I'm looking for a new car this year. I want to stay in the compact class because my main concern is fuel economy, I drive 60 mile/day for work.
I looked at the VW Golf TDI this weekend and really was impressed with the build quality and the richness of the interior. My concern is whether the car is worth the extra initial cost over the others in the class. In my area diesel fuel costs about 14% more than regular gasoline. Hyundai has the new Elantra that claims 30 city / 40 hiway mileage. Ford's new Focus is advertising 28/38 I believe. I'm sure others from Kia, Mazda, Toyota, ect, ect have economy ratings pretty close to the TDI as well. I read some of the technical stuff on this site, which is excellent info by the way, and it sounds like there could be significant cost associated with maintaining the sytem that gets rid of the diesel byproduct.
It appears that the VW is more expensive to purchase, operate, and possibly maintain than some of it's competition. Can anyone out there convince me that the extra expense is worth it? I really like this car but maybe I'm not wealthy enough to own it.
Shabo
I looked at the VW Golf TDI this weekend and really was impressed with the build quality and the richness of the interior. My concern is whether the car is worth the extra initial cost over the others in the class. In my area diesel fuel costs about 14% more than regular gasoline. Hyundai has the new Elantra that claims 30 city / 40 hiway mileage. Ford's new Focus is advertising 28/38 I believe. I'm sure others from Kia, Mazda, Toyota, ect, ect have economy ratings pretty close to the TDI as well. I read some of the technical stuff on this site, which is excellent info by the way, and it sounds like there could be significant cost associated with maintaining the sytem that gets rid of the diesel byproduct.
It appears that the VW is more expensive to purchase, operate, and possibly maintain than some of it's competition. Can anyone out there convince me that the extra expense is worth it? I really like this car but maybe I'm not wealthy enough to own it.
Shabo