VW did it!

Volkswagon finally brought the new “Clean” Diesel motor to the USA! The new 2009 VW Jetta Sport Wagon has the option of running the new TDI engine. Clean Diesel!! I won’t get into the technology behind it but it is not your old dirty diesel puffing and clanking down the road. It is new quieter and CLEANer technology. It is has been out in Europe for a while but as normally the case we get it much later in the USA.

The car is a bit pricey if your main goal is to buy an economical car with high fuel MPG. However, if you are in the market for a higher end luxury sport wagon, that competes with the Mercedes IMO, you cant go wrong with a VW. I configured a nicely optioned model on the VW website and the car came out at $30,000 msrp. I do not know if dealers are offering incentives. The price may be lower. Also the government is offering a $1300 tax credit due to the wagon’s “Alternative Motor”. I don’t believe tax credits help our country overall but while we have them, you might as well take advantage of the extra green in your pocket.

The car has a modest 140hp but a ripping 236 ft lbs of torque! All from a 2.0 litre 4cyl. Sweet! It also gets a very respectable 30/41 mpg which is close enough to a Toyota Prius in MPG AND Price, that it would make no sense to get the underpowered Prius over this VW gorgeous wagon with a beast under the hood! I don’t even think the environmental reasons apply as the VW TDI motor is CLEAN! (it collects and burns off “soot” that normally comes out of a Diesel engine).

If I could justify spending money on a car these days, I would make this my 1st on my list!