[gt350mike]

I’m a diesel guy at heart; owned 83 Jetta diesel in college; 50 mpg, but slow as @#%!, 86 BMW 524tdi (I had to perfect the sling shot passing method with the VW and BMW diesel), and I currently have an 05 F-250 with the 6.0 PS. What can I say....I love the smell of diesel in the morning!
What I found really interesting are the prices of a Jetta diesel; they are typically $2.5k more than a comparable Jetta. If my son's car got 30mpg, I will be happy but I'm not going to pay a huge premium on a used car just to get an additional 14 mpg; it might save him about $400 a year on his fuel bill). Before I get flamed for paying a premium on my F-250, I bought the diesel because of resale (and it's fun to drive with over 560 ft lbs of torque)!!!
I am extremely glad I asked the question on the VW....I know there are people that have experienced success with them, but I'm surprised to hear about all of the others who have not been so lucky. For the amount of money I'm willing to spend, it looks like Jr. will end up with something Japanese and more on the compact end of the spectrum. Thanks again for all of your comments!