[Vwdiesel] VW's in Portugal

[William J Toensing]

The diesel situation in Europe in much different than the USA. Almost every car over there short of the Rolls Royce/Ferrari price class offers a diesel option, even Subaru & Toyota. We in the USA are living in a third world when it comes to diesels. We are fixing up & maintaining older diesels from the '70's & '80's that in Europe, have gone to the crusher years ago. The only reason I have an interest in VW's is because they along with Mercedes, were the only firms plus Peugeot to sell a large number of diesels in the USA. Most GM car diesels have gone to the crusher long ago & not very many Datsun, Mazda, Toyota, Ford, Mercury, Lincoln, BMW 524, & Volvo diesels were sold in the USA back in the 1980's, hence limited availability. Most Peugeot diesels seem to have disappeared too. In Europe, I understand, most cars more than 10 years are considered old & I would assume there are a large number of older affordable diesels of all makes available in Europe. I would also guess that a large number of good, rust free older cars are available in Portugal, Spain, Southern France & Italy. If living in Europe, I would probably buy an old Toyota diesel as opposed to a VW diesel but in our "so called free country" thanks to a government that doesn't like diesels & tells us what cars we can & can not buy, we can't buy a foreign diesel & import it unless it is over 25 years old. You people in Europe, please correct me if my assessment is incorrect. 
However, VW must be doing something correct in Europe to enjoy the sales that they do as compared to what they are doing in the USA.
Bill Toensing, Nevada City, CA