I want a diesel !

[Dually]

When is this country going to wake up like europe did and start selling more diesels?I know not every one wants one but diesels would help our dependence on foreign oil.They(diesels)last longer and get I believe 30% better fuel milage.I had 2000 Ford Powerstroke 7.3 diesel and the performance was far better than a gasoline engine.Joe

 

[buster]

I hear ya. The Accord diesel engines they have in Europe are sweet. We are supposed to see more of them soon.

 

[Diesel_Clatter]

I drove a 1985 VW Golf Diesel for six years until we suffered a short period of invisibility causing a nice lady to pull out directly in front of us.

It was smelly, smoky, loud, and could shake the fillings out of your teeth at idle.

My chemical defense system against tailgaters was simply to floor it, producing a nice cloud of smoke which probably left a nice greasy film.

I really miss that car.

 

[96 Cherokee]

Yea, me too. The only affordable diesel car that is close to big enough for a family and gets great fuel milage is the late model Jetta diesel, and there are several things about the Jetta that are not attractive. Exhorbitant parts prices, ripoff dealer service, reports of poor service float around also. A neighbor bought a new '06 Jetta diesel and sold or traded it after owning it about 10 months. I sure hope there is a better selection of diesels soon. Maybe with more diesels in the US, more stations will sell the fuel and it will not be more expensive than gasoline, eh?

 

[Strjock81]

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Yea, me too. The only affordable diesel car that is close to big enough for a family and gets great fuel milage is the late model Jetta diesel

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What about the Passat? We have an 01 jetta with 112K on it that has (knock on wood) been a great car. If I was stuck in a city with little mechanical know how I would shy away from it, but I live on a farm, can work on it myself for the most part, and parts can be bought much cheaper than dealer prices online. Nothing we have done to it would have cost any less if we had a Chevy, Chryseler, Ford, etc. #@$%!, the original brakes lasted 110K and the replacement rotors and pads, etc. with labor cost me $327 local. Can't complain about that too much.

Realistically speaking, anyone who is reliant on the dealer for service is bound to spend a ton of money on a car's service over the life of the vehicle, regardless of brand. If one can perform a lot of basic maintenance themselves, it opens the door to exploring more options vehiclewise.

There are quirks I don't much care for in our Jetta, but I have been happy with it all in all. There are quirks in my 04.5 Cummins equipped Dodge, quirks in my 04 Chevy 2500HD, there have been things I didn't like about every vehicle I have owned. But I have managed to either negate or minimize design/service problems by looking for alternatives and doing the work myself.

I hope for more family sized cars with diesel power to expand our options down the road. I would not hesitate to investigate a diesel powered option from any of the well known brands when we replace the Jetta. (Hopefully about 300K down the road) I love the mileage, the torque, and being a farmer, to me there is no comparison between gas and diesel. Now with diesel equipped lawnmowers and ATVS, once I upgrade to those, I will have successfully converted everything over to the "better fuel."

 

[Col]

Yea, me too. The only affordable diesel car that is close to big enough for a family and gets great fuel milage is the late model Jetta diesel, and there are several things about the Jetta that are not attractive. Exhorbitant parts prices, ripoff dealer service, reports of poor service float around also. A neighbor bought a new '06 Jetta diesel and sold or traded it after owning it about 10 months. I sure hope there is a better selection of diesels soon. Maybe with more diesels in the US, more stations will sell the fuel and it will not be more expensive than gasoline, eh?


We Buy a Jetta Diesel Every Year ! we Well My Wife Loves The Car, i Drive a dodge 3500 Mega Cab Diesel, i Do Not Understand Why The Bad Rap ?? We Have Never NEVER Had Any Thing Go Wrong Yet, My Wife Drives From Sarasota Fl To Down Town St Pete Fl,every Day 6 days a week Around 150 miles round trip, we trade when it gets around 100 k She Gets AVG
45-50 miles per gal , i Run Long Rider Oil , Change it every 12k , Never has used any oil . We Have Owned 4 jetta Diesels so Far ,But i Understand 2007 is the last year for the diesel VW ! So i Guess i Will Put Her in a Dodge Pk Diesel ?
Bottom Line Here is The VW Diesel Is 100 % In My Books .

Col.

 

[Shannow]

I've had two diesels, a BJ42 landcruiser (wish I still had it), and a D22 Nissan Navara.

I love them.

The 3 litre Nissan gets 50% better mileage than my 4Runner (3 litre petrol), and pulls 40% better speed up the local hills.

 

[m2200b]

Europe gives its car drivers a subsidy on diesel fuel. Here there's a subsidy (tax credit) for some hybrids and mandatory use of ethenol (corn-farm subsidy). My guess is you won't see the small diesels w/o the subsidy or you'll see them as diesel hybrids so they qualify for subsidies.

 

[Tim]

I recently bought an '83 Mercedes 300SD with 76,000 miles on it.

Been baselining the fluids, filters hoses etc the past month.

The car is probably nicer than the average 4 year old car, even though it turned 24 in September. I doubt it would be much different if it had 200,000 miles, assuming good care.

First trip gave me 30mpg. Hope to better that with synthetic fluids and good additives.

Tim

 

[BMWR1150GS]

I have a rear engine diesel motorhome...it weighs 28000 lbs, has a CAT 3126B diesel engine, gets 9 MPG and will pull stumps when necessary...love diesel engines....no maintenance.....just oil changes...and if you are clever, you can make your own fuel!

 

[Jim]

Hey...I don't want to make you guys feel bad...but in the family there are two 240Ds Mercedes diesels ,a 2004 VW diesel, 2006 VW diesel, a 1991 Cummins, 1999 Benz turbodiesel, 1991 Benz turbodiesel. I haven't driven a gas powered car in 20 years and don't miss them at all.
Shaeffers 9000 in all of them.

 

[JHZR2]

Quote:

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I recently bought an '83 Mercedes 300SD with 76,000 miles on it.

Been baselining the fluids, filters hoses etc the past month.

The car is probably nicer than the average 4 year old car, even though it turned 24 in September. I doubt it would be much different if it had 200,000 miles, assuming good care.

First trip gave me 30mpg. Hope to better that with synthetic fluids and good additives.

Tim

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Really?!?!? are you sure??? not a rollback? those are RARE... care to share some pics???

I cant wait to get my 83 w123 repaired (hit by an uninsured driver, so Ive been saving a while...).


Dont forget... low miles in an MB diesel is NOT a mark of pride

JMH

 

[pidster]

I would want a diesel car if the right one was available. I'm just not liking the VW's. If I saw some compact cars or small pickup trucks from honda, toyota, or nissan I would be all over that. I know for a fact that diesel or turbo-diesel engines came in many of the overseas versions of toyotas. The overseas equivalent of the tercel was available with a turbo-diesel engine. This takes the main selling points of this type of car (great mileage and long life) and increases both substantially. I think this would sell well here.

 

[nyr197]

I want a toyota diesel car. I'd be happy.

 

[Tim]

Quote:

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Quote:

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I recently bought an '83 Mercedes 300SD with 76,000 miles on it.

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Really?!?!? are you sure??? not a rollback? those are RARE... care to share some pics???

I cant wait to get my 83 w123 repaired (hit by an uninsured driver, so Ive been saving a while...).


Dont forget... low miles in an MB diesel is NOT a mark of pride

JMH

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I don't know how to post pics on this forum. I only have a couple to share. I'll put them up if you tell me how.

I have carfax and all the maintenance records going back to 1985. The original owner had it for two years and the lady I bought it from owned it since '85. It is pretty much like new inside. The trunk is like new.

Getting 31mpg the last couple tanks on PS and 15w40 Delo.

Just got a shipment of Soyshield and S-9000 5W-40 so I know the mileage is going up some more! The Schaeffer's goes in as soon as my AutoRx rinse is done.

Yes, I am working on the low miles thing. Taking the long way home from work is a slow way to rack them up!

I've put on 4,500 miles in just a little over two months though. It is a sweet car.

 

[Tim]

I should add that I did get 29.8mpg on one tank recently, but it was 100% Houston commute miles.

 

[djmc]

I recently moved from Europe to Texas and drove almost all my life diesels: VW, Peugeot and Ford. I just love driving diesels, small vehicle diesel I must say. So the first thing I did was looking for a good diesel here but they are only available in HD trucks, or VW and Mercedes.
In Europe Ford has a very nice and powerful diesels in the Focus and Mondeo, the TDdi engine. Very popular in Europe.

I think it is a marketing decision not to bring small diesels here on the market, because they earn more on the regular gas cars. Diesels have very good mpg and less maintenance on the engine. But that is the same for the transmission, a standard gearbox has less maintenance than a transmission. It's all what the big guys want you to buy to keep the money going.

 

[eljefino]

They made diesel Camrys in the 1980s and a diesel nissan Sentra too. Not to mention chevette/i-marks, S10s/Isuzu P'UPs. Cutlass Cieras too. Don't forget Mazda b-series trucks, Ford Rangers and Tempos.

Urband legend is the used examples were all shipped to South America long since, as their fuel prices make diesels worthwhile as well.

 

[oil pan 4]

I like my diesel, its a big old suburban that gets all most 16mpg in the city and around 24mpg high way.

 

[Lonnie]

For the most part we Americans are not allowed diesels. The environment police have figured out that diesels are bad for the air we breathe. Every time the technology catches up to a set of rules, they make some more rules. Who whant to go into production with a diesel car when these clowns are going to change the rules as soon as you do. It's good we have these people to protects us because we are all so stupid. In fact if you argue with them they well remind you how stupid you are. It you really want their wrath, quote them some facts. That gets them really upset. the problem is that diesel cars make sense. Manufacturers can build them right now. We can get the fuel everywere. And these diesel cars can be serviced without a lot of new technology, tools or overhead. If you were to buy something like a Ford Escape would you pay a thousand dollars more for diesel or three thousand dollars more for a hybrid?