Cars, etc.

[Bob Zumbrunnen]

A former bookkeeper had a Jetta TDI (early 2000's) and said mid 40's to low 50's was the norm for her. With the quality of build and engineering that's typical for any German car.

A good rule of thumb is that a diesel will get around 50% better fuel economy than the same car with a gas engine.

Diesel packs a lot more BTU's per gallon, the much higher compression helps even more, and the low-down grunt of a diesel engine (they don't turn very high revs or make much power when doing so) fits real-world driving conditions better than a gas engine does.

Tom has a Passat W8 and can speak to the quality of VW's.

Edit: Speaking of German engineering and build quality, my 94 BMW 530i has 172k miles on it and the only squeaking/rattling is the throttle linkage in need of lubrication. The car is so darned quiet, I can hear THAT. And the doors still shut with a gratifying "Thunk".