I've worked with a couple of TDI owners (a Passat and a New Beetle) and both of them say it's the best car they've ever owned. Based on their experiance and everything I've hear and read about them, if I bought any new VW it would be TDI powered.
"Is it worth the extra expense?" In my opinion, YES!
"Does the engine last 200,000+ miles?" That should be no problem, but it depends on a couple of factors. My mom traded off her '86 Chevy Cavalier last year . . . it had over 250,000 miles on the original engine (and still ran fine and didn't burn oil). The engine in Verl Taylor's '67 bug has nearly 300,000 miles on the ORIGINAL, NEVER HAD THE CASE SPLIT bottom end. Why did these two engines last so long? Lubrication and little if any hot-rodding. Mom's Caviler never went past 3000 miles without an oil change. Verl once reluctantly admitted that he had let his engine run a little past 1500 miles without an oil change a few times. If someone like mom or Verl were driving it, I wouldn't be shocked to see them get 300,000+ out of a TDI. If someone like . . . well I won't mention any names, but if a certian young man that resides at my house drove it, I might be shocked to see it go 150,000. :cool:
