>Some people don't like diesels. Some people aren't comfortable with
>diesels when all they have used is gas powered engines.

Afraid of change...

>Some people
>have no idea where diesel is available (note that it is NOT available
>at all gas stations.)

Depends where you live...

I must say that I have come to like diesels, though I have only ever
tried a European once. A lot of diesel engine designs (certain
Japanese manufacturers in mind here) have serious reliability
problems, though as far as I know VW diesels aren't in this group.

The Golf 1 diesel I drove was noteworthy in its suggishness; a tiny
car like that should perform quite well with a 1.6 diesel. My 89
Corolla wagon is a much larger car and its 1.8 diesel only slightly
larger than the VW's, but it would absolutely eat the VW for
performance. Toyota's 1.8 1C engine lacks bottom-end, but is a
revable item and very sweet for a diesel. Like other conventional
diesels, however, it will not rev to anything like the marked redline
(5000rpm) in any gear, and runs out of puff about 4000. The 2.0 2C
has far more bottom-end but otherwise is similar in output and
doesn't rev as nicely.