Collective Wisdom

[Colonel Sanders]

For winter, four snow tires and ground clearance
is at least as important as (heavy) AWD. RWD
sucks, but FWD is ok. I used to have a 4x4 Jeep
Cherokee that I regularly got stuck.

I have owned diesel, and am not a fan. Can be
hard to find - not all gas stations carry it - and
they don't like the cold. They really like to be
plugged in, add fuel conditioner, etc. Good for
someplace like Europe, that doesn't get cold.

Buying a car, always get the biggest engine and
best suspension that they offer. Never regretted that.

[cgzro]

I have a new Golf diesel, and it has no problems in -30 and i never plug it in. My dads older Jetta diesel was a bit more fussy. Fuel could be a problem i guess in some parts. I used to own 3 Subarus, love them but they burn a lot more gas.

[Colonel Sanders]

It's coming back to me - the damned diesel never
put off any heat in the winter. Because it was so
efficient, probably. Great mileage.

[Colonel Sanders]

I will admit that I am always puzzled when
someone spends $40,000 or $50,000 on a car
to save money on fuel.

If you run the numbers, probably somewhere
around 300,000 km you will break even.

[Colonel Sanders]

I once bought a Honda Civic new and ran it out
to two-thirds of a million kilometers. Still got
almost 40 mpg. Extremely economical.

[dahspeers]

I have a 2006 Jetta TDI. It's great in the winter, I have Nokian Hakkapeliittas on it and it goes through anything. Seriously. I've tried to get it stuck, it just hasn't happened. It gets roughly 1000 km on about 50 liters of fuel. It is cold blooded and takes forever to warm up, but it will always start when it's -30. This being said, 90% of Canadian Volkswagens have heated seats to make up for it (09+ Jettas even have auxiliary electric heaters). And yes they do make up for it.

[Liquid Charlie]

So I need a new ride to replace my aging Suby

Go for the STI -- I smile every time I sit behind the wheel of mine --

[PilotDAR]

I just made a long post, which for what ever reason did not stick, explaining why I, my wife, and two of my daughters all drive diesel VW's. They're good, for all the reasons stated. I'll buy another next time. They are lower cost to maintain, so the higher purchased price is balanced in operation.

My Jetta wagon full of family for holiday, and still 1150 km on 52 liters (and it'll do 180 kmh if you have to).

And, as a volunteer firefighter, having cut a lot of people out of cars, I really like the crashworthiness of a VW

[fish4life]

Take a look at the Mazda cx-5 you can get it FWD or AWD and with the new direct injection engines they are able to bump the compression up quite a bit and still run regular 87 octane gas, in doing so they are getting awfully close to diesel fuel economy. When it comes to actually comparing mileage though look at http://www.fueleconomy.gov it is the US based website as they have a lot more realistic testing techniques for determining fuel economy where they actually drive the vehicles around and use a US gallon not the inflated Imperial gallon.

[Masters Off]

I also echo the VW belief. My TDI gets as great as 4.2L/100 km on just highway in the summer. Upwards of 1200 km a tank. Running Blizak winter tires, I can't get mine stuck if I tried, either.

It's the MK4, which has considerable engine differences to the newer models. But the body is much heavier, thicker and better built than other cars of the same age. (The weight on the front end really helps with the winter driving, I'm sure.) I don't have the wagon version, but I don't doubt it does a great job hauling more for a family size.

I've towed a 2000 lb trailer across the country without thought. Great car.

In recent years I've owned the following:
Chevy Cavalier (generic crap car)
Chrys Intrepid (great on the highway, horrible in the snow, heavy on gas, not very comfortable.)
Chrys New Yorker (similar to intrepid, much more comfortable)
Toyota Highlander (good in snow, awd, hard on gas, not very economical. Started falling apart a bit at the 8 year mark)
GMC 3500, extended cab, extended box, diesel. Ok in snow, very hard on gas. I'd venture to say my car gets better traction than that truck did, at times.

It's not all about gas, but my insurance is cheap, the parts may be more expensive but they don't break as often. The engine is solid. Perhaps the only downfall I know of VW, you have to take the engine block out and rotate 90 just to get a damn oil change. Still not sure how half the stuff was put in there, but it's sometimes a real backwards way of doing things.
And contrary to the Colonel's post, if you have an app like GasBuddy, I wouldn't worry about finding diesel, these days. I've never had a problem.

[Colonel Sanders]

takes forever to warm up ...
90% of Canadian Volkswagens have heated seats to make up for it ...
And yes they do make up for it ...

As a former (and never again) VW diesel owner,
how do the heated seats defrost the windshield?
It's convenient in the winter to be able to see
where you are going.

[iflyforpie]

We're looking at the 2014 Subaru Forester to replace my trusty old Volvo. It's got better fuel economy than any gas AWD vehicle in its class, and it is surprisingly cheap even compared to offerings by Ford and GM. Best part is you can get it either with a CVT with paddle shifters or a six speed manual unlike just about everything out there that is only available as a slush box. Resale should be up there too.... the main reason I won't buy anything from the Detroit Three unless it is a truck.

Best of all, Subarus have opposed engines just like airplanes do!

I won't rant too much about VWs.... other than to say like CS, never again.

[Airmanship Police]

A dodge ram 2500 with a cummins engine will get you a 4x4 and better mileage than a subaru. It will cost more to purchase but you will never see the end of that truck if you take care of it. So instead in changing car in another 8-9 years with a rice burner, you will change truck in 25 ( if you don't mind driving a vehicule that has aged )

[PilotDAR]

Subarus have opposed engines just like airplanes do!

Actually, that's 'cause it is an airplane engine. I understand that Subaru is linked to Fuji heavy industries, who previously built Fuji engines for Fuji light airplanes. I don't know a great deal about it, other than turning a Subaru engine into an aircraft engine is not a long stretch.

The engine is solid.

Yeah! I have a Yanmar diesel powered excavator. It's got somewhere around 5000 hours on it. Last fall, it blew a water pump gasket, and overheated as I shut it down. It did not seize, but I thought it was about to the way it was running, as I stopped it. I've pulled the head, and measured the cylinder walls in all of the specified directions. There is a two thou (0.002") tolerance for cylinder bore at new size (then a service limit beyond that). All measurements were right in the center of the new tolerance limits, and not a mark in the cylinder walls anywhere - after 5000 hours!

I'm in Germany right now, and seemingly most of the vehicles are diesel here. The German's know engines....

I like diesel....

[Jungle Jim]

With respect to the Honda with cylinder deactivation. My neighbor has one( Accord) and it started to really burn a lot of oil. It turns out that the two cylinders that get deactivated needed to be rebored and larger pistons installed. It was covered under warrantee last fall. He did notice that when he got it back it was not as smooth as it was previously. It's now starting to burn oil again and it is for sale.

Jim

[Colonel Sanders]

The German's know engines

With all due respect, I am not a big fan of any
of the german cars. They are expensive and
maintenance-intensive. The engineering is
nowhere near as good as their over-hyped
reputation would have you believe.

Far too ornate and unreliable.

PS I worked on the Audi R8. See above.

[iflyforpie]

A dodge ram 2500 with a cummins engine will get you a 4x4 and better mileage than a subaru. It will cost more to purchase but you will never see the end of that truck if you take care of it. So instead in changing car in another 8-9 years with a rice burner, you will change truck in 25 ( if you don't mind driving a vehicule that has aged )

I think that isn't just exaggerating, that is a violation of the laws of thermodynamics. My parents have a 2500 Cummins short cab, and it is horrendous on fuel. Don't tell me you fell for Dodge using Imperial Gallons for their MPG ratings too....

[dahspeers]

takes forever to warm up ...
90% of Canadian Volkswagens have heated seats to make up for it ...
And yes they do make up for it ...

As a former (and never again) VW diesel owner,
how do the heated seats defrost the windshield?
It's convenient in the winter to be able to see
where you are going.

Even when it's -30 mine will make enough heat to keep the windshield clear after idling for 10 minutes. The heated seats take care of the rest of the car being uncomfortable.

But even if it doesn't I have a windshield scraper. Magical devices.

[Airmanship Police]

Pie, Is it a diesel? I get about 9.8L/100km on the highway.

[JigglyBus]

Dodge 2500 Diesel... ~15.3 ltr/100 kms.
http://www.fuelly.com/car/dodge/ram%202500/diesel%20l6

Subaru Forester ... ~9.3 ltr/100kms.
http://www.fuelly.com/car/subaru/forester

I'm not sure that's even in the same ballpark.