Wrapper

Thanks, everyone, and keep it coming! I am really starting to think
I'd better not do this. The Land Cruiser is expensive to run, but it's
a beautiful machine and at least, generally, knock on wood, it's
expensive-ness is predictable. Sounds like a Jetta TDi would have
unpredictable expenses, to the extreme. They are telling me this even
over on the VW list.

-jeff


Ray O wrote:[color=blue]
> "Jeff Olsen" <handywired@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:1152949813.646090.148210@s13g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=green]
> > Pardon me for asking this. Here's the deal.
> >
> > I own two Toyota's, a '95 Land Cruiser with 120k, and an '06 Tundra.
> > It was sort of convoluted how i ended up with two sort of heavy-duty
> > (by my standards anyway) vehicles, and I love the Cruiser but reality
> > being what it is I need to get rid of it and get something that has
> > spectacular fuel economy. the fuel savings will be about $2000/yr at
> > $3 per gallon, as much as my wife drives. I'm in the middle of a
> > career change and would like to lower my monthly expenses.
> >
> > I am not particularly interested in a hybrid. If I could afford to buy
> > new ones and trade them off with low miles, then I would be, but I
> > can't. My prediction is that when that 100k drivetrain warranty is
> > anywere near the horizon for the vehicle, it's value will plummet like
> > rock.
> >[/color]
>
> I am not trying to convince you to buy a hybrid, particularly since you are
> trying to reduce your operating costs, but according to Kelley Blue Book,
> the trade-in value for a 2001 Prius with 110,000 miles is $6,000 if the
> vehicle is in fair condition, $7,300 in good condition. I didn't check the
> retail value, but it is a safe bet that it is higher than the trade-in
> value.
>[color=green]
> > So I am at least exploring the idea of a Jetta TDi wagon. These rival
> > the economy of a Prius and also have the added bonus of being able to
> > run biodiesel. I'd like to get as personally disconnected from the
> > Middle East as is possible, and biodiesel is available and competitive
> > in my town, so that is a big plus for me.[/color]
>
> Bio diesel is a good idea in theory. Check the availablility of biodiesel
> in your area to make sure it is actually available and at a reasonable cost.
>[color=green]
> >
> > However, the reputation of VW's STINK. So what I am asking is, do any
> > of you Toyota owners also own a modern, say post-2000, Jetta or Passat?
> > How has the overall reliability been? Would you buy a VW again? Is
> > it a huge difference between a Toyota and a modern VW?
> >
> > Will the damn thing break my heart?
> >
> > Thank you. I know this is an odd question. Believe me, if Toyota,
> > Honda, Subaru, or Nissan made a 45+ mpg turbodiesel, I would not even
> > be considering this.
> >
> > -jeff
> >[/color]
> There are conventional gasoline - powered vehicle whose mileage approach 45
> MPG.
> --
>
> Ray O
> (correct punctuation to reply)[/color]