We are in the market for a new car (this will be our only vehicle)
We've narrowed it down to 3 choices:
Jetta TDI wagon
Pros: spacious, Diesel fuel economy, turbo engine, good safety features
Cons: reliability issues, 2WD
Subaru Outback
Pros: spacious, good safety features, AWD
Cons: only 29 MPG hwy
Toyota Prius
Pros: good safety features, fuel economy, easy/cheap maintenance
Cons: not as spacious, 2WD, Batteries cost $8,000 and have a life span of 10 years
(the recall is not reason enough to avoid Toyota for us)
They all have relatively similar safety standards, fuel economy is important to us, but so is 4WD/AWD... I can't figure out which order they matter... What's your opinion?
Re: K, need some one else's perspective! Cars
FYI, I'm pretty sure that Toyota recalled Prius' in Japan as well. Actually, I think they recalled them there first. Personally, I'd stear clear of any Toyota.
The recall doesn't worry me at all. I told DH if we hadn't just bought a minivan I would be at the Toyota dealership right now. They are having some great deals.
I like VW. What do you mean by reliability issues?
We had 4wd for years, and never used it. What do you do that you need 4wd?
click the pic (blog)
I would go for the subaru.
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Here is my beef with hybrids in general. I had a 2003 Civic Hybrid, it lasted me less than 5 years and 100K miles before the battery started to die on me. It would have cost $8,000 for a new battery pack on a car that I paid $19k for. Doesn't make sense.
One day the normal battery that is in all cars died at work so I called AAA because they have a battery service that will change your car battery. Well, once they come out and give me a jump start they tell me they won't change batteries in a hybrid. So there I was at work, in the middle of the day, with a car that was just jump started, wondering what to do next. I called several auto parts stores and none would change the battery. I had to take it to Honda and pay an arm and a leg. About a month later we traded it in for a Mazda CX-9.
Honestly, what you save in gas by owning a hybrid doesn't really make up the increased cost of maintenance since so many people refuse to work on them. Luckily my dad did all of my maintenance. Plus they generally are more expensive than buying a non hybrid vehicle.