why is the volkswagon jetta the most popular car here on fuelly?
 

I just wanted to know why its such a popular car on here. I know it doesnt get the highest fuel mileage compared to other hybrids like toyota prius especially in the city and the fuel cost is higher.

Well...

They have been building them constantly since 1979.
They are very highly regarded in the automotive press.
They are very well-appointed.
The diesels can easily get comparable fuel economy to hybrids.
They have a tremendously lower starting price than most hybrids.
They can also run on vegetable oil.
They offer about ten thousand times more rewarding a driving experience than a Toyota Prius.

Kind of a no-brainer to me. And I'm not even a fan of the Jetta.

I have a diesel Jetta. It has a few things wrong with it but it's still my favorite car all time, over my awesome hondas and subaru wagons that I LOVED.

I took my Diesel Jetta over to a friends house in a different state and the next time I went to see them, about a year later, they had 2 diesel Jettas instead of other cars. My diesel Jetta kicks major hiney. It gets 50 mpg on long trips. You can see for yourself on my link, I think.

It looks pretty good too. But if you're into it, check out the foot-pounds ft/lbs of torque out of this 4 cylinder turbo. It's a larger number than should be reasonable with 50mpg. I drove it back from NY to DC yesterday, loaded with 2 people, and hundreds of pounds of stuff in the trunk and back seat, a drill press and tools and heavy metal stuff. Still, it got impressive fuel readings like 45mpg or so. AND I HAD A ROOF RACK ON WITH A FAIRING AND STUFF ON THE ROOF. No kidding.

Im just glad some Americans are starting to understand why diesels are more populer almost everywhere else in the World. Did you see my topic about the Golf TDI getting almost 100 MPG on a 995 mile trip across Europe? Even hybrids struggle to compete with that!

Though I agree with you, it also has a lot more to do with the price of fuel and the lower fiscal horsepower ratings with which many countries tax a vehicle, too. For instance, a gasoline model is in some cases many times higher in insurance and road tax over a comparable model diesel and the price of the fuel is lower than petrol. Overall, diesel is considered a "routier." In the USA, the price of fuel for a diesel is actually at or above premium petrol fuel and there's little to no tax advantage [registration nor insurance] over comparable make/model. I don't believe, "diesel" will ever be "strong" in the USA. Overall, that is.

I agree. The U.S. provides very little incentive to purchase a diesel. In addition to the fuel costs being higher than petrol (about $1 a gallon higher in my area), the premium for a diesel engine in a vehicle is usually $3-5k above other engine options. Any savings due to mileage would take a couple hundred thousand miles of use to recoup the additional expenses.

With that being said, I have been looking for a reasonable diesel option for years. I just picked up a new Jeep Cherokee and I love it, however, if we had the option of the 2.0 diesel that they are making available in Australia and Europe, I probably would've gone that route. Especially if it was available in the U.S. with the manual transmission as well.

I do like that many manufacturers are finally bringing the small diesels to the U.S. I hope this trend continues...

Its a great shame, I think it would help the US reduce thier oil consumption too, I still cant get over the fact, or fully understand why people have to change thier oil so often in the US. Some Euro diesels can do 30,000 miles on one oil change (the big haulage trucks change every 60,000 miles!) The intervals on my new diesel are quite low at 18,000 miles.

You would think an extra 20 - 25 MPG would make the extra $1 a gallon worth it? The incentive to buy a diesel here in the UK is high, it probably costs between £1000 and £2000 for the diesel model, but the pollution tax is usualy lower, as is the maintainence, runny costs and insurance costs much less for a diesel too (my diesel is $750 roughly cheaper to insure than the petrol model I swapped it for) so there are many reasons why diesel is more popular here.

Is your diesel vehicle required to have a DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter)? It is my understanding that most diesel vehicles in Europe don't meet emissions requirements in the US. I don't know if this is correct or just another lie our government tells us.

Most new diesels have a DPF, including mine yes. The excuse the US government tells its people is that they wont pass emission regulations true, thats because they focus on N0X as oppose to C02 like in Europe. They would much rather still produce gas guzzling cars that use between 50 and 1000% more fuel than some new diesels, and genrate masses of C02 aswell, rather than just admit that cars give out a fraction of N0X compared to the C02 emissions.

And whatever all the German manufactures did to thier VW's, Audis, BMWs and Mercs to get the N0X levels down, im sure every other manufacture could do too, but then the US government would loose billions in tax revenue from fuel purchasing. They want cars to use lots of fuel as the tax on fuel is far less than in Europe. If they really cared, they would have more taxes involved around the emissions of cars like they do in the UK, to encourange people to drive more efficient cars.

part of the "issue" is US measures pollution in PPM NOT LBS Per Mile
and PPM allows BIG low power engines to be clean VS a power dense small engine because it has MORE pollution PER one Million parts exhaust