@MECindylou
I often have stress over making a purchase and it doesn’t have to be a large purchase. Your car has a warranty. Usually, if something major goes wrong, it happens during the warranty period until the vehicle gets near the end of its useful life. I bought two vehicles new that had less than stellar reliability records according to Consumer Reports: 1) 2000 Ford Windstar; 2) 2006 Chevrolet Uplander. Both vehicles were quite satisfactory. I sold both vehicles to my son. The Windstar had well over 160,000 miles when he sold it and it was still going strong. He replaced it with the Uplander which now has about 100,000 miles. He and his family just made a trip from Nashville, Tennessee to Orlando, Florida with no problems whatsovever. My son had the Uplander serviced a month ago before the trip. His mechanic took it out for a drive and said he couldn’t believe how well and quietly it ran. He said he serviced new vehicles that didn’t run as quietly (no rattles). I am certain that your VW will be at least as trouble free and certainly more fun to drive.
My wife and I both are very conservative about spending money. We think through each purchase very carefully. However, once the decision is made to make the purchase, she never worries about it which calms me down. We needed a bigger house, but it was hard to make the decision to commit ourselves to higher mortgage payments and a higher tax rate. However, once we made the decision to have the house built and moved in, we realized we made a very good decision. It took me a couple of months to really quit worrying about the decision, but once winter hit and I didn’t have to scrape the ice off the car windshield (our previous house didn’t have a garage), I realized that we had made a good decision. When you get over your nervousness about your purchase and realize how well the VW handles, you will be glad you made the decision. Of the cars on your list, that is the one I would have chosen.
I had a mechanic once who became a good friend. He knew I was a worrier. He once told me that if I didn’t have anything to worry about, I would worry about that–not having anything to worry about. I know it is hard to break the worrying habit, particularly over major purchases or commitments, but it is possible to break the stress pattern.
Over four and a half years ago, I lost a dog to kidney failure. I didn’t think I would ever like another dog as well. However, a couple of months later I was at a farm store purchasing lawn mower parts and a rescue organization was there with three puppies whose mother had been killed on the road. Well, despite all my reservations, I came home with a puppy. I worried for several months whether or not we had made the right decision–the puppy was really too full of energy for an old geezer like me. However, he has become my constant companion. I’ve always been glad we brought him home.
I know it is hard not to stress out over a decision, but it seems you made a well-informed one. I’ll probably stress out over a major purchase I am going to have to make. Our 20 year old lawnmower stopped on me today. I have put off purchasing a new mower for three years. I think this time I may have to bite the bullet. Mrs. Triedaq won’t let me cheap out this time–she thinks I should buy a self propelled mower with electric start. I’ll fret about spending the money until I find how much more convenient it is than what I am now using.
How many miles a year and how long do you plan to keep the car? See what an extended warranrt for the vw is and rationalize from there.
Triedaq will buy a new mower. He turns the air blue pulling the starter cord numerous times to get the mower going, and then the mower takes over turning the air blue with its oil burning.
Mrs. Triedaq
My advice: the buyer’s fear/remorse/regret will pass. Take a few deep breaths. Go to the gym. Do some yoga. Then load up the Sportwagen and take your family/husband/significant other/dog on a weekend trip to Cape Cod, the Gulf Coast, Yosemite, wine country, or whatever beautiful spot is nearest you. Have a weekend full of fun, fresh air, and natural beauty.
When you get home, take more yoga classes. Join a meditation group. Get more exercise. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. The problem now is not your car. The problem is, you have too much time on your hands, which your brain is hijacking for its own obsessive purposes. Unfortunately, your brain cannot be traded. it can only be retrained 
EVERY car has a small number of (vocal) folks with some kind of problem. It’s very real for them, but not for the other 99% of owners. Relax and enjoy it.
Thank you for this thread. I am going through the same process and really appreciate your sharing. I too have analyzed and researched and read and test drove.
I have been going through the same process and analyzing and over analyzing. After almost a month of looking and researching and reading I thought I had it narrowed down to the Jetta diesel wagon, the Tiguan, and the Acura TSX. And by tonight I thought I had it down to the Acura but just realized Acura has no spare tire!
In any case, I empathize completely with everything you have written. My first car was a VW and it was reliable and adorable. I thought the JSW was fun to drive
I have not used a spare since 1994, you? Let us know what the extended warranty deal is,
Triedaq carried a spare tire with him all the time until he retired a year ago. I make him walk 3 miles every morning and he no longer has the spare tire. He didn’t need it.
Mrs. Triedaq
True confessions–have probably used a spare three times in the 25 years that I have been driving my own car (I came to car ownership late in life). But it makes me anxious.
Apparently there is a patch kit in the car and some sort of Roadside Assistance for the first four years. And some handy owners rig up the cargo space with a spare but I am not handy!
Guess mister is out walking, glad you post here.
It is called buyer’s remorse. I am good at it. Anything more than 0.01% of my monthly income would make me fret. I don’t buy tools, unless they pay off for themselves on the 1st use. So when it comes to cars and houses, I read, research, go look, talk to people and make everybody go nuts over it. I have been through this quite a few times, so I still own a few of the things that on day 1 of owning them I was ready to return/resell. I keep reminding myself of those things and it calms me down.
You have bought the car, if you wanted to resell just today, depending on you registration and taxes, you would loose 15% of the money you put in it. By driving it another year, that number would be 25%, so think of it as a one year lease and keep it. Get back to use every 3 months and we see how it is going.
And thanks to be “man” enough to admit what you feel. Most don’t.
Thanks to this discussion I have been trying to find out more on the HPFP failure. Found this http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/defect/results.cfm?action_number=PE10034 which seems a bit reassuring and on all the forums I saw few recent postings. But I must say I am now wondering if I will be willing to risk it.
Did you make the right decision? You’ll never know. The Prius could have been the best or worst decision you ever made. But that’s behind you now. Do something fun to take your mind off this. Go out to dinner. Have a picnic. Get a massage. Go to the Opera. Go to a Museum or for a long walk on your favorite beach.
Hi everyone - thank you SO much for all the kind responses. I actually wrote an epistle detailing my psychological state one week or so after buying the car, but I deleted it by mistake and then got tired and couldn’t face writing it all again. So you lucked out. 
Anyway, have to run now, but I’ll respond a bit more later.
Wow MECindylou, I thought I was the only one out here as obsessive as you are being about this. I, too, fell in love with the JSW. Then I started researching this “bad gas” thing, and eventually stumbled onto TDI club, where I promptly scared myself reading the HPFP thread. I was even thinking about calling into the show about it! (And maybe I still will - has anyone asked this of the guys on a past show?)
Here’s the thing. I know when we read those boards, it seems like everyone’s TDI is self-destructing. When you read a personal story it seems so much easier for our brains to think “Oh gosh, I’m sure that will happen to me too!” But as I was just searching for that state-by-state breakdown that member Dweisel did, I also discovered this quote from him:
"So,there is a total of 193 failures of which 133 have showed up here on the tdi club. (State by State List) That leaves only 60 owners that had failures that did not find their way here to the forum… "
So I am not sure how many TDIs have been sold in the US, but a majority of the failed ones had owners who showed up at TDIclub and posted. That is enough to give anyone a skewed perspective on how common this problem is!
Also, you live in ME, and I live in Washington state. Whether it’s because of heat, better gas, or whatever, there has only been one occurrence in each of our states! And now that I’ve been looking, there are a fair amount of TDIs here in Washington. We’re crunchy like that. It’s probably true in ME too. What are the odds that MINE is going to be the next one to blow metal shards?
It is a real concern, yes, but we could probably research ourselves into worrydom about ANY car. Of course the TDI issue is not just “will it ever happen?” but the fact that is is so very destructive and expensive if it does. And that it doesn’t seem related to routine maintenance. I fully admit that’s the really scary part - it’s not like a timing belt, where if you ruin your engine, it was probably your fault for not changing it. I have never been a fan of extended warranties, but if I do purchase this car, I might consider getting one, as long as it covers this. Also, I read that VW is now considering the fuel pump part of the powertrain, so it is covered by that warranty – and not just the 3/36,000 one. Please keep us posted. And try not to worry so much! Enjoy! (PS - what color did you get? And did you go for the sunroof?)
The internet is a great place, but also has a lot of unhappy people reporting. Don’t believe it just google anything about whatever make/model you wish and you get a lot of hits.
For one, try “CRV AC condenser failing”, then try Toyota Sludge. Find a car on the street and try googling its major parts. You can drive yourself to insanity.
I sometimes would go on edmunds.com and review costumer reports about cars I have had. The list of failures is much longer than what I really experienced.
Galant, you are right about the internet; it can be a scary thing for people who tend to obsess (guilty) and read a bit too much.
Flotsette, thanks for your post. Good points, all. I got a Platinum Gray JSW, with Nav and Sunroof.
As I said before (way back when…sorry for not getting back on sooner!), I had a meltdown after I bought the car. I mean, I cried all the way home in it and couldn’t wait to get out of it! Felt like returning it the next day! But I couldn’t, so little by little, I relaxed about it. Maybe it was the difficulty of the decision, maybe the “reliability” factor, maybe the 14 years of having the Honda/aging/kids growing up and I’m leaving the mom-van days behind…who knows, but I was a basket case!
There are still some (minor) things I’m not wild about - once in awhile I notice the different sound of the diesel engine. Also, I’m still getting used to getting in and out of a smaller and lower car. The way-back is smaller than my Honda Odyssey’s, and that is taking some getting used to.One thing that has gotten our attention in the last week or so is what I would call a hesitation, only experienced when I haven’t been in the car long. Minor, but we will be mentioning it to the service dept. as soon as we get a chance. (It’s been busy!) The mpg is around 42.3 so far, a mix of city and highway.
On a recent trip, a rectangular piece of metal bounced off the road in front of us and hit our windshield and the metal strip between the driver window and windshield. Wow, that was scary! We have to get the windshield replaced and the few dings in the paint fixed; luckily, it comes under “comprehensive” and the deductable is “only” $100. And this happened in the first few weeks of ownership - while I’m still parking in the furthest, most isolated spot of any parking lot!
I don’t worry too much about HPFP failure (yet!), but will see how the car does as we get near the 36,000 miles point. Hopefully by then we’ll have had no major problems and I’ll want to keep it longer, like I have every other car I’ve ever owned.
Flotsette, that’s interesting news about the HPFP being considered part of the power train. Seems like the people on the TDI Club forums were thinking VW would have to step up to the plate and do something about this issue. I’m not using any special lubricant, but I do keep all my fuel slips.
The things I really like about the car…well, the torque, of course. I’m not exactly an automotive enthusiast, but I do get just a little smug when I can vroom a bit, when I need to merge/pass/etc. It handles nicely. It’s pretty quiet in the cabin (which was a big deal to me), but that is so subjective. I’ve gotten used to the fake leather seats; once in awhile my legs will stick to them if I have shorts on, but it’s no biggie. I love the Bluetooth thing where it knows my phone is in the car and automatically connects. Love dialing by voice recognition, which works fairly well, and chatting via speaker. Love having music on the iPod and SD card. CD’s seem like such a pain to me now! Something I didn’t think of, but I like: when the phone rings, the music mutes; when the Nav needs to “talk”, the music gets soft enough for you to hear it. No more missing calls on my cell or missing the GPS directions because I have the music cranked.And I really do love the big sunroof. Maybe the thrill will wear off, but for now, I use it a lot and really enjoy it, day or night.
Oh, and I also like just touching the driver door handle to lock/unlock the car, without having to dig in my purse or pocket for the key. And my husband programmed it so alla the doors (and hatch) open at the same time.
So thanks again, everyone, for all your support, and especially for being so understanding about my buyer’s remorse/semi-psychotic episode. I’ll check in from time to time and hopefully I can help somebody else sometime!