Just crossed over to the dark side

Gave up my Prius for a brand spanking new, shiny black Passat SEL TDI with just about all the goodies. After driving the Prius for a few years, I'm finding I can hardly ride this thing--too much power! I'm gonna start getting tickets again... Very different personality. Now i'm spewing the blue smoke, at least for a few years.

Just filled up for the first time and got about 37 mpg in mixed driving, half commuting and around town errands, and a lot of fooling around with the settings and such. Not to mention multiple stops for the car wash, damn these black cars! Bit of a comedown from the Prius but pretty much what I hoped and expected. No highway trips yet but hopefully soon.

Wanted something a little more satisfying for road trips; I am happy so far. Feels like a limo after the Prius, although it could be quieter. And the mileage isn't that much worse, especially in the winter when the Prius suffered from cold battery syndrome. Reading about the various little Passat problems though, I'm glad I bought an extended warranty. Wish me luck!

Mileage should get better as you get a little more used to driving and some of the torque novelty where's off

overall though it's a wayyyyyyyyy better car than the prius IMO.

On the highway you will love it when you get 50+ relatively easy too.


what was your prius getting you on avg for city/hwy?

ChadS99SVT said:

what was your prius getting you on avg for city/hwy?

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My Prius was a 2010 and in the three years I drove it averaged 47.66 overall. In the warm seasons I could easily stay over 50, but in our cold northeast winters it was the lower to mid 40s. A fine commuter car but not ideal for longer drives in my estimation. Definitely had its quirks. Hybrids do change your driving style.

I will be satisfied with the Passat if it's reliable and stays in the upper thirties for the commuting. So far it seems to be right there.

Good luck with the new car, hope you enjoy itas much as I do. Just a word of caution with the car wash. I have black on black and use a "brushless" car wash and have swirl marks all over now. Didn't really notice till the sun finally came out here and now see them all over. Lots of work ahead of me this spring.

Please share with us details of your extended warranty. How much did it cost you? What does it cover? Who is offering it?

The reason I ask is because I get the feeling that the consensus on this board is that they are not worth the money. You were convinced otherwise. I think it would be of benefit to explain why you think so. Perhaps you were given a better offer than most of the others have seen.

Thank you.

Save every fuel purchase receipt from today until you trade it in hopefully 10 years down the road.

Make sure you have Mechanical Breakdown Insurance for the life of the loan (or for the first 100k miles).

Outside of that, welcome aboard!!!!!

Same story here...just switched from 2010 Prius to a black 2013 TDI SE. Hybrid to turbo is a drastic change and I'm having to re-calibrate my driving style, but in a good way. Btw, my first post here at TDIClub but I look forward to learning from all you guys.

Me thinks you followed the LIGHT !! Welcome!

Thanks to all for your thoughts.

This is the more accurate description of the extended coverage I bought. Rather than misquote the numbers I will grab the paperwork when I have a spare moment and summarize. I haven't ever purchased such a thing before but between the various issues discussed here and my one bad service experience with the Prius (warning lights came on, the dealer never could figure out how to fix, and after several weeks they wound up swapping out just about the entire electrical half of the drivetrain--thousands of dollars worth, fortunately under warranty), I decided to play safe this time.

TDI2000Zim said:

Save every fuel purchase receipt from today until you trade it in hopefully 10 years down the road.

Make sure you have Mechanical Breakdown Insurance for the life of the loan (or for the first 100k miles).

Outside of that, welcome aboard!!!!!

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qquixotic,

Welcome to TDIClub! If you like the car now, you'll be beside yourself when you see how much the fuel economy improves when the weather warms up.

Prius what?

Drive it like you drove the Prius and see how the fuel economy compares. Remember, the VW is75% bigger than the Prius.

Keep the MFD on the live fuel economy setting.

Don

TDI2000Zim said:

Save every fuel purchase receipt from today until you trade it in hopefully 10 years down the road.

Make sure you have Mechanical Breakdown Insurance for the life of the loan (or for the first 100k miles).

Outside of that, welcome aboard!!!!!

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Again, keeping every single receipt is a waste and unnecessary. Not to mention, you're doing nothing but spreading fear (this is EXACTLY one of the many reasons the HPFP issue seems worse than it is to begin with).

Seriously, keeping anything more than the last 1-2 tanks is pointless. This is the last time I try to tell you, VW cannot deny warranty coverage without proof of contamination which will be gone after more than 1-2 tanks. If the HPFP does go and your tank is full of diesel they cannot speculate that you may have used contaminated fuel thousands of miles ago against you.

To the threadstarter, enjoy the car!

TDI2000Zim said:

Save every fuel purchase receipt from today until you trade it in hopefully 10 years down the road.!!......

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There is absolutely nothing wrong with saving your receipts. Some feel its a waste, others (like me) don't and intend on saving their receipts. Do what makes you feel comfortable and ignore those that disagree. There is no right or wrong with this.


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Welcome! I bet you will grow to love the Passat vs the Prius. A coworker has one and it definitely has different priorities.

Plus, look on the bright side...you are treating the environment better than if you were buying another hybrid ha. Takes a lot of fuel energy to mine, transport, and develop those darn lithium ion batteries.

NSTDI said:

Drive it like you drove the Prius and see how the fuel economy compares. Remember, the VW is75% bigger than the Prius.

Keep the MFD on the live fuel economy setting.

Don

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What does this mean?

Extended mechanical coverage

To this question, I paid $1565 for six years/100K miles; all mechanical including turbo is covered, though turbo housing is excluded unless damage results from failure of mechanical parts. Also includes electrical and "high tech" components. Does not include standard service/normal wear like brake pads tires, alignment, etc. Also transferrable if I want to sell before it ends.
I am hoping it is money wasted, because this is one gamble I wouldn't mind losing. My last VW was a 1987 Golf which I drove for 10 years with only one failure--a fuel pump. Great car but very basic, and I figure it wouldn't take too many failures to run up a $1500 bill nowadays...certainly happened with my Prius though still covered by warranty.

Yankinwaoz said:

Please share with us details of your extended warranty. How much did it cost you? What does it cover? Who is offering it?
The reason I ask is because I get the feeling that the consensus on this board is that they are not worth the money. You were convinced otherwise. I think it would be of benefit to explain why you think so. Perhaps you were given a better offer than most of the others have seen.
Thank you.

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