Which wagon-ish car should I buy?
June 9, 2013 9:08 PM Subscribe
Prius V, C-Max Hybrid / Energi or VW Jetta TDI wagon?
I want to buy a fuel efficient station wagon-ish car. My final candidates are the Prius V, C-Max Hybrid / Energi or VW Jetta TDI wagon. I've read all the forums for each car but it's hard to gleam what would be the best choice because each forum is packed with true believers.
Here's where I am:
Prius V would be the most reliable car, but most boring.
C-Max Hybrid would be the most performant gas car but it would have the least amount of room for storage.
The VW TDI would be the most performant and best looking car but I'm getting the sense the reliability would be spotty.
Help!
I want to buy a fuel efficient station wagon-ish car. My final candidates are the Prius V, C-Max Hybrid / Energi or VW Jetta TDI wagon. I've read all the forums for each car but it's hard to gleam what would be the best choice because each forum is packed with true believers.
Here's where I am:
Prius V would be the most reliable car, but most boring.
C-Max Hybrid would be the most performant gas car but it would have the least amount of room for storage.
The VW TDI would be the most performant and best looking car but I'm getting the sense the reliability would be spotty.
Help!
Response by poster: @jon, I haven't the Prius V yet. That's in the next few days.
posted by cowmix at 9:12 PM on June 9, 2013
posted by cowmix at 9:12 PM on June 9, 2013
I have the Jetta Sportwagon (though the 2.5E gas version, not the TDI) and I absolutely love thIS car. I have found that it is very reliable (I have driven it from SF to Portland, SF to Las Vegas) in the two years I have had it and it gets pretty good gas mileage, though the diesel would be even better.
I would second Joh in saying that you NEED to test drive all of the cars. I test drove a bunch of different cars and as soon as I got into the Jetta Sportwagon I knew that it was the car for me. Mostly because it was the only one where I could raise the seat high enough to feel comfortable and see everything. It also can fit a crazy amount of stuff in the back with the seats down. I have even stuffed a full size futon frame and mattress in the back of this car.
posted by ruhroh at 10:41 PM on June 9, 2013
I would second Joh in saying that you NEED to test drive all of the cars. I test drove a bunch of different cars and as soon as I got into the Jetta Sportwagon I knew that it was the car for me. Mostly because it was the only one where I could raise the seat high enough to feel comfortable and see everything. It also can fit a crazy amount of stuff in the back with the seats down. I have even stuffed a full size futon frame and mattress in the back of this car.
posted by ruhroh at 10:41 PM on June 9, 2013
My friend has the Jetta TDI and loves it. VW doesn't have Toyota level reliability, but not many car makers do.
posted by zippy at 11:55 PM on June 9, 2013
posted by zippy at 11:55 PM on June 9, 2013
Volkswagens are pretty reliable - not as reliable, relative to the competition, as they once were but the issue is that when something goes wrong it tends to be expensive once the car is out of warranty. And when buying Volkswagens typically require you to spend a lot more for the extras.
Don't buy the TDI if you are only going to be doing short runs - modern diesels like the ones in the Volkswagen need to get at least one 50 mile run per week or they have problems with their particulate filters.
The C-Max does have easily folding back seats - so if the issue is that you need to have four people in the car and then the baggage then it will be smaller. Else, the differences won't probably matter for most circumstances.
For comparison: Cargo Capacity Behind 2nd Row / Seats Folded
- Prius v – 34.3 cubic feet / 67.3 cubic feet
- C-MAX – 24.5 cubic feet / 52.6 cubic feet
The Prius is dull, but it's worth questioning if that matters. It does 0-60 in 10 seconds, which isn't going to win any prizes but isn't slow in any real world sense. If you plan on needing to overtake a lot look elsewhere but otherwise I don't think an uninvolving drive matters in a family car.
But, like others say - test drive: all three cars have their merits. I would venture that long term the Ford will be cheaper to service and maintain if that is a factor for you.
posted by MuffinMan at 12:20 AM on June 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
Don't buy the TDI if you are only going to be doing short runs - modern diesels like the ones in the Volkswagen need to get at least one 50 mile run per week or they have problems with their particulate filters.
The C-Max does have easily folding back seats - so if the issue is that you need to have four people in the car and then the baggage then it will be smaller. Else, the differences won't probably matter for most circumstances.
For comparison: Cargo Capacity Behind 2nd Row / Seats Folded
- Prius v – 34.3 cubic feet / 67.3 cubic feet
- C-MAX – 24.5 cubic feet / 52.6 cubic feet
The Prius is dull, but it's worth questioning if that matters. It does 0-60 in 10 seconds, which isn't going to win any prizes but isn't slow in any real world sense. If you plan on needing to overtake a lot look elsewhere but otherwise I don't think an uninvolving drive matters in a family car.
But, like others say - test drive: all three cars have their merits. I would venture that long term the Ford will be cheaper to service and maintain if that is a factor for you.
posted by MuffinMan at 12:20 AM on June 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
Expanding on what MuffinMan said, diesels are suited to a specific kind of driving. You need to be doing a lot of long-distance cruising to maximize the mileage advantages and make up for the higher fuel, maintenance, and purchase costs.
My last three cars have been VW group: US market gas-engine Jetta, US market Jetta TDI, and I currently drive a gas-engine SEAT Leon (which is a re-styled VW Golf). When it comes to reliability, my experience has been completely in line with the VW stereotype. That is, the engine and drive train are rock solid and last forever, while the rest of the car falls apart around it. When the car hits its 5th or 6th birthday, little problems start showing up - trim pieces start to fall off, minor electrical gremlins pop up. It will start to need to visit the shop, but you can drive it in under its own power. VW fanboys like me put up with it because they're well designed - enjoyable to drive and designed for actual human beings to ride in.
posted by penguinicity at 2:17 AM on June 10, 2013
My last three cars have been VW group: US market gas-engine Jetta, US market Jetta TDI, and I currently drive a gas-engine SEAT Leon (which is a re-styled VW Golf). When it comes to reliability, my experience has been completely in line with the VW stereotype. That is, the engine and drive train are rock solid and last forever, while the rest of the car falls apart around it. When the car hits its 5th or 6th birthday, little problems start showing up - trim pieces start to fall off, minor electrical gremlins pop up. It will start to need to visit the shop, but you can drive it in under its own power. VW fanboys like me put up with it because they're well designed - enjoyable to drive and designed for actual human beings to ride in.
posted by penguinicity at 2:17 AM on June 10, 2013
If you're getting the euro diesel it's IMO the best choice.
I have a quarter of a million kilos on my Golf 4 estate, and it averages 5 liters on a 100k (you'll have to convert) in town.
Yea, the doors have a mind of their own, but I put up with it :-)
posted by wrm at 3:32 AM on June 10, 2013
I have a quarter of a million kilos on my Golf 4 estate, and it averages 5 liters on a 100k (you'll have to convert) in town.
Yea, the doors have a mind of their own, but I put up with it :-)
posted by wrm at 3:32 AM on June 10, 2013
I know this answer is not going to make your life any easier, still..
I was in same situation a while ago and talked a friend of mine who works with upscale luxury car brand in car design. He gave me thumbs down with all so-called energy efficient vehicles because none of them are at their best yet and asked me to consider all of them as experimental vehicles. So you will pay for car company's experiment.
He suggested me to stick with the traditional vehicles like RAV4, CR-V or Forrester.
He personally prefers Jetta though.
posted by zaxour at 3:34 AM on June 10, 2013
I was in same situation a while ago and talked a friend of mine who works with upscale luxury car brand in car design. He gave me thumbs down with all so-called energy efficient vehicles because none of them are at their best yet and asked me to consider all of them as experimental vehicles. So you will pay for car company's experiment.
He suggested me to stick with the traditional vehicles like RAV4, CR-V or Forrester.
He personally prefers Jetta though.
posted by zaxour at 3:34 AM on June 10, 2013
My wife's Prius V is comfortable, well-designed, efficient (she averages 47ish mpg), and we expect it to be very reliable. It is a very well-designed station wagon. It's not especially "fun to drive," but I'm not sure I know what that means for a station wagon.
A few years ago, my mother-in-law's TDI Jetta caught fire on a road trip. When I went to look for pictures of burnt Jettas (Jetti?) for the cover of the "Burning for You" mix CD, there were a shockingly large number of hits.
posted by JMOZ at 4:12 AM on June 10, 2013
A few years ago, my mother-in-law's TDI Jetta caught fire on a road trip. When I went to look for pictures of burnt Jettas (Jetti?) for the cover of the "Burning for You" mix CD, there were a shockingly large number of hits.
posted by JMOZ at 4:12 AM on June 10, 2013
I've got a Golf TDI, it's been a great car so far (about 2 years). My previous car was a (gasoline) Passat wagon, my daughter is still driving it with 175K miles on it. Compared with other cars I've owned, the VWs have average reliability, are somewhat expensive to take care of, and lots of fun to drive.
As others have said, the diesel shows to advantage on long road trips, while hybrids get far better mileage in the city. In my mix of city/suburban commute driving, I consistently get 35-36MPG from the diesel. On the other hand, I see 44-45MPG on long highway trips. I drive fairly aggressively and fairly fast on the highway & when I briefly drove a 2nd generation Prius I didn't average much better mileage.
posted by mr vino at 4:33 AM on June 10, 2013
As others have said, the diesel shows to advantage on long road trips, while hybrids get far better mileage in the city. In my mix of city/suburban commute driving, I consistently get 35-36MPG from the diesel. On the other hand, I see 44-45MPG on long highway trips. I drive fairly aggressively and fairly fast on the highway & when I briefly drove a 2nd generation Prius I didn't average much better mileage.
posted by mr vino at 4:33 AM on June 10, 2013
He gave me thumbs down with all so-called energy efficient vehicles because none of them are at their best yet and asked me to consider all of them as experimental vehicles.
Well, Volkswagen has been producing diesels for close to 40 years and DI diesels for more than 25. Toyota has been producing hybrid vehicles for 16 years and has over 5 million of them on the road. Ford is a little behind the curve but they've been producing hybrids for a decade. None of these vehicles use any freaky new technologies.
posted by ftm at 5:30 AM on June 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
Well, Volkswagen has been producing diesels for close to 40 years and DI diesels for more than 25. Toyota has been producing hybrid vehicles for 16 years and has over 5 million of them on the road. Ford is a little behind the curve but they've been producing hybrids for a decade. None of these vehicles use any freaky new technologies.
posted by ftm at 5:30 AM on June 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
I have had my VW sportwagon TDI since October 2009 and am very pleased with it. My average mileage gets up to 45 for road trips and around 38 for in town. I have had no major issues with it (I budget $75/mo for 2 cars for servicing each year), love the way it drives, and it fits everything that my family of 4 needs most of the time (roof rack for the rest). I would buy another.
posted by rabidsegue at 5:47 AM on June 10, 2013
posted by rabidsegue at 5:47 AM on June 10, 2013
The VW TDI would be the most performant and best looking car but I'm getting the sense the reliability would be spotty.
I think you'll see that the vast majority of negative VW reviews are from owners of previous versions of the cars, primarily the MkIV (1999–2005) generation, and especially the 1.8 turbo engines and the automatic transmissions of that era.
From what I can glean, current model VWs are pretty reliable, especially the diesels.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:57 AM on June 10, 2013
I think you'll see that the vast majority of negative VW reviews are from owners of previous versions of the cars, primarily the MkIV (1999–2005) generation, and especially the 1.8 turbo engines and the automatic transmissions of that era.
From what I can glean, current model VWs are pretty reliable, especially the diesels.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:57 AM on June 10, 2013
It's pretty easy. Take them all for test drives and pick the one you like the most. If you find it was a bad decision, then after a year or two trade it in for another. It's all about what you like.
posted by JJ86 at 6:04 AM on June 10, 2013
posted by JJ86 at 6:04 AM on June 10, 2013
Choosing between a Prius V, Jetta TDI wagon, A3 TDI wagon, Lexus hybrid hatchback, Subaru impreza hatch, and Volvo hatch, I went with the A3 TDI, which is almost identical to the Jetta TDI (it's a foot shorter, I like smaller cars; but my bikes still fit in it). My criteria were similar but included comfortable seats for my very-bad back. I genuinely felt that the A3 bought a lot more car for the money; the Prius seemed noisy and tinny and the seats were a lot worse (again, bigger factor for me than you), and then there's the long-term battery worry. I know that the Prius has been out for quite a while now, but I still have this feeling that for such a new technology and needing a new battery in the long term, I should get a much bigger benefit in terms of mileage; 40-50 mpg just isn't that big of a boost, after all.
We've been very pleased with the A3's mileage. Getting low 42-45 mpg on longer trips with 500 miles of range is great. Plus, it's a quiet, very comfortable car.
My SO has a 2002 Passat, which is notorious for its expense, so I was pretty wary of another VW product. All the reviews seem to indicate that VW has improved a great deal since then.
posted by Dashy at 7:35 AM on June 10, 2013
We've been very pleased with the A3's mileage. Getting low 42-45 mpg on longer trips with 500 miles of range is great. Plus, it's a quiet, very comfortable car.
My SO has a 2002 Passat, which is notorious for its expense, so I was pretty wary of another VW product. All the reviews seem to indicate that VW has improved a great deal since then.
posted by Dashy at 7:35 AM on June 10, 2013
Coming from a Matrix, I really wanted a Prius V, but it was just stupidly expensive. It only adds a few inches of cargo room over the base Prius, which is what I ended up getting.
A year (and 22,000 miles) on, and I have yet to find a load that won't fit in the plain Prius.
I played with a C-max Energi and was disappointed at how much the battery intruded into the cargo area. Fantastic performance, though, it was a total blast to drive.
You don't have to make a Prius boring. I'm a member of a hackerspace with a vinyl cutter, so I've done all manner of bumper-sticker-ish things to it. Plus a custom plate, etc...
(Edit to add: 50.8mpg lifetime average, but that's not the point. Figure it in GPHM or L/100km or whatever, and the fuel savings are modest. The truly wonderful part of a full hybrid is having all-electric accessories, so you can sit in air-conditioned comfort without the engine idling the whole time. The first time, it's freakish. Then, it's freakishly awesome.)
posted by Myself at 1:24 PM on June 10, 2013
A year (and 22,000 miles) on, and I have yet to find a load that won't fit in the plain Prius.
I played with a C-max Energi and was disappointed at how much the battery intruded into the cargo area. Fantastic performance, though, it was a total blast to drive.
You don't have to make a Prius boring. I'm a member of a hackerspace with a vinyl cutter, so I've done all manner of bumper-sticker-ish things to it. Plus a custom plate, etc...
(Edit to add: 50.8mpg lifetime average, but that's not the point. Figure it in GPHM or L/100km or whatever, and the fuel savings are modest. The truly wonderful part of a full hybrid is having all-electric accessories, so you can sit in air-conditioned comfort without the engine idling the whole time. The first time, it's freakish. Then, it's freakishly awesome.)
posted by Myself at 1:24 PM on June 10, 2013
I ended up driving both the Prius V and Golf Wagon (The Canadian version of the Jetta Wagon) when looking for a car last year. I found the Prius to have terrible pickup, which in general I didn't mind but for making a quick left turn would leave me in the intersection longer than I would like. There is a turbo button but having to push the button to make a left turn didn't really seem like a good idea to me. I vetoed the Prius on that basis alone. A more patient driver may not have an issue with this but I have no doubt I would end up getting T-boned at an intersection if I was driving that car regularly.
The Golf Wagon drove nicely and has great space. Decided against it because of reliability worries as I was buying and not leasing.
Not sure what your reasons are for getting a wagon-type vehicle. I wanted something bigger because I just had a kid and the car seat and stroller was a tight fit in a Honda Civic. In every car I seriously test-drove I put the car seat, baby and stroller in to see how they fit and how much of a pain they would be to deal with. So whether it is kids, hockey gear or whatever else you will be lugging around in the car I suggest you bring it with you for the test drives.
In case you're wondering I ended up getting a Subaru Forester. Nice car but it uses a lot more gas than either the Prius or Golf Wagon would have.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:01 PM on June 10, 2013
The Golf Wagon drove nicely and has great space. Decided against it because of reliability worries as I was buying and not leasing.
Not sure what your reasons are for getting a wagon-type vehicle. I wanted something bigger because I just had a kid and the car seat and stroller was a tight fit in a Honda Civic. In every car I seriously test-drove I put the car seat, baby and stroller in to see how they fit and how much of a pain they would be to deal with. So whether it is kids, hockey gear or whatever else you will be lugging around in the car I suggest you bring it with you for the test drives.
In case you're wondering I ended up getting a Subaru Forester. Nice car but it uses a lot more gas than either the Prius or Golf Wagon would have.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:01 PM on June 10, 2013
We were in the market for the same but were looking with kids in mind. Talking to neighbors who already had kids, they suggested getting something with a third row for extra family, or taking our kids and friends to events (soccer practice, etc). We ended up with the Mazda 5 and love it for massive storage and comfortable driving.
The Prius is the most efficient, the Jetta TDI was the most fun (Torque! TOOORRRQUUUEE!), and the C-max wasn't out.
But ask yourself, how much do you really drive? Is the hybrid drivetrain expense worth it? You could take a few grand off of the cost and put it towards solar on your roof or into savings.
posted by nickggully at 5:40 PM on June 10, 2013
The Prius is the most efficient, the Jetta TDI was the most fun (Torque! TOOORRRQUUUEE!), and the C-max wasn't out.
But ask yourself, how much do you really drive? Is the hybrid drivetrain expense worth it? You could take a few grand off of the cost and put it towards solar on your roof or into savings.
posted by nickggully at 5:40 PM on June 10, 2013
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posted by Joh at 9:11 PM on June 9, 2013