Yes, I think your assessment is correct.
I’m actually thinking of buying a diesel powered car.
I need mileage mileage mileage.
I think my saturn got about 27 mpg highway.
I looked at diesel Jetta wagons before settling on a Subaru Legacy GT wagon. Did a fair amount of research on them. The EPA rating is actually conservative according to many who own the cars. Carefully driven at or close to the highway speed limit, mileage in the low 50’s is not at all out of the question. I may still end up with one, as much as I love my Sube it’s no longer sold in the US, so I’ll very likely be searching for something else. Top of the line, recent diesel Jetta wagons have the same features, good looking larger diameter sport wheels with low profile speed rated tires, upscale leather interior, big double-sized glass “panoramic” sunroof, and are pretty fast all things considered. They can be found still under factory warranty in the low $20K range.