High mileage diesels

[arian_ma]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to get a new car fairly soon here, and am wondering about diesels. I have never owned one before, and know nothing about them. Seems that a lot of readings say that diesel engines (all of them) will run forever, and that 200K km is a well broken in diesel engine.

Can someone enlighten me on the actual facts?

[ercchry]

i think this sums it up


Originally posted by ExtraSlow

But make sure you really need a diesel. They cost more up front, they cost more to maintain, and if something does go wrong, they cost a lot to repair. Not to mention, you won't get the mileage you think with them, and diesel fuel is not cheap anymore.

http://forums.beyond.ca/st/333916/diesel-ford-superdutys/

[arian_ma]

Hmm, thanks for the thread. Does that information apply to cars like the VW TDIs as well?

[Zero102]

I had a MKIV Golf TDI with the 1.9L pumpe duse mated to the 5 speed automatic. I got between 4.4 and 6.5L/100km on the highway and 7.0-9.1L/100km in the city. Most of my city driving was downtown rush hour sorts of traffic, and on the highway I liked to go 10-20% over the limit. Dunno if this helps?

The biggest thing with buying any high mileage car is maintenance, make sure the car has been WELL maintained.

[Cos]

Like everyone has said diesel are not worth it unless you need it. Chat to CodeTrap about his Jetta. He had a Diesel Jetta. He loved it but never once was it financially worth it.

I think for you get a mid-90's Civic that gets 50mpg, warms up, and is cheap to fix.

[CLiVE]

I have an '06 Golf TDI. Great car, but I only own one because my wife commutes 200km/day (highway). Owning the TDI saves me about $300 per month in fuel. (vs the 3 series she was driving). She puts about 50K kms on per year.

With that being said, I would choose a different car for a city commuter. I find with the TDI, it gets heavy carbon build up in a hurry when city driving.

Still better off with a fuel efficient gas car IMO for city commuting IMO.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[ExtraSlow]

ercchry, I'm feeling the love.

anyway, while its somewhat common for diesel engines in cars to lost longer then gas ones, the fact still remains that when you buy a car with 200,000 kms on it, the suspension, brakes chassis etc have all been taking abuse for that long. Diesel fuel doesn't protect the rest of the car.

I do love the VW TDI, it's a great engine, but don't get hung up on the fuel. Find the car you need, that you can afford, and just buy that. People make some foolish decisions because they think they "need" a diesel.

[CapnCrunch]

If you don't NEED a diesel truck, do not buy one.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[ExtraSlow]

back in the day of carbureted engines, some people deliberated tuned their car to run rich, and installed spark plugs on the exhaust, with similar results.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

One thing I like about diesels personally is the A/F ratio at idle is super lean, I hate sitting in traffic thinking about how much fuel I'm waddle, even though it's not a lot.

[msommers]

If you're buying a used diesel, I'd be really careful. They are expensive to repair and if the previous owners didn't maintain it very well, it could be a nightmare both mentally and financially.

Are you predominantly on the highway or in the city? The only reason I'd consider one would be if I lived a considerable distance from work out of town. I know you mentioned a car, but for a truck, the only reason would be serious towing requirements.

Diesel is at what now... I think 109.9? Gas was (or is) 116.9 yesterday. The disparity between prices really doesn't save you a whole hell of a lot. The popularity of diesels has really driven up the price, imo.

[J-hop]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
back in the day of carbureted engines, some people deliberated tuned their car to run rich, and installed spark plugs on the exhaust, with similar results.

no need for that (tuning rich) as a lot of the old carbureted cars had manual chokes (think i've seen some hondas as young as the late 80s with manual chokes still!). Think a lot of guys ran ignition kill switches as well to dump raw fuel.

back to the OPs question, yea I would think 200k is pretty young for a diesel. We have a few tdis pushing 400 plus in clubveedub.

one thing I will say, if you look at something like a Mk4 tdi, if its auto don't even think about chipping it or tuning it in anyway, the autos are already weak as it is, and you won't be able to find a replacement around town (and even if you do you'll be paying an arm and a leg for it)