bob
- posted
10 years ago
bob
Meh, VW has been marketing the TDI off and on for ages, and while I expected it to be a smash hit they don't seem to be taking the world by storm. The US market just hasn't embraced small TDs for some reason.
nate
don't be a fud victim. gm and frod have been making and selling reliable small diesels in europe for 30+ years so they know very well what they're doing. [along with bmw, mercedes, fiat, honda, toyota, nissan, hyundai, isuzu, kia, etc.]
the only thing holding them back over here are the vested interests of the oilcos not wanting a 25% drop in fuel sales overnight. and the shills-masquerading-as-media that slavishly regurgitate their misinformation.
so you finally did buy a vw/audi with a TDI to back up your claim that you'd save some money in a long run?
Also take a look at the toyoda D4D
some tdi engines are not far off. simon says the one in some A6 will be a bottomless money pit comes the time to do any work on it.
the math works, but i don't recall making that particular claim. i like diesels because they pull hard, they're reliable, and their running costs are lower. [not the same thing]
when i get around to buying the diesel, it'll be because:
i did go to look at a vw caddy diesel the other day. dude, prices people want for those things here in ca are insane.
looks like a great motor, but i'm not aware of any vehicles being sold with it over here.
??? why? apart from the controls, it's just pistons, a head and a block, just like any other motor.
that doesn't look any more complicated than the stuff coming out of germany. and they're easy enough to fix.
most cars become "bottomless pits" once their design mileage is up. that's what design mileage is all about. those that fix their own cars will continue to be undaunted by it. those that don't will continue to have their asses handed to them each time they go to the shop. absolute status quo from what i can see.
folks servicing diesels around here have a different opinion
but, then, they could be full of it
yeah, so what do you suggest a bum without a garage would do?
Buy an original VW bug. Two people can change the engine and transaxle with a screwdriver and three wrenches. A bottle jack is nice but not essential. No garage needed, just a spot on a side-street without a lot of traffic.
--scott
I have owned three old air cooled VWs before. One of them, I removed the engine. I used a piece of plywood with four castor wheels on the plywood to roll the engine out from under there. Rolled it out, rolled it back in.
maybe i'm being too simplistic - diesels are much less forgiving than gas engines - tolerances are much closer, failures are much more catastrophic, and factory procedure needs to be followed pretty much to the letter [see failures]. but if you know what you're doing and are not a hack, you can work on diesels just fine. there are countless millions of diesels in service every day, and they all get maintained/repaired/rebuilt so it's not a witchcraft thing.
what the rest of us used to do - either make friends with someone that has one. or as steve says, find a side-street without too much traffic and get going. technically, you can get a ticket for it, but if you select the right neighborhood, the cops won't show unless they're there to protect the coroner's body collection dept.
well, commmercial craft are (hopefully) made with service in mind since the procurement dept hopefully has some brain and experience running the existing fleet. An average schmoe walking into a car lot buying a car with a brand new engine has no idea what the maintenance costs would be and I;m being told for d4d they won't be low
I'm not saying diesel maintenance is witchcraft, i'm saying (specifically) d4d overhaul probably is
I guess is anyone is to import a car with that engine stateside we'll see less of (curious) you online ;-)))) 'd be busy tearing the thing apart
see, that's the thing, I don't have anyone around here to ask what are the nonwidowmaker varieties of jacks are, for example, since the brands are often different than in the us of a
and then you have to haul all the stuff you gonna need for the maintenance to that "quiet street" or a parking lot
engine. I used a piece of plywood with four castor wheels on the plywood to roll the engine out from under there. Rolled it out, rolled it back in.
owning an air cooled car this days few folks can afford. most money making opportunities are in the metros where priuses stuck
time in traffic jams "rule the pavement"
there's no reason for it to be - other than the fact that toyota over-charge. it's just a common-rail diesel. they're not that complicated until you get inside some of the control units, and you're not going to do that at the vehicle tech level.
ALL jacks are potential widowmakers. NEVER work under a car supported only by the jack, always use stands to support the weight once lifted. [my dad taught me that - by example unfortunately.]
parking lots aren't a good idea unless you already know the owner or the attendant.
and hauling is no worse than getting the stuff ready in the first place. if you have too much to haul, maybe the job is beyond you and you should be paying a pro who has the facilities.
best street place in my experience is a run-down industrial area. very few people about on weekends, and those that are tend to mind their own business. plenty of parked larger vehicles, especially if parked at 90 make your car invisible to anyone from the end of the street. residential hoods can be issues. folk might not call the cops, but they can steal your stuff if you're not careful.
That's the issue. Around here procuring auto parts i no different than procuring moto stuff, the likelihood is high that they won't have what you need in stock. And once you pulled the thing apart you know what cha need. Not before.
Then you have an option of putting everything together to lock it down or leave it disassembled risking that someone would steal a part or two or three.
Anyhow, gotta try an oil change first. Barring stipped threads and bad drain bolts all the components needed are known beforehand :-)
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