Highest Mileage VW Diesel Found Right Here in Our Backyard

August 24, 2007 – 8:56 am by Dan Volkens
Filed under Cool Stuff, Volkswagen Jetta

Well, not specifically in our backyard, but in our home state of Ohio at least.

The 1986 Volkswagen Jetta Turbo Diesel, owned by a Mr. Schmid in Blue Rock, OH, has racked up 562,000 miles! A Columbus-based Volkswagen dealer, Byer Imports, verified his claims (pics below!) of the mileage as well as records showing Schmid’s Jetta averaged over 50mpg for the last twenty years.

“Mr. Schmid has a story that is like so many of our diesel owners; he loves the longevity of the engine and fuel economy that his diesel Volkswagen has delivered these last twenty years,” said Steve Keyes, Volkswagen Public Relations Director. “Throughout all of entries that we received for our Diesel Heritage Search, we found many VW owners who were passionate about their cars and the economic benefits of the diesel engine.”

Mr. Schmid originally leased the Jetta for three years, and at the end of the lease decided to keep his baby so he bought it from his dealer. Volkswagen will be awarding Schmid with the fabled torquemonster, a Touareg V10 TDI, to drive around for six months, just as the owner with the oldest Volkswagen diesel in the U.S. scored a couple weeks ago.

All of this diesel soul-searching started back in March with Volkswagen’s Diesel Heritage Search. VW received more than 200 entires for the highest mileage and oldest operating U.S. diesel Volkswagens.

Highest Mileage Turbo Diesel Jetta in the U.S.