I’m getting a second vehicle and was thinking of getting a diesel. Pretty sure I’ll be getting golf or jetta, or a toyota hilux (diesel powered 4runner). Just wondering if anyone here owns a diesel vehicle and if it was a good investment or not. I heard some things about reliability, but I’m not sure if its just hearsay.
A diesel, in general, is very reliable when compared to gasoline engines of the same size. They will normally last longer. A diesel will usally not perform as well as a gasoline engine for the same size and displacement.
Good in trucks. Maybe not so good in cars.
I wish there were more Diesel cars here in the US. I am originally from El Salvador and over there all the models (including all american cars) are offered in a Diesel version. They are less powerful but the gas milage is ridiculous.
You get better gas mileage, but you pay a little more for diesel, and have to go to stations that have diesel. All stations around here do not carry diesel.
I drive diesel trucks for work and personal. They are fantastic on MPG i have a Dodge Ram 3500 quad cab Dual wheel. I put a bullydog chip in the ECU and im getting 20MPG highway with this beast of a truck, and when i pull my 30,000lb+ backhoe for work i get around 11mpg witch is good!
One of our work trucks has 250,000 miles on the motor and we have only done regular mant. work on it…it still runs like new. As far as cars go i wouldnt see why it would be much diff. other than displacement. IMO would not go back to gas unless i had to!
I like em, been running 1 ton diesels for 10 years and wouldn’t go back to gas jobbies either. Loads of power & generally really reliable. The cars might be different though. The only downfall is the added purchase cost & repair cost if something does fall apart on ya.
[quote]Canadianrigpig wrote:
I like em, been running 1 ton diesels for 10 years and wouldn’t go back to gas jobbies either. Loads of power & generally really reliable. The cars might be different though. The only downfall is the added purchase cost & repair cost if something does fall apart on ya. [/quote]
I knew someone from alberta was going to reply, haha. What transmission do you usually go for? I’m thinking standard, since the automatic probably costs much more.
The Hilux diesels have an excellent reputation and have been sold outside of the US for many years.
As has been noted already, diesels will run forever if taken care of well. I’ve had a Ford diesel pickup that literally had 500k on it and was still dead tight. No reason it wouldn’t make a million miles if treated well.
uh… how do you get ANY gas mileage from a diesel?
BTW, would love to have a 2-dr Merc 300D
[quote]sdspeedracer wrote:
The Hilux diesels have an excellent reputation and have been sold outside of the US for many years.
As has been noted already, diesels will run forever if taken care of well. I’ve had a Ford diesel pickup that literally had 500k on it and was still dead tight. No reason it wouldn’t make a million miles if treated well.[/quote]
The one I’m thinking of getting has 98000km on it and is a 5 speed. It’s a 2600cc turbodiesel. 1991 though, but in great condition
Diesels in general are very reliable and long lasting, Diesels in cars got a bad reputation back in the late 1970’s through mid-1980’s when General Motors developed an automotive diesel by modifying their 350 auto engine. It got great fuel economy in large cars, but was a reliability disaster due to components that weren’t designed to take the higher operating pressures and temps of a diesel.
The diesel made a big contribution to GM’s shitty (deserved) reputation for quality and cost them a ton of $$$. Many owners of Cadillacs, big Buicks and Oldsmobiles had 2 or 3 new engines put in their cars under warranty, plus GM had to deal with numerous lawsuits from owners when the factory warranty ran out. At the same time M Benz was selling an automotive diesel in the U.S. routinely ran 500k+ miles with normal maintenance.
You need to look at the premium for the diesel option on the car and compare it to the lower operating costs over time and decide if it makes financial sense for you. With the Jetta and Golf getting pretty good fuel economy with the gas engine it may not be a super good deal unless you drive alot of mile and/or keep the car for a long time.
Well, if its cold where you live (which I see is Canada), you can have problems with your engine starting, because the fuel can gel up.
Other than that, diesels are excellent.
[quote]Uncle Fester wrote:
Well, if its cold where you live (which I see is Canada), you can have problems with your engine starting, because the fuel can gel up.
Other than that, diesels are excellent.[/quote]
This is true and diesels are a pain in the ass in the winter times. As long as you use high quality diesel and maybe a diesel additive you wont have many problems, just make sure to let the motor warm up at a high RPM before you drive off. We usually let our trucks run for at least 15min before taking off.