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What Would It Take for YOU to buy a diesel car?

1503 messages,  Last post on Nov 14, 2009 at 1:11 PM

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What is this discussion about? Car Buying, Biodiesel, Diesel, Hybrid Cars, Coupe, Hatchback, SUV

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#1443 of 1503 Re: Diesel Prices up in the Northeast [alltorque] by gagrice Oct 15, 2009 (5:31 am)
Replying to: alltorque (Oct 15, 2009 3:35 am) You hit it on the head.   There are two major pluses that make diesel vehicles preferable. Driving pleasure with a small diesel engine and long range. Being able to cruise at 70 MPH up and down hill without down shifting makes for a much better driving experience. Having 700 mile plus range in your tank is the other. Even when diesel peaked at near $5 per gallon last year it was a better cost ratio over a comparable gas version of the same vehicle.   From an old duffer that hates the screaming sound a small gas engine makes trying to keep up with traffic on long uphill highways.
#1444 of 1503 Re: Diesel Prices up in the Northeast [sellaturcica] by 104wb Oct 15, 2009 (5:50 am)
Replying to: sellaturcica (Oct 15, 2009 12:37 am) What alltorque and gagrice said. Plus, before even considering the fuel cost / efficiency tradeoff in your 'break-even' calculation, consider the vehicle's resale value. If you're the type who trades in every two years, the diesel version of a given model will be worth more than the gasser, to the extent that in most cases the higher resale more than offsets the initial price differential. Fuel savings is just icing on the cake. I checked this out on many vehicles from VW Golfs and Jettas to Jeep Libertys and GCs to full size pickups. It is almost universally true, when compared to the most similar gasser variant (in the case of an SUV or truck, I compared similar tow ratings). If you're the type that keeps them 10 years / 300,000 miles, then realize you'll be buying the gasser 1.5 times or twice as often... that's expensive. Replies to this message: sellaturcica (Oct 15, 2009 9:25 am) 104wb (Oct 15, 2009 1:22 pm) agrawal (Oct 15, 2009 3:29 pm)
#1445 of 1503 Re: Diesel Prices up in the Northeast [sellaturcica] by steve_ HOST Oct 15, 2009 (6:54 am)
Replying to: sellaturcica (Oct 15, 2009 12:37 am) The difference between regular and unleaded has been running a dime for months now ($2.69 vs $2.79 is typical right now). Last year diesel was often .20 or .30 higher than premium.
#1446 of 1503 Re: Diesel Prices up in the Northeast [104wb] by sellaturcica Oct 15, 2009 (9:25 am)
Replying to: 104wb (Oct 15, 2009 5:50 am) I don't think you can extrapolate the new diesels out to 300,000 miles like the old ones. They are no longer as dead simple as they once were; there's lots of parts to fail, parts that were engineered by Germans. The jury is out on the reliability of the new diesels; they're not having such great experiences in Europe with reliability.   The refueling range on diesels is amazing, but if you're not saving any money, and you're driving complicated new technology to do it, I'm not sure it's worth it. Replies to this message: 104wb (Oct 15, 2009 1:22 pm) agrawal (Oct 15, 2009 3:29 pm)
#1447 of 1503 Re: Diesel Prices up in the Northeast [sellaturcica] by mike91326 Oct 15, 2009 (11:08 am)
Replying to: sellaturcica (Oct 15, 2009 12:37 am) Yesterday, when I filled up my Jetta TDI here in Los Angeles, D2 was $2.79 and RUG was $2.99. I have about 5000 miles on the car and have been averaging 36MPG. Not bad when 70% of my time is stuck in crappy LA rush hour traffic.
#1448 of 1503 Re: Diesel Prices up in the Northeast [sellaturcica] by 104wb Oct 15, 2009 (1:22 pm)
Replying to: sellaturcica (Oct 15, 2009 9:25 am) Well, you may be right. In the case of my '98.5 Cummins, 300,000 is not an extrapolation, but it is, as you say, of the dead simple breed. I think from an engineering perspective, people would be better served by a 2006 level of diesel technology coupled with 2006 emissions levels. We are way into diminishing returns on the emissions front, and any technology required to meet future emissions and fuel economy mandates (BEV, PHEV, fuel cell, 'Clean' Diesel) is going to be expensive and complicated. Even the mundane SI gasser will be complicated by DI, VVL, cylinder deactivation, stop-start, particulate traps (yes, coming for gassers). None of those technologies add to the system robustness... Replies to this message: agrawal (Oct 15, 2009 3:29 pm)
#1449 of 1503 Re: Diesel Prices up in the Northeast [104wb] by agrawal Oct 15, 2009 (3:29 pm)
Replying to: 104wb (Oct 15, 2009 1:22 pm) And don't forget the cost of Adblue in case of clean diesel from Germans. MB charges around $11 for 1/2 gal. It takes about 16 of these bottle every 10,000 miles or each service
#1450 of 1503 adblue, etc. by stickguy Oct 15, 2009 (3:38 pm)
well, with something like this, what happens if you just don't bother? I assume the car runs perfectly fine, but it may just emit more of whatever the adblue is supposed to combat?   I agree that chasing low emissions (and likely MPG) probably follows something along the 80/20 rule. And that when you get to a certain point, the cost (up front and ongoing) to improve a tiny amount is astronomical. Replies to this message: sellaturcica (Oct 15, 2009 5:24 pm) gagrice (Oct 15, 2009 7:24 pm) mike91326 (Oct 19, 2009 5:58 pm) agrawal (Oct 19, 2009 6:04 pm) and 2 more...
#1451 of 1503 Urea by sellaturcica Oct 15, 2009 (5:24 pm)
Replying to: stickguy (Oct 15, 2009 3:38 pm) I believe the engine is disabled if you don't refill the urea.
#1452 of 1503 Re: NJ wrinkle [stickguy] by bpeebles Oct 15, 2009 (5:36 pm)
Replying to: stickguy (Oct 14, 2009 7:32 am) Not sure if it makes it safer or riskier, but NJ (along with what, Oregon?) donoesn't allow self serve.   I am pretty sure that the NJ law does not apply to diesel.... I can pump diesel into my TDI in NJ all I want.   Actually, I would be afraid that the NJ pump-boy would put gasoline in my TDI Replies to this message: gagrice (Oct 15, 2009 7:27 pm)

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