Hey all.

After three years of paying outrageous amounts of money to drive my V6 equipped Pathfinder for the one hour commute into the city, I've decided that it is time to get a more efficient vehicle.

Tomorrow, I'm going to look at a 2009 VW Jetta.  It's a diesel, and has about 150,000 km on it.  That's around 93,000 miles.  It's a dealership trade in.

I'm really attracted to the reported mpg of this little sedan, but I've never owned a diesel.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

What should I look for?

What I should look out for?

That's what I've heard.

The Pathfinder is going at about 15mpg, if I am translating my l/km to mpg right.  I love it.  I mean I can put two kayaks on the roof, load the back with a water drum, camping gear for three, a flat of beer, and it will still get 15 mpg at 140 kmph.

But it costs about $500 a month to drive.

I could have paid cash for a new car with what I have spent in gas on that thing in the last three years.  Possibly three Huyandais...

Anyway, time to get something that isn't going to break the bank for commutes.

Then I am going to Mad Max the Pathfinder.

That's what I've heard.

The Pathfinder is going at about 15mpg, if I am translating my l/km to mpg right.  I love it.  I mean I can put two kayaks on the roof, load the back with a water drum, camping gear for three, a flat of beer, and it will still get 15 mpg at 140 kmph.

But it costs about $500 a month to drive.

I could have paid cash for a new car with what I have spent in gas on that thing in the last three years.  Possibly three Huyandais...

Anyway, time to get something that isn't going to break the bank for commutes.

Then I am going to Mad Max the Pathfinder.

I feel your pain. I have a Frontier that gets about 18mpg in mixed driving, though my commute isn't nearly what yours is.

I'm looking for a new vehicle, but the 4Runner Trail Premium is in the lead right now, with almost exactly the same EPA numbers as the Frontier. I just don't like any vehicles that get good mileage. I hate sitting low in a car, prefer to be up high in a truck or SUV. I hate all the "blob" SUVs and crossovers that all look the same, are built on a unibody and shuttle middle-aged women to and from yoga. That pretty much destroys any chance at fuel economy.

They are pretty dang good from all the reports.  My Dad wants one - and he's been an Audi/VW fanboy for all his life.  He went with the Passat though because of dual climate zones or something.

I would say buy it.  If you don't need 4wheel drive, or more room.  If you do and can afford a new rig look at the 1/2 ton dodge with the 3L Fiat engine.  I have tried to get some one I know to buy one, they do not work for me, I need full size truck for work.  I am a diesel fan boy.   I have not owned a gas vehicle except for motorcycles and 4 wheelers since '98.  I have tried to buy diesel motorcycles, and wheelers.  I even looked at these new airplane diesel engines.

But before you do look at your gas stations.  Who has diesel?  Do they change fuel with weather?  Any local stations owned by long term locals?  Might be worth a few pennies a gallon from people who know local weather.  #2 diesel will start to gel at about 35 degrees F, #1 diesel is good done to -25/-30 F.  Most stations also have what they call winter blend, which is a a blend of #1 and #2 and varies by station, and Brand.  By the way this ulsd, ultra low sulfur diesel, sucks bad.  When it came in I lost 20-30% off my mileage, and power is a #1 fuel levels.  Oh yeah, power in diesel is measured by centrane not octane, and #2 has the most BTU's then your winter blends, and #1 is noticeable weaker.   With the new ULSD buy some marvel mystery oil or ATF, or ashless synthetic two stroke oil and add a few oz per fill up.  I use 1/3 of a quart of ATF per fill up which is about 30 gallons. 

There is the sneaky way to fill your diesel also and save big.  This works if you heat with oil, home heating fuel is identical to diesel fuel.  Here in PIP all we buy for diesel or heating fuel is JP-8.  This is sold as #1 diesel, heating oil, and can be sold as Aviation fuel.  Taxes are different based on use, heating fuel has almost $1 per gal less taxes on it.  Where I used to live you could have a pump on a tank and get heating fuel in it if it was also hard plumbed to a heating appliance.  I always bought road tax fuel, had propane heat.  #1 fuel is "dry" so if you are running it in equipment or vehicles you need to add some lubrication for the pumps and other areas of the engines that are lubed by the fuel.

I've been absolutely thrilled with my Subaru Forester - averaging 24mpg city, 28 mpg highway, lots of room, nice bit o' zoom to it...

I know they're good cars, but I just can't do a Subaru. Too much granola in those things, and I haven't had a pair of Burkenstocks in years.

Hey!

Meh, pretty sure that's one of the nicer things most of y'all have called me... *grin*

I feel your pain. I have a Frontier that gets about 18mpg in mixed driving, though my commute isn't nearly what yours is.

I'm looking for a new vehicle, but the 4Runner Trail Premium is in the lead right now, with almost exactly the same EPA numbers as the Frontier. I just don't like any vehicles that get good mileage. I hate sitting low in a car, prefer to be up high in a truck or SUV. I hate all the "blob" SUVs...

Yeap, the Frontier and the Pathfinder are so close in so many ways that I know you know exactly what I am talking about.  I love my Nissan trucks.  Had the pickup - which preceded the Frontier in the Canadian market - for more than ten years without any serious maintenance or repair.  I would buy another in a heartbeat.  It's just that mine is getting too expensive to drive.

As for the blob SUV's...  I have one.  It's a light weight crossover SUV that is based on the Lancer chassis.  It is the Mitsubishi Outlander.  It has one feature that for me, put it head and shoulders above all of the other blob SUV's out there:  it is a true 4WD that you can lock in.  And it's a great little car.  It has been repair free since bought new and gets excellent fuel economy.  Yes, it suffers from a lot of the issues that suburban compact SUV's do:  It's light.  It has great internal space but low weight capacity.  The ground clearance is less than I'd like and it has a short wheel base.  It's not a real offroad vehicle (the Pathfinder is).  But... for most weather conditions that would get a small car or sedan stuck in the winter, the Outlander will carry on without issue.  Which has come in pretty handy over the last winter.  And my wife and kid like the space and comfort.  So some are better than others.

It really depends on some factors.

I would never own a VW but there are numerous factors to consider. What is the price of diesel vs. gasoline in Canada? Here in the US diesel is typically .40-.50 cents higher per gallon than gasoline.

The price disparity is less than that, I think.  Looking at current and recent prices, it averages out to about 3-5% more expensive than gasoline.  A few years back though, I do recall it was in the region of 25% more expensive for a brief time.

How cold is it where you live?  I still have nightmares about my wife's diesel VW when she was attending college.  It would sit outside in a parking lot in the dead of winter, and no matter how much additive we would put in (alcohol, I think), the fuel would gel and it wouldn't start.  If she had a block heater and someplace to plug it in, it might have been a different matter.  But I had to try to jumpstart it and replace batteries in sub zero wind chills.  Not fun.

I would have to look into that, and yes, I admit it's a concern of mine.  Most dealerships and after-marketers sell kits to winterize diesels in Canada.  This usually involves a new alternator, and a two battery block heater arrangement.  I know at work we use a lot of fuel conditioner on the big trucks and they can be the s___s to try to cold start.  So yes, definitely a consideration.

I would say buy it.  If you don't need 4wheel drive, or more room.  If you do and can afford a new rig look at the 1/2 ton dodge with the 3L Fiat engine.  I have tried to get some one I know to buy one, they do not work for me, I need full size truck for work.  I am a diesel fan boy.   I have not owned a gas vehicle except for motorcycles and 4 wheelers since '98.  I have tried to buy diesel motorcycles, and wheelers.  I even looked at these new airplane diesel engines.

But before you do look at your gas stations.  Who has diesel?  Do they change fuel with weather?  Any local stations owned by long term locals?  Might be worth a few pennies a gallon from people who know local weather.  #2 diesel will start to gel at about 35 degrees F, #1 diesel is good done to -25/-30 F.  Most stations also have what they call winter blend, which is a a blend of #1 and #2 and varies by station, and Brand.  By the way this ulsd, ultra low sulfur diesel, sucks bad.  When it came in I lost 20-30% off my mileage, and power is a #1 fuel levels.  Oh yeah, power in diesel is measured by centrane not octane, and #2 has the most BTU's then your winter blends, and #1 is noticeable weaker.   With the new ULSD buy some marvel mystery oil or ATF, or ashless synthetic two stroke oil and add a few oz per fill up.  I use 1/3 of a quart of ATF per fill up which is about 30 gallons. 

There is the sneaky way to fill your diesel also and save big.  This works if you heat with oil, home heating fuel is identical to diesel fuel.  Here in PIP all we buy for diesel or heating fuel is JP-8.  This is sold as #1 diesel, heating oil, and can be sold as Aviation fuel.  Taxes are different based on use, heating fuel has almost $1 per gal less taxes on it.  Where I used to live you could have a pump on a tank and get heating fuel in it if it was also hard plumbed to a heating appliance.  I always bought road tax fuel, had propane heat.  #1 fuel is "dry" so if you are running it in equipment or vehicles you need to add some lubrication for the pumps and other areas of the engines that are lubed by the fuel.

Good info my friend.  Lot's of good stuff in there.

Anyway, long story short, the car WAS A SMOKING DEAL.  When we got to the dealership there had been fifteen lookers beforehand, and it had sold and been driven into the center about ten minutes before.

Story of my life.

Only thing with VW is the stupid smart keys, I have heard of several hundred bucks to get a spare.   

I've heard that too.  Never looked into it, but will add that to my list of questions.

A neat trick I learned with "smart keys".  When I worked in an audio shop we would zip tie the smart key onto the steering column under the dash, (Preferably behind a panel so its completely hidden).  Then you can have a "normal" key to start it and it can be replaced at walmart for a few dollars. 

My Passat only came with one key (private seller) and you don't have to tape the whole key under the dash, the plastic bead from inside the plastic part of the key (that's your RFID chip) is much smaller and can be secured with superglue. Otherwise it's $60/key for my 99VW, I hear the newer ones are worse. I do wish I had the TDI instead of the 1.8 Turbo gas model.

Why would you glue the important (and expensive) part of your key INTO the car? 

So you can pay $6 per key instead of $60... Similar solution to what dot4x4 was suggesting, just without the loss of a key. I haven't done it myself... Just gotten by with one key. Seems my wife and daughters only lose extra keys... Had 2 other vehicles that HAD spare keys, that now don't. Then there's my old Isuzu rodeo, it's been gone for 6 years and I still occasionally find keys for it in with the girls' toys.