Diesel Availability & Auto Maint-Your Experiences

[Mr_Incredible]

I know diesels get better mileage than gas engines, but how has your change to diesel gone? I wonder about increased maintenance costs, parts availability and difficulty factors, and whether the difficulty factor of finding diesel fuel can put person into an out-of-fuel situation. Especially in out-of-town situations.

Your thoughts or experiences?

 

[fdcg27]

The diesels we had were old MBs.
Maintenace costs were very low.
Fuel availability was never a problem, since you got to know where to find fuel locally and truck stops are abundant along the interstates.
Not much to break on a W123 diesel, and the 22 gallon fuel tank eased any worries about finding fuel.

 

[OilNerd]

I like the idea of better mileage and longevity, but diesel fuel availability is more limited where I live.

Also the NYS taxes on diesel make the fuel much more expensive here. (Cheapest diesel is $4.09 vs. cheapest gas at $3.71 here)

 

[Chris142]

Every station on every corner has Diesel here.

 

[JHZR2]

+1, Owning multiple diesels (w123 MB), I've had low cost low maintenance, reliable cars. However the w123 is the most reliable, longest lasting vehicle ever built. My father has a 96, which has many more electronics in it, but nothing there has been less reliable, more complex, etc over 220k than an equivalent ga$$er.

My brother has a new 2011 TDi and we will see. That one has the particle trap and whatnot... I'm not counting on it being any worse than a ga$$er either.

 

[bullwinkle]

Diesel gets better mileage, especially the bigger the vehicle, plus the more you haul, makes an even bigger difference. For example, my old company van, which was a 2000 GMC Savana, 350 Vortec automatic w/3.08 rear axle ratio, usually averaged 10-11 MPG in mixed driving, weighing in at 8300 lbs. My co. van now, the '04 E-350, with the Powerstroke 6.0 and a lower 3.55 ratio, and 500 more pounds of parts, has gotten 19 if babied on the highway, & routinely gets 16-17. The biggest thing about diesel is buying from NAME BRAND locations that go thru/move a lot of fuel, keeping tanks FULL, esp. in damp weather, and changing fuel filters regularly.

 

[antonmnster]

I run a ton of diesel equipment at work, and maintenance of a diesel is easier than a gas engine. Basically you're just replacing filters and oil. That's going to be an apples/oranges comparison if you're looking at a contemporary direct injection engine, but since they're so common in Europe, I'd feel 100% confident with one. In fact, I'd really rather have a DI diesel than DI gas.

Fuel is easy to find. If you're on the interstate a lot, you'll be better off since truckstops are more competitive with diesel than gas. If you're adventurous you can make your own bio-diesel!

I think diesel is a great power choice. Go for it.

 

[SteveSRT8]

I'm pretty sure all diesels are DI.

I'm not expecting any miracles out of my Dmax, but the maintenance is ridiculously simple. Mine even told me when to change the fuel filter.

 

[eljefino]

My 240D pulled 34 MPG in the summer. Not everyone in the suburbs has diesel but it can be found; pricing varies more than it does for unleaded. My credit card gives a 4% rebate for "gasoline" so I got fuel for cash at a sketchy oil dealer that keeps a rusty pump off one side of the lot. I don't know if there are any fuel rewards cards that work with diesel or if they accidentally or purposefully go through allowing the rebate. (I doubt it.)

Maintenance was different; manual valve lash adjustments and two fuel filters in a row. The underhood layout was nice though with no surprises.