Well, I see pretty much every type of person in VWs here, from ratty old Jettas to the occasional new Phaeton. Very few diesels, though, as even when they sold them here most dealers didn't bother to stock more than a couple, if that.
I don't hate mine, but I bought it when I started my own business in hopes that it would be a mostly set and forget appliance so I wouldn't have to worry about maintaining an old daily driver (as in my previous 180,000 mile Fiat and 160,000 mile Saab). It was pretty good for three years and 64,000 miles until the first turbo blew up in a major way, and ruined the engine. The dealer replaced them under the Emissions Equip. warranty, but another 6,000 miles and it would have been MY $9,000 bill. As it was I was without a daily driver for 7 weeks, and when I got it back it ran like crap. I finally diagnosed that the new turbo was bad, and to save time at the dealer I just bit the bullet and bought and installed a new one myself. It then ran well for another 13,000 miles when it made a big noise one day, which turned out to be a failed timing belt tensioner . . . installed new with the second engine. I was super lucky in that the belt just got noisy and sloppy; had it jumped time my new engine might have been ruined. So, I bought $300 worth of tools and $200 in new parts and replaced it. Now it is running well again, although the clutch is starting to judder some. I would be a little annoyed if it was the original 78,000 mile clutch, but I paid to have it replaced as preventative maintenance when the second engine was installed so I'm understandably mad at another premature failure. It looks like I'll have to be budgeting time and money for a clutch job, as I drive in a lot of traffic and really hate a jerky clutch.
At this point I think that the parts from the dealer are not the same quality as installed on the car new. Dealers also are pretty cluless about the diesels, and a lot of parts are special order, like the one-use-only stretch bolts used on the engine mounts and injecton pump. The mileage is really good, though, as it is hard to get much below 35 mpg even in the city. The a/c and stereo are nice too, better than in the Saab and much much better than in the Fiat, which is important sitting in traffic . . . and unlike the Fiat there is at least a dealer even if I don't trust him to work on the car.
