I just bought a Scion FR-S. It came down to that or a TDI Golf. I went with the Scion because it was a LOT more fun to drive on my 122 mile round trip commute and it meets all my needs.
The big thing that got me looking at the Golf was that I think Diesel is actually dropping in price relative to gas, and I like not having to hit a filling station every few days.
However, my best friend sold european cars for decades and was the sales manager at a Volkswagen dealership the last few years. I said that I would need to plan ~$2,000 a year in repairs. And because I no longer live in a megalopolis and the nearest volkswagen dealer is 90 minutes away, I backed off. It was also kind of expensive though I confess that in the LONG run it would probably be cheaper to drive.
“However, my best friend sold european cars for decades and was the sales manager at a Volkswagen dealership the last few years. I said that I would need to plan ~$2,000 a year in repairs.”
I have a 2010 Jetta Tdi. It gets between 39-47 mpg. I have 51k miles on it and have never had a repair. Perhaps your friend is referring to the regular VW services? If so, yes, they are expensive. I did the 30k $900 service myself with $250 worth of fluids and filters. (I have since learned you can get the fluids at Wal-Mart and the filters at Advanced for a fraction of VW’s cost.) Based on my research, I am expecting to get 300k miles before doing anything major. By that time I will probably buy a new one.