wow....

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1986 300SDL, 211K,Dealership serviced its whole life
1991 190E 2.6(120k)
1983 300D(300k)
1977 300D(211k)

I think that you need to enter the Olympics!

I've heard the Jetta described as the best diesel sedan available in the US for under $30K. If there were a small diesel in a C class, M-B would probably be getting pretty close.

The '06 Jetta is great to drive. It handles very well and feels solid. The steering on the '96 Benz feels just a bit more disconnected from the road, but otherwise it handles every bit as good as the Jetta.

But if you're a passenger, the Benz is hands-down a much better ride under all circumstances. There is no comparison. You don't seem to feel all of those road vibrations when you're driving.

I have never driven an '06 Jetta. I think the newest I have driven is my nieces and it's an '03 or '04. In a straight line it's fine. In a turn it's just another front engine car that feels like a phone booth on a skate board. Maybe I need to drive a later model to find one that handles well.

The new platform drives a lot better then the old one. Better rear suspension, better front suspension, etc. Plus VW put cheap struts on the US market cars so on the previous gen ones they front struts would be dead by 80k.

-J

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1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

96 Benz VS 06 Jetta??? 10 years apart... how about 06 Passat TDI and 06 MB E320 CDI?? Would you like to compare them?? They are at the same level. Jetta is equivalent of C class Mercedes, lets level the field if we are going to compare.

They are many Diesel Mercedes models and every one of them is miles ahead of any VW...unfortunately not a single one of them is for sale in the US

A-170; A-200CDI ; B-170 ; B-200CDI ; C 200 ; C220CDI ; E220CDI... just to mention a few...
Every one of the above models is capable of returning 45+ MPG without breaking a sweat.

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http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/v...7/scotflag.gif http://i680.photobucket.com/albums/v.../scot2flag.gif

"If women are so bloody perfect at multitasking how come they can't have a headache and sex at the same time?"
Billy Connolly

A great point! When it comes to diesel powered automobiles, In the US we only see a TINY FRACTION of what is available in the world.

In 2000 through 2002 I spent a LOT of time in Europe, about half of that time in Germany. When you pick up your rent car in Europe and then start seeing the fuel gauge get low, you have to start investigating what fuel is required. With some of those cars you absolutely cannot tell that there's a diesel engine under the hood by driving it. They are quiet, powerful and smooth.

To VW's credit, they have been one of the few that has explored the US diesel market. There are better examples by other manufacturers to be found. As much as I disliked driving it, I rented a Citroen sedan in Sophia, France. It had a crazy manual load leveling rear suspension that made it a TERRIBLE car to drive, but it had the most quiet, powerful and smooth diesel engine I've ever driven. At one point I had gotten out of it and got a tiny tinge of diesel smell that made me investigate before fueling it up.

I am not proposing that we drive Citroens here, because it was a terrible car in many ways, but it gives you a glimpse of what diesels can do.

Yes, there is a ten-year gap there. You might even expect that the newer car had a better ride, and you would be wrong.

I am saying that the ten-year-older car is much more comfortable. Yes, a Jetta is more equivalent to a C class (but still not up to par with it). But as I can't buy a new C class diesel, well, what should I have done?

I would love for my comparison to be between the Jetta and an '06 E class diesel, but alas, I don't have one of the latter. I would expect that the '06 E would blow the doors off of my '96 in about every possible way.

I don't know why we're even making these comparisons, but I could compare the '09 Jetta TDI with the '09 E320 Bluetec, even though the Bluetec costs twice as much. I've test driven both of them. The E-class is more comfortable to sit in, especially in the backseat, and it's more powerful but naturally more thirsty. It's also not as clean and it's more complicated, particularly the climate control. What really bugs me about all MB's is why the heck can't I control my own air recirculation and why it has to be automated. Also I think the 7 gears in the automatic are a bit overkill.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

LOL the Jetta is the *only* diesel sedan available in the US for under $30k. That's like saying the E320 CDI is the best diesel sedan in the US above $30k. Hard not to be 1st place in a field of 1.

Don't get me wrong, I like the new common-rail TDI, but if Mercedes sold the C220 CDI here (with a manual gearbox), I'd leave work right now and buy one today.

170 hp, 47 mpg, and that lovely styling that the new C class has. Mmmmmmm.

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'98 E300 turbodiesel