Diesel Cars

[TimberXX]

There seem to be more diesel cars now than ever. Unfortunately, many are premium brands such as mercedes, bmw, and audi.

Who has never diesel cars? What do you have, would you buy another, has reliable has the car been other than the engine.

We had a 77 Mercedes diesel that we ran for 435,000 miles. It was a great car. But I don't see the mercedes reliability there anymore.

 

[thatguy]

My parents had some Isuzu diesels..

Car = Imark early 80's model-ish.. 5 spd, 55 mpg - it was a great car..
Truck = p'up, early to mid 80's model .. 5sp 45 to 50 MPG - again a great car..

They ran both until they had close to 200k on them - no major repairs on either..

they were great car growing up as a teenager.. Diesel was <$1, run all weekend on $5 worth of fuel..

I would buy another small diesel vehicle in a heart beat.. BUT it has to have more guts (ir hp/torque) than those Isuzu's..

brian

 

[DAY]

Diesel cars are rare here- because they are all in Europe!

 

[Haoleguy]

I still have my eyes on a new VW Golf TDI. Also I wouldn't reject an ~2006 Mercedes E320 CDI. Both depend on whether I think I will be trapped in a long commute in the future.....Gary

 

[kiotiken]

Diesel cars are much more common in Canada than the US. They pretty much disappeared in 2006 because of stronger emission standards, but they're back with a vengeance now. I test drove a 2009 VW Jetta TDI clean diesel a few years ago. 140hp, 265ft/lbs torque, no more diesel smell, very little diesel sound (or sound of any kind) and lower emissions than a Prius with 1200Km per tank (720 miles). I really regret not buying it.

 

[jonyyuma]

I still have my eyes on a new VW Golf TDI. Also I wouldn't reject an ~2006 Mercedes E320 CDI. Both depend on whether I think I will be trapped in a long commute in the future.....Gary

TDI, it depends if you can service the car or not and does it have a timing belt or gears?The new VW is pretty pricy on service charges at dealer for timing belts. I changed my own belts on my Isuzu powered S-10 pu. Cost was $20.00 a pop at 80 k miles? Some will need to be done before 70k, Oil filters and Fuel filters can be a simular problem. just depends? Now some new Diesels require special attention to Emission related equipment and use diesel exhaust Fluid ??

 

[kiotiken]

TDI, it depends if you can service the car or not and does it have a timing belt or gears?The new VW is pretty pricy on service charges at dealer for timing belts. I changed my own belts on my Isuzu powered S-10 pu. Cost was $20.00 a pop at 80 k miles? Some will need to be done before 70k, Oil filters and Fuel filters can be a simular problem. just depends? Now some new Diesels require special attention to Emission related equipment and use diesel exhaust Fluid ??

BlueTec (sp?) is from Mercedes and does use exhaust fluid, hence it's name. VW does not. Not sure of others. All my parents older VW TDI's had timing chains.

 

[whiskywizard]

There are fewer diesel cars in North America now than in the past.

It's down to the 4 Germans; VW leads the pack with 4 models. Audi, and BMW each have 2 models. MB has 3.

It's too bad - both GM and Ford have decent small diesels overseas, but can't bring them into NA because of market constraints caused in part by California's emmission limits. Same with Subaru; they have some great diesels "over there" but not enough demand to bring any here.

What I'd really like here is a Toyota Hilux - small displacement diesel engine in a mid-size pick up.

 

[houstonscott]

I own a BWM 335d. It's a very nice car. I have seen 42mpg on the freeway, but that's down at 60mph, up at speed 70mph it does 38mpg. And its very fast too. With 425 foot pounds of torque it puts you V8 pickup to shame.

HS

 

[jonyyuma]

I was told that the new VW had to be serviced for a timing belt. I did not follow up on it as we found a car we liked better and get 30 mpg most of the time?

 

[jonyyuma]

It's too bad - both GM and Ford have decent small diesels overseas, but can't bring them into NA because of market constraints caused in part by California's emmission limits. Same with Subaru; they have some great diesels "over there" but not enough demand to bring any here.

What I'd really like here is a Toyota Hilux - small displacement diesel engine in a mid-size pick up.[/QUOTE]

There are several diesel options for utility down in Australia, Toyota offers a twin turbo v-6 and a turbo-V-8...They won't pass US testing and like we won't see them....

 

[Diamondpilot]

I own a BWM 335d. It's a very nice car. I have seen 42mpg on the freeway, but that's down at 60mph, up at speed 70mph it does 38mpg. And its very fast too. With 425 foot pounds of torque it puts you V8 pickup to shame.

HS

We have a 335I with the twin turbo inline 3.0L 6 cylinder. Its gas but will do 30 plus mpg and averages about 25 mpg around town.

Its tons of fun and fast also. 0 to 60 in 4 seconds and 1/4 mile in 12 seconds will leave most Cameros and Mustangs looking at the tail lights. Not bad for a family sedan.

Real sleeper.

Chris

 

[jonyyuma]

Some of the locals here use these cars to wieve in and out of the 3 lanes on our by-pass. I admit they look pretty quick, but theres a limit to driving fast on slick streets?

 

[milstencil]

We have been driving VW diesels since 1980 (first gas crisis) and all have gotten over 45MPG with 5 speed manual transmissions.
Still have my 83 rabbit and it is pushing 200,000 miles.
The only down side to the VW diesel is the "rubber band" timing belt. It has to be changed at
100,000 miles along with the water pump--$1200.00.
When we went from the rabbits (slow!!!) to the TDI jetta, the change was like night and day!
The TDI has ball$ and can fly at highway speeds. The old ones you had to turn off the AC to get out of a toll booth.
Looking at the BMW diesel because of the timing belt issue.
Rick

 

[jonyyuma]

I had to turn off the AC on my S-10 too if i wanted a quick start-off, or feather the clutch? It was 62 hp, no turbo...Sure needed it...

 

[TimberXX]

I am considering the audi wagon diesel, I need to look into the maintenance schedule.

I want the diesel to save me money, not spend it on service.

 

[jonyyuma]

Audi is supposed to be a good car. I don't know of anyone here that has one?We do have one dealer in mid-town..diesel is $3.49 right now..

 

[Sutol]

I have a 1997 Peugeot 306 1.9 Turbo intercooled diesel and it flys and it does 50 mpg and it tows my trailers and its done 167,000 miles.

It doesnt use a drop of oil and it has been reliable over the past year.

I paid 275 Pounds for it thats about $420 and I intend to run it until I get my diesel Land Rover fixed.

Peugeot diesels were the best in the world but the newer models are not as good, they have for instance reduced the size of the sump so less oil reserve which they say is better for the environment as there is less waste oil but there isnt enough oil and the turbos dont last etc.

Progress eh

 

[Sutol]

Audi is supposed to be a good car. I don't know of anyone here that has one?We do have one dealer in mid-town..diesel is $3.49 right now..

Audi ok but expensive on spares

As for diesel try $10.50 a gallon as it is over here.

Also my brothers Audi A4 1.9 diesel only gets 30mpg on a run as it is so heavy

 

[chrisott]

I bought an '81 diesel VW rabbit from my BIL after he had it 10 years. I drove it another 125K miles and routinely got between 45 mpg (summer) and 40 mpg (winter). It was peppy in the city, but a dog on the highway. I replaced it with a 1997 VW Passat with the TDI engine. That one was peppy at all speeds. It would get 48 mpg in the sumer and 42 mpg in the winter. I drove that over 200K miles in the 10 years I had it. The check engine light was on for 8 of those 10 years. All the local dealers couldn't figure it out, but the mechanic in my town did (oxygen sensor). In Massachusetts the laws keep changing on whether one can buy a diesel car or not in the state. The newer TDIs don't get the fuel economy the older ones did. So I went with a Prius hybrid for the replacement. Was getting 68 to 72 mpg for the first six months in 2007, then the fuel all changed to 10% ethanol and I only get 55-58 mpg in the summer and 48-50 mpg in the winter.