Owned a "78 Rabbit gas purchased new for $5200. My wife brought to the marriage a "71 Plymouth Valiant, metalic green with white vinyl roof. It was a drafty car and I was looking hard for a replacement to get rid of it. One day in "84 I saw a beautiful red Jetta at the local dealership and it happened to be a diesel. I had the salesman drive it to our business and drop the keys on the counter for my wife....That was a great feeling having the car delivered as a gift to her! We drove it cross country both coasts several times and it never had any trouble. I was never a conservative driver and drove it hard around town for several years and it produced rather good mileage 35mpg as I recal. My wife had fond memories of that car.
Sold it reluctantly at (I thought) a very high 85,000 miles and purchased a used good looking red "86 Audi 5000 wagon for growing family. It was great riding car though parts were expensive and I hated the 3 speed transmission "slushbox" especially without a lockup converter.
I traded the Audi after a couple years for a beautiful "84 Cadilac Fleetwood Diesel, Gray/Lt gray interior with real wire wheels at 99,000 miles. Salesman couldn't believe it when I showed him the newer Audi we were trading for it.
We drove the Cadilac all over the country and it would travel an impressive 600-700 miles on a tank. Sold 4 years ago with 198,000 miles no problems. Received many double takes and comments on this diesel as the clatter always turned heads.
We also purchase an "83 Olds Custom Cruiser diesel w/119,000mi, beige/woodgrain. Removed the woodgrain and repainted it pearl creme after the Toyota Maxima. It was a beautiful color too with all the gauges. Sold it to my Pastor with 186,000 miles and then it blew a head gasket within couple months....whew! He gased it, yuk.
We purchased a beautiful white/red 1988 Chevy 6.2 diesel conversion van in "91 for our growing family and traveling. We rebuilt the motor last summer @178,000 and added a turbo from a 98 6.5 van instead of a newer van. It is a very unique keeper in great shape no rust and will travel all day on a tank of fuel.
I purchased a 1991 red Jetta diesel 169,000 on Ebay fall "2001 and its been a great reliable car expecially with the extremely high fuel prices.
I eyed a beautiful "84 300d Dk blue/Dk blue over this christmas parked in a small town lot along the highway on way to see relatives. I looked it all over underneath to spot body rust and there wasn't any...you need to look for rust on cars in Iowa. It started right up though the temp was in the teens. I loved the sound right away and made an offer the next weekend on drive through town.
He accepted and I found it was originally from Arizona explaining no rust. A banker from my town owned it and traded it for a newer car out of town and there it was on a car lot 80 miles away. My wife doesn't like its looks and is wanting me to sell it.
I am offended to someone calling my beautiful mercedes ugly. It's really a beautiful automobile.
I am addicted to the unique smell, familiar rattle, bonus mileage and longivity of the diesel. I am hoping it's many years before the general public comes around to these features and benefits. We have great sleepers!
Thank you all for the great reading and solutions from you on this forum!