on the east coast it tracks with the heating oil season (diesel is the same as #2 heating oil, just without the dye that says "you haven't paid your road taxes").

I commute a tad over 30 miles each way. A tank lasts me 7-12 days depending on the number of weekend errands. There are a couple of places nearby that sell bio but they're typically 80 cents to a dollar more/gallon, and quite a bit off the beaten path. Ergo, 100% Dead Dino for me.

Yikes! You got rooked on a battery. I shelled out just under $100 from AutoZone a couple months back.

But, yes, repairs are steep. I have a laundry list of things that have to be done and I'm just waiting for *that* *much* more extra money at the end of the month before I take it in.

actually that's highway. VW gas engines are not as efficient as one would expect given the small size of the car. My 81 Honda Civic and 93 tercel got *way* better mileage (high 30's on both) than either the 06 Beetle or my daughter's 07 Rabbit.

Such is life.

Currently, in the US state in which I reside, diesel is $2.089/US gallon, gas (petrol for all you people who spell it "colour") is roughly $1.889/US gallon. Both prices include all applicable local, state, and federal taxes.

My 2002 VW Beetle TDI w/ 150,000 miles on it gets an average of 45 miles on a US gallon of diesel. My wife's 2006 Beetle uses petrol and gets roughly 26 MPG.

Doin' the math that's more than 70% better mileage for only 10% more money, or, to put it in a different light, I get around 630 miles per tank while she gets about 360, or, to put it another another way, diesel would have to cost almost twice as much as petrol before I started to lose money on the proposition.

Oh, and since I run diesel my car is exempt from state emissions inspections where I live, thus saving another $30-40/year.

So, how exactly does this *not* make economic sense?