Gas vs Diesel is not as straight up a question as it normally would be.* I can get gas on base but to get diesel I have to get it off base, meaning I have to make a special trip out of my way.* To avoid paying the roughly 50% tax on fuel, I can only fill up at one brand of stations, Esso.* Additionally, I have to go inside the station to pay, no paying at the pump to get 50% off.* So diesel is cheaper to buy and better MPG, but is much more inconvenient tipping the argument towards gas for a DD.

However, I only get cheap prices at the Esso stations in Germany.* So to save money when I am traveling outside of Germany, for example Switzerland, I have to get off the autobahn and drive into a small boarder town about 10 miles out of the way for one last fill up of fuel.* Because diesel is cheaper, better MPG, and longer range, this tips the argument back towards diesel. Then again, when we do take long road trips outside of Germany, we will probably take my wife's Prius since it has great MPG and I consider it a disposable appliance that I dont mind putting on lots of miles on and letting it get dinged and dented up in those tight parking garages of Europe.* Also, coming from a Jeep with 12-13 MPG, 20-22 sounds fairly good! And of course because of the way the US decides to use MPG, the difference going from 12 MPG to 20 MPG is far greater than going from 20 MPG to the Prius' 45 MPG, let alone the diesel's 25-30 MPG.

I guess in the end, while diesel gets better range and better MPG, the difference along with significant DD inconvenience probably isnt worth it. Most likely I will end up with the best example that is close by rather than focusing on gas vs diesel.

One thing I have not seem mentioned about W123 vs W124, what car has better rear seats? What car is wider and what car has more leg room? One scenario I see is my family comes to visit and we end up taking two cars rather than trying to rent a van, we put my parents, who are on the heavy side, in the back of the Wagon and my brother (who is 6 food 7 inches) ride in the front of the Wagon while my wife and kids ride in the Prius (because who wants to move the car seats). So, W123 vs W124 for a tall guy in the front seat and old heavy parents in the back seat?

And thank you for your support Sugar Bear!