Quote:
Originally Posted by Whiterook
Diesels have some hurdles to overcome with consumer acceptance here in the US. I think part of the problem is that a lot of us are old enough to remember the previous attempts to put a small diesel engine in autos and light trucks. The "diesel bunny" (VW Rabbit) back in the 80s was pretty bad and so were a lot of GM's diesels that that company put in light trucks. The concept is sound enough, but only the heavy duty engines manufactured for the big rigs seem to be really worth a **** and that seems to hold pretty much true even today from what I've heard from current diesel owners. These folks are forever going on about how great their diesels are and then in the next sentence they launch into a litany of apologies for "the few" repairs their vehicles have had.
And then there are issues with the "smell" (a complaint from a former Mercedes diesel owner who now owns a Prius). The inconvenience of purchasing fuel, the waiting times in cold temps at start up/glow plugs, etc. No one wants to mess with that s**t except certain guys who are diehards for the technology.
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I don't think it is fair to compary the 'diesel bunny' in 80's to diesels today.
I drove an 85 VW Golf Diesel for 6 years and averaged ~44mpg. Yes it was loud and shaked like a washing machine during cold startups but diesels have greater improved over the past couple decades due to advanced electronic ignition systems. The only electrical devices my 85 Golf diesel used were glow plugs and a fuel solenoid used to shut the engine off. I had very few maintenance issues with the engine. Engine wise, I only had to replace the glow plus a couple times and replace the head gasket and that was over the couse of over 200k miles. Reliability of the rest of the car was a different story that I won't get into...to sum it up I'll never own a vw again.
TDI's are much quieter, glow plugs turn on immediately when the drivers door is opened. Hopefully US drivers will get out of their comfort zone and give diesels a try again....they've come a long way since the 'diesel bunny' of the 80's.