Hello everyone.
I’m not exactly new here, I’ve been lurking for a good two months.. and I’ve really come to enjoy this site’s hybrid community. So allow me to finally formally extend my greetings. =)

Now.. I do have a bit of a problem..

You see, I’m having some major troubles deciding on my soon-to-be car, and was hoping I could get some of the forum’s user opinions. Blatantly put: do I want performance or do I want practicality?
Before you tell me to get the hybrid, I think that some basic background information on me might affect your opinion.

I am 18, soon to be 19.

And my parents are going to be buying this car for me, in full.

First of all, I know that I am incredibly fortunate to have parents that are loving and wealthy enough to spend such a large sum of money on a young drivers vehicle. Please don’t think I overlook this in any way. =(

Now again, here’s my problem.. Performance or practicality? The two cars I’m looking at are: the fun and youth oriented Volkswagen GTI Mk V (EPA 32 MPG highway), and the much more refined and eco-friendly TCH (I’m pretty sure you all know this car’s MPG capabilities).

The VW has flashy things such as an incredibly nice interior, 0-60 in 6.5, launch control, hatchback carting capabilities, 200 HP with 207ft-lb or torque, and so on.. all of this with, in my opinion, very good EPA figures for the power it comes with: 25 city, 32 highway.. But it’s not like I drive fast much of the time or would use most of the power. However, one cannot deny how enjoyable it is, almost constantly, to feel and experience that powerful of a car.

TCH, you all know all about. I think the car looks beautiful, it’s inaudibly practical, and the much smarter choice. But.. would it be appropriate to satisfy my spontaneous youthful (and don’t worry, VERY responsible) urges? I mean, I’m pretty sure that I could get heavily into some of the more, “extreme” capabilities of the car, such as becoming exceedingly good at hypermiling.. and that, honestly, seems like a lot of fun to me. Also, driving a hybrid would just simply be an amazing statement (PZEV, gas mileage, and everything). But I also think that a 19 year old having a Camry is sort of funny.

As for other cars, I’ve honestly pretty much looked at everything that isn’t American (I need a heavily reliable car). I test drove the Prius and really didn’t like the feel of it. It’s just come down to picking one of these two cars.

In your opinion, is the VW worth getting while I’m still younger and actually enjoy frivolous things such as top speed, horsepower, and torque (again, all with decent MPG).. or do the benefits of the Camry hybrid outweigh all of these factors? I mean….. I guess if I got the Camry, I could always add racing stripes.

Thank you for reading such a long post from a new user. Your opinions are greatly appreciated. I’m completely stumped!

 

Your assumption that any VW is more reliable than a US car is incorrect. Consumer Reports finds VW to be terrible, worse in general than most US vehicles. Forget the VW if you want reliability. You should forget most anything European if reliability is a consideration.

 

And you throw out all of the details for the VW without showing the comparable details of the TCH--TCH has 187 hp and 199 lb-ft from what I can tell at Toyota's site. And MotorTrend says 0-60 in 7.7 seconds. Which considering it isn't exactly a "sporty" car is still pretty nice. It's ahead of the 4-cylinder while below the V-6 in power.

So you're not really losing all that much in terms of these sporty qualities with the TCH. Even if it doesn't look sporty. On the other hand it's comfortable, very nice on the inside, lots of little features. And comes with some little bonuses like chrome tailpipe, leather steering-wheel and gearshift covers, nice alloy wheels.... Nice stereo system (6 CD changer without the NAV or 4 with). You can get the moonroof (I have it, first time and I wouldn't have chosen it, but it's pretty enjoyable ), too. Bluetooth, auto-dimming mirror w/ compass... It's amazingly quiet even running on gas, and when it's in electric mode... you can sneak up on people! Honestly I find that to be a very cool feature. Impress your friends with how quiet it is! Plus it comes with stability/traction control. All _that_ and 35-40 mpg.

And it's pretty.

 

Forgot to mention that I'm aware of some of the quality control issues VW has in my original post, but thanks Worthy.

Chestr, I didn't post all of the Camry's specs because I was pretty sure you all knew them, heh. But you're right... it sounds very attractive when all on "paper".

Thanks for the fast reply, you two.

 

Being 23, I can understand where you are coming from--a couple more items that may help in the decision is the CVT on the TCH is great. If you are going for the pure thrill of acceleration, you are gonna feel great without any shift shock---makes it sound incredibly powerful.

Also, the hybrid display, smart key, push button start, and bluetooth are always a good talking point and impresses passengers.

To turn back to the practicality of the TCH safercar.gov also rates the TCH higher than the VW.

I realize the VW has a lot of appeal, but I don't feel like you will lose much power, and you get a lot more car, class, fuel economy, and technology.

Then you can always add little things to get it a bit more sporty or fun as you have probably seen on the site (ie additional chrome pieces, back up camera, body kits, etc).

Good luck with the choice--not a bad position to be in though.

 

The TCH will cost you less to run (regular gas, 40/38 mpg city/hwy vs premium gas, 25/32 mpg city/hwy) and pollute less ( pounds per 15000 miles 5.3-6.3 vs 12.3-12.9). The VW will give you more flash on the outside, but the TCH gives you more luxury (power seats, auto dual zone climate control, auto dimming mirror, homelink ...)

As for performance TCH 0-60 in 7.7sec according to Motortrend and the GTI is 7.2secs

Personally I went for the TCH.

 

If you get a VW, get a TDI. My 02 VW Jetta TDI got 36mpg town and 42 highway. It was an AT the manual transmission do much better. The diesel has a lot of torque and gets excellent mpg. Everyone who rode in it where shocked to find it was a diesel - quiet, lots of pickup and passing power and didn't slow down on hills!

Despite the TDI, I sold it and bought a TCH a month ago. The TCH has just as good mpg as my TDI but a lot more room, comfort and extras. This is my sixth Toyota and they have all been more dependable and better in quality than my two VWs (which I dearly loved). You may want to look into the various Toyotas.

Just my experience.

John

 

Have you looked at the Scion tc?? What about the Honda Civic Coupe?? Nissan altima??

I'm only 23 and I can tell you first hand: PEOPLE ARE IMPRESSED whenever they get into my TCH. They comment on the "quietness, smoothness, and comfort."

I enjoy the car a lot and I have NO complaints after 24,000 miles (since september, 13,2006). If you doubt it, take a test drive of both cars and see for yourself. The difference between 7.2 and 7.7 sec is almost undetectable and if you need to drive a racecar, join NASCAR or some other drag racing circuit.

 

Thank you all for your fast replies..
I'm very heavily leaning towards TCH at this point, you've all been very helpful and assuring.

zebra- Diesel is something I've had no experience at all with.. and it sorta scares me, too. Maybe if I lived overseas, like in the UK where the diesel infrastructure is much better set up, I would seriously consider getting one.. But right now it just scares me.

beng- I believe you're looking at the specs for the manual version of the GTI, I was referring to the automatic DSG version of the car. But you're right.. The Camry hybrid isn't anything to be sneezed at.

chiedoziedike- Yes, I've looked at all of those cars, but my parents have some pretty tough safety and practicality requirements for the cars to meet.. for instance, Vehicle Stability Control is a MUST, and in the case of the Nissan- is only offered in the V6 Altima, which also bumps up the price a great bit AND at the same time lowers fuel economy.

 

I know, most readers here already know the stats (more or less) for the TCH--I just wanted to make the comparison more clear. When you mention the power and so forth of the GTI and talk about how that's a significant part of your decision-making, and don't mention the numbers for the TCH, it sounds like somehow TCH just can't compete with those stats, when in reality it's quite close on all the specs of the GTI you mentioned. And, obviously, has a lot of features and benefits the GTI can't compete with. Plus as someone said, you can always sport your TCH up if you want a sportier look--but the base TCH is still a good-looking, very comfortable, and well set-up car.