CRV Diesel

The CRV's sold in the U.S are made by Honda. Toyota makes the Rav4.

Diesel passenger cars got a bad reputation in the minds of many American consumers, thanks to the poor reliability of GM passenger car diesels after the first gas crisis. The quality of passenger car diesel engines has come a long way since then, however, I think most American consumers still distrust them so automakers other than VW don't go through the expense of certifying them for sale in the U.S.

Relative to the europeans, north american fuel prices are still less than half price. Is the extra cost of the diesel motor economically viable at this point?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the north american fuel has more sulfur making it less suitable for the extreme high pressures generated by modern injector pumps in common rail systems. Toyotas diesel motors as used in their pickup trucks and land cruisers would go forever; but north americans still like their hp and appearance over milage and reliability.

The hybrids seem to be selling more hp (as in lexus suv) rather than increased milage. Maybe the market isn't ready to compromise yet.

jb

I guess it depends on how often the buyer replaces vehicles. Someone who replaces vehicles every 3 years may not recover the extra cost, but someone who keeps vehicles for 10 years probably would.

I am not a chemist so I don't know whether the sulfur affects the suitabaility of fuel for use in diesels or not. I suspect that it does not affect performance but it does affect emissions.

As I mentioned, many Americans remember diesels as noisy, soot-spewing, hard starting engines that failed early and often. The average automobile technician had little or no experience working on diesels so the quality of diagnosis and repair was often spotty, so I suspect that the average American incorrectly views diesels as less reliable than a gasoline engine.

The cost of diesel fuel is generally higher than unleaded here in the Midwest, so that also extends the break-even period, and diesel fuel is not available at every filling station.

Diesels have an image to overcome among U.S. consumers. Many Americans believe them to be noisy, smelly, and underpowered. That's because there haven't been many modern diesel cars sold here in recent years. Or even primitive ones, for that matter.

Many people believe that diesel fuel is hard to find, also. It isn't really; it's just that most people aren't accustomed to watching for gas stations that sell it. Then there's the fact that diesel fuel is now inexplicably more costly than most gasoline. Add to thgat the higher purchas price of a diesel car relative to the conventional version, and people begin to suspect they'd come out ahead financially by sticking with a gasoline-powered vehicle.

Then there's the GM diesel debacle from the late 1970s, which a lot of folks still remember...

For years? I thought they just started selling it for this model year, or last year at the earliest.

Geoff

It will be by the end of the Summer!!! Prices are expected to top $4.00 per gallon, up to $4.50 or $5.00!!! Some places in Calif have alreay hit $4.299 for Premium. Of course, Diesel has increased as well, even more so than gasoline. This is for two primary reasons:

1. The *ANTICIPATION* that more people will be switchinh to Diesel (um, isn't this 'gouging'?).
2. The Feds have called for a reduction in the sulfur content, so the oils companies are charging up front for the work that will have to be done to reduce the sulfur content.

But, I believe in the long run, Diesel will come back under the price of gasoline, and the engines get better mileage to boot. In the long run, it makes sense.

Of course, in the LONG run (the past THIRTY FREAKING YEARS!!!!!) an alternative fuel would have been a much much better idea, such as Corn Squeezin's! Shoot, not only that, but you can get a snootful off the stuff to boot! (Read the label for Everclear! They ought to put a warning "Not for use as a motor fuel"!)

One of my friends owns a 2006 $80,000 MB diesel luxury sedan. He loves it but he says it is indeed noisy, smelly, and underpowered compared to his 2004 $63,000 gas powered MB. He bought it to save money on fuel. He also own a diesel pick up. Like a hybrid, I wonder how he will ever recover the $6,000 it cost, over the same truck with a gas engine? ;)

mike hunt

My '91 certainly isn't any of those things. Diesel cars are generally *less* powerful and *more* noisy than their gasoline- engined counterparts. But that isn't the same thing as being underpowered and noisy in an objective sense. (I actually like the sound, personally. My car is as quiet at speed as a contem- porary 300E that I drove.)

As for the smell, I think what people notice with diesels is the difference in the odor from what they're accustomed to. Subjec- tively, I've never found the odor of diesel exhaust to be particularly (particulately?) offensive.)

Yeah, the idea of buying an $80K economy car implies certain mental gymnastics at work. The smart approach is to buy them used. That's what I did. I bought my '91 300D 2.5 a little over a year and a half ago, a nonsmoker's car in pristine condition and with only 58K miles, for less than 12 grand. (It had been purchased new by an older couple when they retired, and had seen very light use.) Fifty-thousand-odd miles is nothing with those cars; it means they're barely broken in.

So I got an essentially new Mercedes that gets great mileage and will last for years, in a style that I prefer to the current one, for the cost of a new, bottom-of-the-line Hyundai. What's not to like? Which do you suppose most people would rather drive?

Geoff