I think the answer to why there are not more diesel offerings in the US is because of the relatively low price of gasoline.The governments of European countries tax their fuel heavily and with the income fund social welfare and healthcare programs. This also reduces oil consumption benefitting the environment. We on the other hand prefer to consume cheap gasoline in our guzzlers thereby transferring our wealth to oil producing countries. There is little incentive for the average consumer to switch to more expensive diesel cars given the current price of gas.
While common in Europe, stricter emissions requirements in some states and the recent temporary bout of high priced diesel fuel here has most car manufacturers hesitant to invest the money for what has only shown to be a small segment of the market so far in the United States.

 

Hello,
In the USA diesel cars are becoming increasingly common and demand for them has also been increasing as well. These changes in the consumer automobile market have surfaced as the advantages of diesel cars (most notably their spectacular fuel mileage and corresponding increase in vehicle range) have become more important, and traditional downsides such as noise, production of pollutants, dark smoke and/or acrid smell have been mitigated by advancing technology.

thanks!!

_________________
used cars in calgary

 

I owned 2 VW diesel pickups and 1 diesel Rabbit from 1982 through 1994 and loved the little 60 horsepower torque monsters. The absolute worse fuel mileage figure I ever got on 1 or 2 tanks of fuel was when running the A/C and driving in heavy traffic or at low speeds doing newspaper delivery was just under 29MPG and the highest was in the sedan commuting 75 miles a day on the highway getting a consistent 54.7.. On 99.9 cent a gallon fuel I was spending $10.00 to drive 547 miles but I was driving only 55MPH back then. Even driving them hard there was no problem getting over 40 MPG mixed city and highway driving.. The economy here in the US is geared toward consuming mass quantities of oil but a lot of that consumption is from petroleum products other than fuel, very much of it going into plastic products.. Diesel fuel isn't as refined as much as gasoline and using it for fuel reduces the amount of plastic and other byproducts that can be produced and sold at higher prices than diesel fuel.. I am old enough to remember purchasing diesel fuel for non highway use and not paying taxes on it for about 13 cents a gallon. There wasn't as much plastic being used in those days of returnable glass cold drink , milk bottles, and even water bottles. Now it's plastic bags, synthetic carpets, upholstery, clothing fabrics, building materials, appliances, TVs, computers, auto parts and on and on.. Even our food prices are manipulated by oil companies and legislation that pays farmers big bucks not to plant crops... It was George Washington Carver that invented plastic made from peanut oil and when Rudolf Diesel invented the engine that bears his name it was designed to run on peanut oil... The way I see it, the desires of corporate profits takes precedence over what we in American want or need and that is the reason there is a glut of huge expensive diesel pickups made and sold in this country instead of small cars and high taxes on diesel fuel. It seems to me that we aren't as free to make choices about what we want or need as the people that don't live in places other than the land of the brave home of the free are.

 

I had one of the VW diesels Texas Coyote is talking about; a VW Rabbit pickup. A nifty car overall. On average I got 40mpg city. I had two complaints though, one was starting in very cold weather and the other was reliability issues.

The reliability problems had two causes on my car. First it wasn't properly maintained by the previous owner and secondly, the engine wasn't designed to be be a diesel from the ground up, but rather a refitted from a gas engine design. This is never a good idea. The GM diesels had the same problem. Diesels designed from the ground up to be diesels tend to be very robust and reliable.

I do see a number of VW TDI's around and some Mercedes diesels. I'm assuming todays Diesels are easier to start in the cold, is that true? If so anyone know how that is done?

 

I bought my first one ( 81 pickup) new and other than having to replace the outer CV joints a few times because of the crazy way I had to drive it and the crazy torque of the little engine the inner CV joints and front struts because of stupid Eibach springs.. The 82 Rabbit I bought used had been well cared for but i did have to replace a water pump and master cylinder on it.. The used truck was a mess and my son destroyed the clutch on his first trip to school and blew a couple of head gaskets claiming he wasn't doing anything wrong that could have caused it. Some of his friends and a highway patrolman that I was friends with told me otherwise... I was told by a German guy that worked at a Dallas company that rebuilt diesel fuel injector pumps I met shortly after I had gotten my first truck that VW had designed the engine block that went into all of the Rabbits back then with the idea of building a diesel version at a later date... The coldest temperature I can remember in my life was 17 below 0 and other than when the fuse to the glow plugs had burned out once, was the only time I couldn't get any of mine to not start. The battery was good but it wouldn't even turn over due to the fuel coagulating and not being able to be pumped... I had to drive to work in a 72 Cadillac hearse without a heater that morning.

 

I could always get it started (assuming it was in good working order) but when it was really cold, say 10 degrees or lower, it would take forever to start, several minutes of cranking if it had to sit for several hours without the block heater. I did all the things you're suppose to do to help the engine start, but it was still a lot of work to just to start the engine. I don't see too many people willing to do that, especially now that gas cars start first time every time normally.

 

Diesel of the past was the left overs of a barrel but the new diesel is made from GTL technology. Gas-to-Liquid Fuels In Transportation This explains the higher cost and lower mpg the new diesels get. They sell the left over diesel to other country's for gasoline. Diesel cost more than premium gas now.

 

I wanted to replace my Subaru with a diesel, but when I sat down and did the math, it did not work out. A TDi was considerably more expensive then the Fit(~6K new). The car I REALLY wanted was the diesel Subaru, which is STILL not stateside. :(

Anyway, the low cost and relatively high mpg of a gas car like a Fit, combined with the high cost of diesel and higher cost of the car lead to a LONG repayment time to break even due to fuel costs.

I had to dismiss the diesels pretty quick after running the numbers. I'd LOVE to see them become more common stateside, but until they are more common, the costs are going to remain too high.

Here is some of the math using today fuel costs.
my fit is currently getting ~30MPG, and gas today cost me 3.50.
A TDi will get about 45MPG, and diesel today 4.01

The goal is to find the ratio in Dollars per Mile instead of MPG, which gives a rough estimation of the operational costs of the vehicle, and can be used to make a break even calculation on the number of miles driven prior to break even.

For the fit, G=$3.50. So 3.50/30 = .12 dollars per mile (DPM)
For the TDi, G=$4.01. So $4.01/45 = .09 DPM.

As you can see, the difference in operational costs is quite small (3 cents per mile).
A new fit goes out the door for ~18K, and a TDi for ~25K, so the delta between them is $6000.
So, at .03DPM, you would have to drive 200,000 miles before you hit the break even point! Considering that I keep a new car for about 160K miles before I get a new one, I'd never hit the crossover point.

Now, that point could change if the cost of gas went up and the cost of diesel went down or stayed the same, or you were considering an efficient car vs an inefficient car. If the difference in operational costs was 10 cents, the break even point would be 60K miles - and nearly everyone hits that over the life of a vehicle if they buy it.

Zach

 

There isn't as big a difference in fuel mileage between diesel and gasoline powered cars as there was in the eighties... The diesels back then required less maintenance than gasoline engines of the time but electronic management and fuel injection systems have improved the power output and cut down the amount of service required on gasoline engines offsetting the most desirable advantage of a diesel over gasoline power. What I see as being the most desirable thing about the diesel cars of today is the insane low end torque. Switching back to gasoline power after being spoiled by power band of a diesel can be a difficult transition.

 

The other issue is infrastructure.

In Texas, finding diesel, is easy. At least where I lived you could find it at nearly every station.

In Maryland and South Central PA (where I live now) finding diesel is hard (harder in MD then PA, but even in PA I bet that the ratio of diesel/no diesel stations is 1:2).

Zach

 

Diesel pumps were hard to find in 1981 down here also.. It isn't a problem unless you have only 2 or less gallons of fuel in the tank and it is over 90 to 110 miles to the next diesel pump.

 

I have always contemplated a 3cyl 1.0l CR turbodiesel for the Fit if fuel prices went through the roof.

Like modifying a Kubota, Yanmar or Robin diesel and then make a bellhousing adapter and input shaft to mate it to the stock gearbox.

I also want to mount inboard (sprung mass v. unsprung at the hubs) electric motors to provide regen braking or a burst of power when needed.

Or just scrap that and get a certified used BMW 335d 6MT and turn up the pump..

 

You'd have to deal with the auto...unless they have changed for the new year...those have been auto only, sadly.