliability allot of hype or in 3yrs and 60k miles down the road she'll be stuck with dead Prius that will be worthless and I'll be thinking I should got the Seat?

[FoundOnRoadside]

Dino D said:

I need a car for a woman that is no more than 7,5k

She's cheap. Russianbrides.com?

Prius is fine if you're using them for their intended use around town, not doing two lengths of the M6 at 95mph every day as seems the case with company reps.

[parapaul]

If she's doing 20k p.a. and mostly motorway, that's perfect for a diesel lump. I don't know, but I would imagine that a lot of the Prius' economy comes from town driving where the electric drivetrain can be used - on the motorway it will be no better or worse than any other petrol hatchback.

Plus, if it ever does go wrong, every garage in the country will be able to work on a VAG TDi. Hybrid cleverness is going to be a lot more specialist (and expensive)...

[kambites]

A (current generation, if that's what you're considering) Prius will do MUCH more than 40mpg on the motorway. Should be more than 60mpg if driven sensibly (ie at the speed limit). I'd also expect it to be a lot more reliable than anything from the VAG stable - they constantly top reliability surveys.

Personally I'd always rather have a petrol than a diesel, too. Don't like diesels.



ETA: If you can't get a current gen Prius for that money (haven't a clue whether you can?) then it's probably a closer run thing. The older ones are a lot less efficient.

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 26th June 09:56

[KrazyIvan]

If your going to put a push chair in one, I would check the boot size, I might be wrong but the boot is not as big as it looks and a larger push chair might be a bit tight.

And as said they get great economy around town but are not as good as you would expect on the motorway.

[chrisispringles]

I'd go for the derv. The Prius' interior feels very cheap compared to VAG cars and the hybrid system and CVT box hold a lot of expensive bork potential. They also depreciate very heavily as nobody really knows how long the batteries last with everyday use and they are very expensive to replace. Given that it'll spend most of it's time on the motorways a diesel is preferable IMHO.

[Riley Blue]

My previous TDI (A4) managed 198,000 without any serious problems, current one is on 149,000 so not unreliable for me. I quite fancy a Seat Exeo next.

Also far more choice of VAG TDIs than there is of Prius's.

[rob.e]

Unless you have a small pram, you'll probably have an issue with boot space on a prius - they have to put the batteries somewhere!



For me, at that mileage I'd buy a small capacity petrol. HTH.

[kambites]

rob.e said:

Unless you have a small pram, you'll probably have an issue with boot space on a prius - they have to put the batteries somewhere!

Hmm. The boot is a bit shallow, but I'd say it's probably wider and longer than the SEAT's?

[rob.e]

kambites said:

Hmm. The boot is a bit shallow, but I'd say it's probably wider and longer than the SEAT's?

I tried to put a Jane Slalom Pro in the boot and it would not fit. Fitted fine in a golf..

[kambites]

rob.e said:

kambites said:

Hmm. The boot is a bit shallow, but I'd say it's probably wider and longer than the SEAT's?

I tried to put a Jane Slalom Pro in the boot and it would not fit. Fitted fine in a golf..

Strange. I haven't driven a Prius for a while, but the last time I had one as a hire car I remember thinking that the boot was quite impressive.

[va1o]

Altea and Golf Plus are a pretty good call for those requirements.

Also take a look at the Merc A and B Class diesel models with the CVT gearbox.

[angusc43]

Why not get a Focus Ecoboost? Same economy as the others, proper boot, no chugging sounds.

[Wild Rumpus]

You need to try them both. A Prius should give 45MPG plus at normal UK motorway speeds, though and they are very reliable.

[farrendahl]

angusc43 said:

Why not get a Focus Ecoboost? Same economy as the others, proper boot, no chugging sounds.

Probably because it's doubtful you are going to get anything with an ecoboost engine that meets size requirements and the OPs budget of £7.5k

[angusc43]

farrendahl said:

angusc43 said:

Why not get a Focus Ecoboost? Same economy as the others, proper boot, no chugging sounds.

Probably because it's doubtful you are going to get anything with an ecoboost engine that meets size requirements and the OPs budget of £7.5k

The size would be fine. But I missed the budget part. Doh.

Still, I do like the ecoboost concept as I suffer from a strong aversion to small diesels and am not sure the Prius concept works that well out of town.

[Locke]

Do Prius's really only do 45mpg? Isn't their claimed figure 76mpg? wtf

[Matt UK]

kambites said:

A (current generation, if that's what you're considering) Prius will do MUCH more than 40mpg on the motorway. Should be more than 60mpg if driven sensibly (ie at the speed limit).

Really? I assumed the mpg gains were really brought home around towm as at mway speeds it would be working in exactly the same way as a regular petrol engine?

Not trolling, just curious as I know very little about hybrids.

Edited by Matt UK on Wednesday 27th June 09:06

[AnotherClarkey]

I have a 2nd generation Prius (2003 - 2009) and I rate it very highly as a commuting device. I don't know how anyone could get 40mpg out of one TBH - I get about 57 in mixed commuting and about 53 on the motorway. It is comfy, spacious and actually has windows that you can see out of properly (a rarity these days, it seems). The transmission is excellent - far smoother and less complex than any torque converter or DSG box.

I would also expect it to be more reliable than a VAG diesel and even if the battery did go out of the 8 year warranty it is not ridiculously expensive (I think I worked it out as about the same as replacing a blown turbo on a BMW 320d).

Having said all that, if you really want something to to 20k a year almost solely on motorways then a diesel would probably be a better bet. At least you wouldn't have to worry about the DPF in that type of use (only the turbo, DMF, diesel injectors, complicated auto box and other things the Prius does without).

[KrazyIvan]

Locke said:

Do Prius's really only do 45mpg? Isn't their claimed figure 76mpg? wtf

At 70 - 80 mph they are not using the electric motor at all, so you lugging all that weight around for no benefit.

Guy at work has one, boot is OK is, bit shallow and due to the shape of the bootlid not much hight either, but plenty of width.