"Mikhael47" > wrote in message
. ..
> Based on all your comments in the newsgroup, I took the plunge and ordered
a
> 2004 Golf GLS TDI. If I clear the financing hurdle (should know by
friday),
> I'll take possession on monday. I am trading in a very high KM 2000 neon,
> and getting raped. I guess a 4cyl neon with 230 000km doesn't fetch a
good
> buck anymore (like it ever did). My payout on the neon was over $4700 and
I
> could only get 1200 for it. (actually it turned out to be 1600 after I
made
> them wiggle a bit). It's a good thing they did wiggle, because I'd be out
> of luck otherwise.
>
> Now, since I based my decsision solely on people's opinions in this group,
> i'll be holding each and every one of you accountable for anything that
even
> so much as hints at going wrong with this car! If the check engine light
> even so much as flutters, you'll all have hell to pay. GIGGLE
>
> I guess I am just kidding.... the insight you guys have here (and at
> tdiclub) drove me to realize that taking a 5-yr term on a chrysler product
> that averages 4 yr of life (with my driving conditions) just did not make
> sense. If I get 5.5 years out of the Golf at 65 000 km / year, I am in
the
> green depending on how much the gas prices increase that is. Of course,
as
> the gas prices increase, so does my realized savings with a TDI. 5.5
years
> will be about 310 000km.
>
> I'll let you guys know what happens in my saga
>
> Mike

I hope that your financing plans for your new Golf include the following:

Lowering springs and sport shock absorbers ($700 if you install
them)
Stainless steel, "cat-back" exhaust ($400 if you install)
Front and back anti-sway bars ($500 if you install)
Jetta hood and front-end, painted to match your car (I don't know,
lets guess $1200)
Angel-Eyes sport headlights ($600)
New sport wheels and sport rims ($1500)
Engine controller software upgrade, or a performance "chip" as
non-engineers refer to it ($200)
Performance air intake ($200)

That's only another $5300 US ($15,000 CDN) , spread out over 5.5
years, you'll never even notice the extra payment. Believe me, once you've
made all of these upgrades, you wonder how you could get along without them!