Hey,

I got my Prius when I was 19 and while I get jeered at for being "slow" my mpg is nothing to sneeze at (finally got my first 59mpg tank) and obviously my friends would rather avoid the *mpg* talk if they could cause they know I getting at least 2x their mileage (they all drive 4 cylinder cars) and I'm saving money. A few of them are impressed by the size and the cargo capacity. I've also add a few "mods" to the Prius but nothing in the performance area of course.


So yeah, I could've gotten a Celica (back then) or a Corolla XRS but my parents got me the Prius instead and I love it and I'm glad they did. Less money in fuel, more money for other stuff. Besides, I've floored the Prius a few times and I feel satisfied that even though I'm going all out, I'm still getting better mileage lol.

I've test driven the TCH (3x already) and it's waaay more powerful than the Prius and much more luxurious. Think about where you wanna be in the future. Would your parents be paying for fuel/insurance later? Will you have a job by then? If so, you'd want a car with minimal ownership cost (esp. since the basic warranty will be out by then). Since your parents paid for the car, it'll be the running costs that'll set you back.

Anyway, hope this post is useful....

 

Diesel infrastructure? Pretty much every gas station has a diesel pump. Actually I have yet to go to a station that doesn't have a diesel pump.

 

Jan1988 - livvie is correct. Diesel is not hard to find at all! I put 112,000 miles on mine with no problems finding diesel. In fact, now that we have ultra low sulfur diesel VW, Toyota, Volvo, Mercedes and a number of US car makers are going to be importing or making their cars available in diesel for the US. They have been available and used overseas for years but not in the US since we didn't have the ultra low sulfur diesel required but most of their engines.

If they had a diesel hybrid I'd buy it in a heartbeat. To me, that would be the ultimate hybrid combination.

John

 

Thanks for all the help everyone.


I ended up picking the Camry Hybrid... Jasper Pearl!

 

Congrats on your decision. I did not have anyone buying a car for me, but when car shopping 6 months ago, my two primary choices were a c-5 corvette and a TCH. I ended up with a TCH (helping my daughter study up on global warming pretty much sealed the deal). I am 45 years old, so I really don't have anyone to impress but myself. Come to think of it, even when I was your age I didn't have anyone to impress but myself. YMMV.

Enjoy your TCH. I know you will.

ps. It is good that you appreciate your parents. Make sure to tell them that you will take very good care of them in their old age. I make my 9-year old promise to do this all the time. ;-)

 

Your gonna love it!

 

Let me add a few VW tidbits..New here too, and first post..Currently have a 2005.5 Jetta TDI sitting in the dealership in Santa Fe NM broken..They can't figure out why goes into limp mode, and have been throwing parts at it for almost a month. Maintainence is very expensive on the TDI. The new one requires special oil, but the upside is only needs oil change every 10K at about 60.00. First major service was the 40K and set me back nearly 800.00, because the new "DSG" transmission requires it's oil changed every 40K and VW guys call the fluid liquid gold. VW dealer service for me has been horrible. This last repair has caused me to have to leave the car there (800 miles from home) and will have to go back and get it when it's fixed..Upside is the resale of this car is amazing so it will do well on Ebay so I can zoom over to Toyota and look at the TCH and Prius..I can't make up my mind which would be the best car, the tiny trunk on the TCH scares me...
But anyway keep that in mind..Yes VW's are fun, cool cars but very much a headache unless you do the work yourself..

Take care, John from Texas

 

The trunk isn't really all that small. I packed enough stuff into it for 5 days worth of camping with my boyfriend and 3 dogs

Jan1988, if youre still watching this thread, congrats on the car. I'm 24 and I just traded in my 07 envoy for an 08 TCH. My friend has a VW Passat and is incredibly jealous of my car. I would've killed to have this car when I was 19, but then again, I'm kind of a nerd

 

No, it certainly is not small. I know lots of people comment on how small it is compared to the non-hybrid Camry, but it's all relative. When I compare it to my last car (2002 Saturn SL2), it's almost 50% bigger! This trunk holds a lot. The only thing I miss is having a full opening when the seats are folded down. The passthrough in the TCH is tiny.

 

I also looked at the Nissan Altima hybrid, the Camry's trunk looked about 50% bigger than that as well! And the NAH had no fold down seats. And the NAH was not a Toyota