iboomalot -- I do not want to get in a diesel vs hybrid fight. I apologize for my nasty post. It was in response to the OP.

When I went car shopping, I briefly considered diesel, but have to admit that the possibility got dropped pretty quickly. My reasons are not all generalizeable to any car buyer, but fwiw:

Gas cost: Diesel is widely available in Albuquerque, but biodiesel blends are not. Regular Diesel costs the same as premium gas when I look (although I understand it tends to fluctuate, so this may not always be true).

Mileage: I looked at the Jetta wagon. EPA mpg is 32/43. My target mpg was 50, and only the Prius fit the bill.

Emissions: I have heard the argument that diesel PM are not as dangerous, but don't have enough information to make an informed decision. In any case, it is not only PM. Nox is 25X fold the Prius, HC is 7x .. EPA marks the diesel as a 1/10 -- the lowest possible. Hummers are allowed in CA, diesels are not. I will be delighted if diesel can be cleaned up to at least ULEV standards, since it is obviously not going away in much of the world, but I personally set SULEV as a minimum standard, and diesel is about 10x away from that.

Value: Hybrids are too new to really know. So far, they are doing well.

Reliability: For the 8 years Prius has been around, it has done superb. I'm not worried.

Smell: my wife says "french fries"
Torque: Truthfully, torque is probably the last thing before HP that interests me. But I did check out vw's website out of curiousity. Torque is 147@1900 rpm. Prius is 295@0-1200 rpm.
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Meta-One: I hope you are right. We will see what the future brings.