Diesels have long been touted as the frugal alternative to gasoline engines in small cars. For years, they offered much higher gas mileage for a small price premium. Now that carmakers are putting out small gasoline powered cars with 40 miles per gallon though, is the diesel dead? The 2012 VW Jetta is one of the only cars available today with a diesel engine, is it worth buying over the gasoline model?

The 2012 Volkswagen Jetta diesel starts at $23,625, $2,980 more than the equivalent gas-powered 2012 Jetta with the 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine. That price is also more than the 40-mpg Hyundai Elantra and Ford Focus, but let’s say for the sake of this argument you’ve taken a look at the other small cars and have decided that only the Jetta will do.

For the extra three thousand dollars, the 2012 VW Jetta diesel, rated at 140-hp and 236 lb-ft of torque, gets 30-mpg city and 42-mpg highway (34-mpg combined). The 2.5-liter inline five-cylinder with 170-hp and 177 lb-ft of torque is rated at 24-mpg city and 31-mpg highway (26-mpg combined).

If you drive 12,000 miles per year, and pay an average of $3.93 for diesel and $3.44 for gasoline, you would pay $1,387 each year with the 2012 VW Jetta Diesel and $1,587 for the gas Jetta. That’s $200 more per year for the gas model, which means it would take you 14.9 years to recoup the extra cost of the disel model. Of course, if you drive a lot more than that, and chances are if you do, it’s mostly highway, the break-even point will come even sooner. If you drove 20,000 milespoer year, all highway, the diesel 2012 Jetta will cost you $1,871 per year and the gas 2012 Jetta will cost $2,219 per year. That’s $348 per year more for the gas model, which means it would take eight and a half years to recoup the extra costs.

So the diesel is still a good buy for buyers who drive a lot and keep cars for a long time.