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First of all, diesel is more expensive than petrol in the UK so that does not make any sense. The great advantage of diesel, certainly on a Volvo, is the range. I can do over 500 miles on one tank of diesel as opposed to 300 miles for the petrol turbo. Of course, here in Belgium, diesel is cheaper than petrol so that is good too but the tax is substainally higher, I pay 500 pounds or 750 dollars per year just in road tax. Secondly, I am the first to admit that my Volvo diesel is not as smooth as most modern cars, including diesels but to say that they come ill-equipped is simply wrong. Mine has leather, motorised and heated front seats, electric sunroof, antenna, windows and mirrors that are also heated, air condition and cruise control, none of this is unusal or difficult to add on. Thirdly, what do you mean by "eventually you have to move on"? Do I? Why? When I buy a product, I buy it because I like it, trust it and that it fits in with my overall consumption structure, not because some multi-national corporation tells me that I need it. I can pop into my car today and drive to Spain and back, it's comfortable, reliable, economical, roomy and certainly fast enough for modern traffic so why do I have to move on? I am sorry, but I do not fall for sales pitch and modern consumerism.
Sure, VAG as well as MB makes superb diesel and so I would not look down on anyone buying either of those. If I had to chose between the cars you mention, I would go for the V70 but that is personal. Technically, Audi and MB are certainly equal to Volvo.
George
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1987 745 GLE Turbodiesel Intercooler (D24TIC/M46) 190k and 1988 745 Turbo Intercooler (B230FT/M46) 290k
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