I talk to lots of people who have TDIs here in Iowa City and so far so
good everyone seems happy.  That being said, I'm concerned with VWs
level of quality--not a new concern for someone who has had VWs now
for almost 30 years.  I have a '96 Passat in addition to the '85
Vanagon.  I wish the Passat would just finally die for all its
expensive nitpicking mechanical and physical problems.  Save for the
Vanagon, I'll never buy another VW again and my partner has explicity
instruction to shoot me should i ever seriously consider one again.  I
don't think the TDI should be equipped with a rubber timing
belt--almost every VW I've ever had had the timing belt break long
before replacement time--disastrous on a diesel.  The only VW I had
that could do damage as a result of this breakage was a '92 Passat
(38,000 miles!) that broke a belt and was mercifully spared damage
somehow to its interference 16V engine.

I think if i were looking at a commuter car now, though, I'd be buying
a Toyota Corolla--probably the best made small car on the market
today.  It's comparitively simple technologically, it's very reliable,
and on the highway you will probably see mileage close to 40 mpg (as
opposed to what--52 for the diesel?).  When you check the price
differential between any VW TDI and the Toyota you'd have to drive the
VW a much longer distance to ever see the financial advantage.  Then
think of the maintenance costs advantage of the Toyota over the VW and
the VW WILL break--irritating stuff like power window regulators,
electrical sensors--expensive, hard to diagnose and hard to reach.
Sorry for the heresy but while i love VWs, it's like being in love
with someone who cheats on you constantly.

Donald Baxter
'85 Vanagon GL, '96 Passat GLX
Iowa City
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Donald Baxter
316 Ridgeview Avenue
University Heights, Iowa 52246
http://www.mindspring.com/~onanov