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As an owner of an older VW TDI, I am obviously biased so it is no surprise that I prefer the diesels. I like that I can go from pure dino-diesel to pure bio-diesel (or anywhere in between) with little to no penalty in FE. I like that it is a manual transmission, which my wife (thankfully) also prefers. I like that I have a lifetime average FE of over 50mpg with both my wife and I driving, despite the fact that she is not nearly as good at hypermiling as I am. And I like that locally we have an amazing TDI support group, so getting things fixed or upgraded is not nearly as expensive as going to the dealer or even an independent shop.
The smell and noise is a bit subjective, and I have to admit I like both. It's probably because I grew up around them. The sound of a diesel at cruise or the sound of the turbo spooling up or down is music to my ears. Weird, I know.
I do like the concept of the Prius, but I wouldn't want one. If I lived, worked, and shopped within a city and rarely made it onto a freeway, I might feel differently. But I am glad they exist and that they are getting significantly better FE than the vast majority of new vehicles. And I'm glad that they are helping drive a 'hybrid revolution', which helps bump the overall FE of all new cars with that technology. Short of not building new cars (as calfianu suggested), hybrids seem to be a reasonable stepping stone for the 100mpg(e)+ cars.
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