Originally Posted by
BearX220
I rented a Peugeot 407 diesel station wagon ("estate") in the UK which was a brilliant car -- huge carrying capacity, a ball to drive with 5-speed (possibly six) manual shift, more than enough oomph, and I swear it returned about 50 mpg on mostly country-lane driving. I would buy a car like that in the States in seconds flat. Sometimes I think there's a conspiracy to keep the best cars from the US market.
Even the Ford Focus with a diesel and a 6-speed is fun to drive in the UK. There's no way I'd ever drive a Focus here, even the new one. Audi does import the diesel A3 to the US, but it's not AWD and it doesn't have a stick. I utterly hate having an auto, but didn't have much of a choice, as the A4 Avant has no other options in the US.
You're right, we got shafted, carwise...