Originally Posted By: Slick17601
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
$7,000 more for an extra 7 mpg. Some stupid people will buy it.
15,000 miles a year at 28 mpg and $2.35 a gallon for the gas model is $1,259.
15,000 miles a year at 35 mpg and $2.52 a gallon for the diesel model is $1,080.
It would take 39 years to break even.
You nailed, doesn't make economic sense.
I'm not a huge diesel fan. I did own a modern Jetta TDI and (reliability aside) I loved driving it. The 42MPG was really nice, as fill-ups were infrequent. The mid range torque was excellent and very pleasing in hilly country.
One thing to remember, diesels have traditionally had higher resale value. So the additional cost may be partially recovered on resale. My Jetta, for example, sold for $12K after 70K miles. A gas Jetta, at the time, may have been worth $8K.