Buying a diesel car.. VW Jetta maybe ?

[jemcam]

I'd highly recommend checking out this site: tdiclub

My father in law is a VW diesel nut and he frequents this site. I've had two VW diesels and was very happy with them. Those things will run forever and give you 35-40 MPG in town and ~ 50 MPG on the highway. Great cars and easy to work on, plus, they handle great. Resale value is good too because people that like these cars will pay a premium for a nice one. IMHO the diesel VW's are worth significantly more than their gasoline brethren.

 

[jemcam]

Originally posted by: EarthwormJim

Originally posted by: TheSlamma
I'd go for just a gas Civic or Corolla.

Diesel highway isn't that much better.. the cars cost a ton more to purchase and a ton more to repair.

It really depends on how long you plan on keeping the car, and if you do your own maintenance.

As far as engines are concerned diesel engines can and often do last quite a bit longer than gasoline engines.

But definitely don't overlook a civic or corolla, they do get pretty good mileage too.

I've owned two diesels and I didn't find them more expensive to repair. The only big fee I had is that I once had to replace the injector pump on my diesel Golf when it had just over 200,000 miles on it. It cost me about $400 for a rebuilt one and I think I paid a couple hundred to have it installed. I didn't consider that a bad deal because otherwise the car was fine and I put another 100k on the car after that. Diesel engines last significantly longer than gas engines.

 

[jemcam]

Chrysler is going to produce the Sebring with a diesel for 2007: Text

Cool! First diesel convertible in the US!

 

[Specop 007]

We have a Jetta TDI, 05.
Almost fully loaded with extended warrenty was $25k. We have the slapshift rather then the manual. Milage is around 40, highway or city. But I usually run around 80 on the highway. Manuals get much better milage then the auto's. I've heard many, many people get 50-ish with the manual and some have pushed up near 60 MPG.
With a manual diesel you wont find a gasser that gets better milage and has 4 wheels.

The downside is maintenance. Oil change interval is 10k, but to have the stealership do it is about 65 bucks. If you do a gasser every 5k at Jiffy Lube for 30 bucks its pretty much a wash.

The real killer maintenance item is the timing belt. Make sure you check what year and what belt you would get. Our dealership qouted us $1000 for a timing belt change, but they also change out the water pump at that time as well. Its still pricey for a timing belt, and some of the older VW's require that at 40k, some at 60k and some at 100k. Dropping $700 for a timing belt every 40k would obviously negate the better milage, but I believe theres steps to swap out to the newer belt designs to get 100k.

Otherwise, we love the car. Handles very well, snaps into parking spaces like a dream and is fairly snappy at speds below 40 MPH or so. You can actually get the tires to chirp a bit in first gear from a stop. Its fairly comfortable, I'm 6'1-ish and a taaaad more leg room wouldnt hurt but on the whole its a great car.

As mentioned earlier, tdiclub.com is a great resource.

The other thing to consider is longevity. If you take care of the diesel the engine will still be running strong long after the rest of the car has rusted to peices around the engine.

 

[newmachineoverlord]

As has been said, the civic is a good choice. Don't forget to also compare with the toyota prius, for which there is a $3,150 tax credit if you acquire it by the end of september. If you plan on keeping it for 200k miles the prius is probably your best option. There's a lot of FUD for hybrids on these forums but don't let that sway you, do your own calcs and don't forget to factor in the tax credit. Don't use an online calculator wizard for it either, those always assume you'll ditch the car after a few miles, which heavily weights them against the better mileage car. Taxi drivers who use the prius claim that the overall maintenance costs are lower for a prius than for a normal vehicle. Hybrid tech means lower wear on engine and brakes.

The honda insight gets the best mileage, but not enough better than the prius to justify the decreased space unless you're single.

Diesel fuel is more expensive than gas, and diesel vehicles seem to be more expensive than gasoline vehicles to purchase. Therefore it is illogical to narrow your search to diesels, unless you have unlimited access to used frier oil (you still have to filter it before puting it in your fuel tank.) The volkswagen Lupo 3L gets great mileage at 78mpg. Good luck finding one. The toyota eco spirit 3 gets 87 mpg, but you'd have to buy the prototype since it never was mas produced. In the USA, efficient diesel cars aren't readily available.

edit: spilling errs