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Old 07-23-2020, 02:21 PM   #10 (permalink)
ukiltmybrutha
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Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: North Carolina
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JSH View Post
I have owned a 2003 Jetta Wagon TDI (5 Speed), a 2005 Prius, and a 2009 Prius.

I had the TDI for 10 years and 240,000 miles. The TDI averaged 46.5 mpg in mostly highway driving. It would do 50 – 52 mpg steady state cruising at 70 mph. The engine was fine but interior parts started failing at about 200K miles. Radiator Fan, HVAC blower motor resistor pack (twice), 2 window regulators, glove box latch, center console latch, moonroof seals, A timing belt was $1000 10 years ago (replace the water pump at the same time). You will need to clean the intake manifold about every 100K miles because it fills up with soot from the EGR. Diesel is more than premium where I live today but that varied on location.

I bought the 05 Prius used (2 years old / 22K miles) I sold it when it was 12 years old w/ 147K miles. It averaged 46 mpg in mixed driving (50/50). It would do about 45 mpg steady state cruising at 70 mph. The repair we had was replacing the 3 way valve that diverts coolant to the thermos. It isn’t required but throws the CEL which means the car would fail inspection. That was $93. The rest was maintenance by the book and you will never need to replace the brakes. Ours has more than 75% of the pad left.

I bought the 09 Prius used (4 years old / 62K miles) I sold it when it was 10 years old w/ 115K miles. It averaged 42 mpg (the last 3 years of my wife driving it 7 miles to work killed the mileage). Again the only repair was the 3-way valve.

The last I looked you could get a refurbished Prius battery pack for about $1000 and a new one from Toyota for about $2200. That is if it fails where timing belts are guaranteed cost. The hybrid battery is plug and play.

In the end the Prius was larger, cheaper to run and more reliable. The VW was more fun to drive. Both did gravel Forest Service roads fine. Given the choice you have, I would drive the Jetta, not do the timing belt at 200K miles as see how long it goes. I can’t see spending $1000 on a rusty $500 car.
I can't believe I missed this post. It didn't seem to be there before.

Thanks.
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JSH (07-23-2020)