quite interesting to read your discussions abt diesel as i am driving diesels since abt 10 years and don't want to change back to petrols not only because of economics but also for bigger torque on low revs and more fun. My consumption with E70 3.0d engine is abt 22,5 mpg
(10,5 ltrs/100km) but thats including high speed on autobahn with a lot of full speed driving (abt 140mls/h or 225km/h). with speed limits like in US i would guess abt 27/28 mpg would not be out unrealistic. A 08 sd will be even more economic due to efficient dynamics, which unfo my car being a 07 doesn't have. on top of lower consumption we also have better prices for diesel against petrol. don't worry abt problems with new engines as this is a autobahntested technique for many years and all early problems meantime solved. i don't expect my engine to live longer than petrols as said before. old taxisdiesels with 90hp might but those highoutput lowweight machines are similar to gas engines.