Well, I have recently gotten a furious bug about possibly selling/trading my '03 Corolla for a new model 2006.5 VW Golf or Jetta TDI. I view diesel engines as the way of the future, and I want to get on the bandwagon.
Does anyone have any experiences and well-founded opinions regarding the qualitative differences between Toyotas and Wolkswagens? I have a friend who's owned a TDI New Beetle, Jetta, and Passat all within the last few years, and he claims they have been bulletproof -- albeit not crash-proof in the case of the Beetle. A neighbor has just purchased a TDI Jetta, but she obviously wouldn't have any experience with it yet. I want to know just how good they are, and not just in terms of drivetrain reliability. I want to know how everything from the door locks to the turn signals hold up, how expensive and owner-maintainable they are, basically, everything we already know about our Corollas.
I don't take the notion of giving up my Corolla likely, but with no prospect of Toyota giving us a diesel-powered version any time soon, I don't want to go any longer without the ability to exploit the virtues of diesel power and it's biodiesel fuel flexibility. Comments, please!