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Family-Car Faceoff: 2009 Toyota Prius Vs. 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI

By Marty Padgett Marty Padgett, Executive Editor, March 11th, 2009 Marty Padgett March 11th, 2009

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Which green machine is better for families--the hybrid phenom 2009 Toyota Prius, or the glowing new entry from Germany, the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI?

Volkswagen says they know. VW has staged a competitive drive-off between the Jetta TDI, its first U.S.-market "clean diesel" vehicle, and the Prius in a contest called the Portland 2 Portland Green Test Drive.

You heard me right: I just used "clean" and "diesel" in the same phrase. Get used to it: diesels aren't nearly what you remember them to be. In fact, I'd suspect that many of the cars around you are diesel, and you don't even know it. That's because they're much quieter and not nearly as smelly. In fact, the Jetta's emissions more than adequately meet emissions standards in all 50 states. Popular Mechanics even goes into detail on the nits and nats of how the diesel system cleans up, but in a few words, VW treats the diesel's exhaust with a mist of urea before it leaves the tailpipe, thereby cutting down on nitrogen oxide emissions.

Flickr user Geognerd took this lovely photo of his Prius in the snow in December 2007.

Flickr user Geognerd took this lovely photo of his Prius in the snow in December 2007.

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So the Jetta has a fairly conventional path to great fuel economy. On the Prius, I'm concerned about battery life, replacement costs, and disposal of the key to the gas savings on a Prius. No, wait... assuming all those things would be as bad as assuming today's diesel engines are smelly and noisy. Check out this bit of conversation from my unusual sanity-checker, SlashDot.com. One response sums it up nicely: batteries are designed to last the same 150k - 200k miles as the car; batteries are made of much less disasterous nickel metal hydride; Toyota has a bounty on the batteries to ensure they'll be properly recycled. Better yet, Toyota addresses the "battery issue" on its own blog. Of course, our resident Prius expert at AllAboutPrius.com covers all this, and also notes that repairs are a bit more expensive, but many people are willing to take that in order to drive a cool bit of new technology, and reduce carbon emissions to boot.

Enlarge PhotoWhich green machine is better for families--the hybrid phenom 2009 Toyota Prius, or the glowing new entry from Germany, the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI? Volkswagen says they know. VW has staged a competitive drive-off between the Jetta TDI, its first U.S.-market "clean diesel" vehicle, and the Prius in a contest called the Portland 2 Portland Green Test Drive. You heard me right: I just used "clean" and "diesel" in the same phrase. Get used to it: diesels aren't nearly what you remember them to be. In fact, I'd suspect that many of the cars around you are diesel, and you don't even know it. That's because they're much quieter and not nearly as smelly. In fact, the Jetta's emissions more than adequately meet emissions standards in all 50 states. Popular Mechanics even goes into detail on the nits and nats of how the diesel system cleans up, but in a few words, VW treats the diesel's exhaust with a mist of urea before it leaves the tailpipe, thereby cutting down on nitrogen oxide emissions. Flickr user Geognerd took this lovely photo of his Prius in the snow in December 2007.Enlarge PhotoSo the Jetta has a fairly conventional path to great fuel economy. On the Prius, I'm concerned about battery life, replacement costs, and disposal of the key to the gas savings on a Prius. No, wait... assuming all those things would be as bad as assuming today's diesel engines are smelly and noisy. Check out this bit of conversation from my unusual sanity-checker, SlashDot.com. One response sums it up nicely: batteries are designed to last the same 150k - 200k miles as the car; batteries are made of much less disasterous nickel metal hydride; Toyota has a bounty on the batteries to ensure they'll be properly recycled. Better yet, Toyota addresses the "battery issue" on its own blog. Of course, our resident Prius expert at AllAboutPrius.com covers all this, and also notes that repairs are a bit more expensive, but many people are willing to take that in order to drive a cool bit of new technology, and reduce carbon emissions to boot.

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Comments (4 total)

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  1. By Jetta Owner #1, Posted: 3/15/2009

    "VW to be Avoided"

    VW Jetta diesel cars have great handling and better mileage that Hybrids. But they become very expensive after about 3 years. VW won't honor warranty. At about 70K one of my Vws needed $2500 in maintenance to stay running. Hybrids get good mileage ONLY if they don't need to defrost windows or run air conditioning. They drop to as low as 23 mpg in real world testing. Where I am the Prius average about 35mpg. The Jetta Diesel AVERAGES 45. I'd never buy a VW. The dealers are terrible.

  2. By  avdo #2, Posted: 6/10/2009

    there are no manufacturer that cover maintenance up to 70k miles that's why you the Jetta owner should have bought an ex warranty that u where offered at the dealership. vw's are gr8 and especially the new TDI engine.

  3. By Prius Owner #3, Posted: 6/29/2009

    As the owner of an '07 Prius, I have NEVER seen my mileage dip to 23 MPG! In the worst of the New England winter, it drops to low 40s. Now that it's warming up, I'm up to 47 MPG.

  4. By Prius\Jetta Owner #5, Posted: 8/13/2009

    My wife drives the new TDI jetta and i have a 2007 Prius. When we go out places with my two kids we always take the jetta because it is much more comfortable than the prius and simply feels great. I'm actually jealous of my wife because she drives the nicer car that the average person cant even tell its a "green" car. the design of the prius is the typical compact "green" car design that I personally hate.

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