If you're doing mainly city driving, forget the diesel - you won't get the fuel economy benefits, and the DPF will be needing regens constantly. Good plan to go with a hybrid!
Chevy Cruze or Volkswagen Passat diesel?
- Thread starter beavis87
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Originally Posted By: beavis87
As an Uber driver who does mostly city driving, having a car that gets the highest city MPG and doesn't need a plug is a high priority.
2016+ Toyota Prius Two Eco
2017+ Hyundai Ioniq
Both seem like really good cars for their price and I would prefer they cost between $15-20k. Do state and federal rebates apply to used hybrids? Do I need to be a resident of certain states to take advantage of the best state rebates?
No, state and federal rebates do not apply to used hybrids (or used cars in any case)and in most cases, rebates do not exist for general hybrid tech.
Actually, in a lot of jurisdictions, you will pay more taxes for hybrids.
If you are looking for city driving, then electric or gas-electric is the way to go. I would recommend those highly depreciating Korean hybrid models models. A 1 year old Sonata Hybrid or Kia Optima Hybrid. Both will be $15-17K depending on the market and might have 30K left of the warranty. MPG could be better in the city world... the Prius and Ioniq will beat it by 10 but it is a much bigger and comfortable vehicle. I would never consider a Prius for taxi work without replacing the front seat (horrific). Heck, look at your driving profile and see if a used Leaf would work. Not great for long taxi/airport runs but late-night, bar runs are easily done with the 80-ish of conservative range. Find a few charge points and sneak a few minutes of charging in and you will be good to go! I use a LEAF for my fleet support, parking enforcement, and general use in city-only environments. We have not had a range issue.
As an Uber driver who does mostly city driving, having a car that gets the highest city MPG and doesn't need a plug is a high priority.
2016+ Toyota Prius Two Eco
2017+ Hyundai Ioniq
Both seem like really good cars for their price and I would prefer they cost between $15-20k. Do state and federal rebates apply to used hybrids? Do I need to be a resident of certain states to take advantage of the best state rebates?
No, state and federal rebates do not apply to used hybrids (or used cars in any case)and in most cases, rebates do not exist for general hybrid tech.
Actually, in a lot of jurisdictions, you will pay more taxes for hybrids.
If you are looking for city driving, then electric or gas-electric is the way to go. I would recommend those highly depreciating Korean hybrid models models. A 1 year old Sonata Hybrid or Kia Optima Hybrid. Both will be $15-17K depending on the market and might have 30K left of the warranty. MPG could be better in the city world... the Prius and Ioniq will beat it by 10 but it is a much bigger and comfortable vehicle. I would never consider a Prius for taxi work without replacing the front seat (horrific). Heck, look at your driving profile and see if a used Leaf would work. Not great for long taxi/airport runs but late-night, bar runs are easily done with the 80-ish of conservative range. Find a few charge points and sneak a few minutes of charging in and you will be good to go! I use a LEAF for my fleet support, parking enforcement, and general use in city-only environments. We have not had a range issue.
I really enjoyed driving my Jetta TDI. Road trips were excellent, and the ample mid range torque was a true pleasure on the hilly, twisty back roads of TN. While not a performance car in any way, the characteristics of the turbodiesel were ideal for spirited driving and extended high speed trips.
However, the number of difficult and expensive maintenance issues drove me to sell the car at 75K miles. I miss the car, I don't miss the constant costly repairs and being stranded on the side of the road.
I suggest you take a careful look at www.truedelta.com (the only accurate car reliability data website) (delta=difference in reliability between makes and models) VW regularly comes out on the very low end of the reliability statistics. Some models are an order of magnitude worse (10x) than a comparable Toyota.
I find that on truedelta, selecting reliability by model year, and comparing a Passat to a Camry will be very informative. The older the cars get, the more the Camry shines, where the Passat TDI shows 7 to 10 times more repairs. Drilling down into the types and cost of repairs becomes even more enlightening.
One more suggestion: Please don't let warranty length drive your purchases. The reliability data is far more important than the length of the warranty. Sub standard vehicles are sub standard, regardless of the promises made. And, I certainly don't trust dealerships to repair things properly. I trust manufacturers to use the least expensive repair possible, and every possible reason to deny coverage.
Battery warranty may not cover lack of capacity!
However, the number of difficult and expensive maintenance issues drove me to sell the car at 75K miles. I miss the car, I don't miss the constant costly repairs and being stranded on the side of the road.
I suggest you take a careful look at www.truedelta.com (the only accurate car reliability data website) (delta=difference in reliability between makes and models) VW regularly comes out on the very low end of the reliability statistics. Some models are an order of magnitude worse (10x) than a comparable Toyota.
I find that on truedelta, selecting reliability by model year, and comparing a Passat to a Camry will be very informative. The older the cars get, the more the Camry shines, where the Passat TDI shows 7 to 10 times more repairs. Drilling down into the types and cost of repairs becomes even more enlightening.
One more suggestion: Please don't let warranty length drive your purchases. The reliability data is far more important than the length of the warranty. Sub standard vehicles are sub standard, regardless of the promises made. And, I certainly don't trust dealerships to repair things properly. I trust manufacturers to use the least expensive repair possible, and every possible reason to deny coverage.
Battery warranty may not cover lack of capacity!
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Nick1994
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Originally Posted By: dareo
As a TDI fan who now owns a golf tsi i can say that gas beats diesel today. Faster response, earlier torque, cheaper fuel, faster heat and easy cold starts. Who cares if you get 30mpg on cheaper fuel than 40 mpg.
Yup, no DPF or HPFP issues for you to deal with, as well as no timing belt.
The TDIs will run forever but they seem to be fussy.
As a TDI fan who now owns a golf tsi i can say that gas beats diesel today. Faster response, earlier torque, cheaper fuel, faster heat and easy cold starts. Who cares if you get 30mpg on cheaper fuel than 40 mpg.
Yup, no DPF or HPFP issues for you to deal with, as well as no timing belt.
The TDIs will run forever but they seem to be fussy.
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