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Yes, start-stop is 'hybrid' - https://www.carsdirect.com/gre...

So, it seems you're the idiot because you can't use the Internet.

They're actually pretty (relatively) cheap now-a-days.

https://electrek.co/2017/07/26...
http://www.carsdirect.com/deal...

Electric vehicles have lower maintenance cost as gas vehicles. Hybrid vehicles have the same maintenance cost as gas vehicles.
https://www.cars.com/articles/...
http://www.carsdirect.com/car-...

I was under the false impression that hybrids also had lower maintenance, because of things like regenerative braking. The second article points out that as an advantage, but says it is offset by other things.

Diesel gives better milage, about 1/3 more. http://www.carsdirect.com/car-buying/diesel-fuel-vs-unleaded-gasoline-understand-the-pros-and-cons The price difference between a Passat TDI and gas at the same trim level is only about $2000. http://web.vw.com/vwcompare/ The TDI would save you about $400 a year in fuel costs. You pay for the extra price in just over 2 years.

A fair comparison might make you feel all fuzzy inside but those of who might actually consider buying a vehicle need a REAL WORLD comparison. A better comparison is the VW vs a Hyundai. Both have reliable and efficient vehicles but they have dramatically different price tags.

WTF? That makes absolutely no sense. It's interesting that you picked those particular brands, because my girlfriend and I actually have one of each: a 2003 Accent (1.6L gasoline engine) and a 1998 Beetle (1.9L TDI diesel). They're not even slightly comparable, because the Beetle has a lot of engineering differences (outside of the engine) that make it more expensive. For example, it's a lot more complex electrically. And, of course, you pay a lot more because VW has a better reputation than Hyundai (god knows why...) and because it's "cute."

Now, you could compare my Accent to the diesel Accent that's available in Europe, or you could compare the Beetle to a 2.0L gasoline or 1.8L turbo gasoline model. But you can't compare the Beetle to the Accent!

It took me for-fucking-ever to dig up the MSRP of the 1998 Beetle (I'd use model year 2008 numbers, but there was no 2008 Beetle TDI), but I finally found it here. If we assume the high end of the range was for the TDI, then the difference was a ($16475 - $15200 =) $1275 premium for a (loaded) TDI versus a (stripped) gasoline version. Price differences for the CRDi Accent vs. the 1.6L gas (or even maybe the 1.4L gas) would be similar, if I could find a damn website that had them!

Oh, by the way: look at the used prices for that 1998 Beetle: you'd find that you would have gotten every cent of that price premium back when you sold the car. In fact, you'd probably even get more, because the actual market value of TDIs greatly exceeds their book value.

polyp@tesco.net writes ... The problem with Amazon , is there product range , most people associate Amazon with books , or CD's
Did you realise you can actually order Cars ? on Amazon. Cars ! Me thinks they are going slightly over the top. For me one of the best things about Amazon is the speed of which they dispatch orders. As the above article suggests they could begin to make a profit by reducing the amount of stocked items, if this leads to a noticable drop in the speedy service, people will start to notice and go elsewhere. polyp@tesco.net (nicholas fellows) support my tunez

First off I've got to reiterate that you need to check out Edmunds. An amazing resource.

I used www.autoweb.com a few years ago to find a used Miata. The ability to basically grep the classifieds is very cool. I found a long list of the exact car I was after and the price was fair.

More recently I tried www.autoweb.com and www.autobytel.com to find a new car. Within a few months I was looking at Honda Civic hatchbacks and Volkwagen Beetles and simply had a terrible time using both services. None of the local dealers that I was asssigned to ever contacted me. After a few days I would always get a note from the corporation asking if I'd been satisfied with the service. I always wrote back explaining that I hadn't heard anything and even then never was able to hook up with a dealer that was any help. Based on my experiences I passed on their stock when they both went public.

I saw CarsDirect.com at Comdex and it sounds like a good deal. They don't have to dump you in the hands of a local dealer, they control the entire process. I plan on giving them a shot next time I'm in the market to buy a car.