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What Would It Take for YOU to buy a diesel car?
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Put another 120 or so miles on it today, such a good highway car.
I stopped by the local dealer today, as the free car wash I use is at the location of the Audi facility within the dealer group. After the wash, I drive into a garage area to do a little detailing, and what do I see a couple cars away from me? An A7 TDi. Loaded to the gills, 77K MSRP - a little rich for my blood. IIRC power is higher than the MB V6, and with the 8 speed, EPA mpg estimates are also higher (38 highway). Pretty car, might have to test drive one for kicks.
I'd say easily ! This is not to say some NON diesel items will not need to be replaced. The MB BlueTec uses the MB 229.51 5w40 oil specification, which easily can post 30,000 miles/50,000km OCI's (aka 17 oil changes) . VW 507.00 5w30 specificaion oil the same but probably as slightly more aggressive wear patterns due to the slightly thinner viscosity as it the specifications slightly favor better fuel mileage.
So to me (in my life time) conventional wisdom used to be sell the car BEFORE 100k. Then the first major tune is @ 100,000 so leave the second 100k to the next buyer to 250,000 miles (several cars actually) to points beyond. Its all good.
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/3f9f9369#/3f9f9369/1
10,000 more miles and I may be willing to listen to the hints to get something a bit newer.
Actually a good jumping off point would be to ask your local MB dealers service advisor/s. I am guessing they service some of these work horses, along with OC intervals information. A good non niche, but niched oil is the Mobil One 5w40 ESP MB 229.51 specification oil. Some of the specifications are starting to merge, as I understand the Mobil One 5w30 ESP VW 507 is also MB 229.51 certified. I have had great results with Mobil One TDT 5w40 for easily 185,000 miles on the 03 Jetta TDI. @ 30,000 miles OCI's (non VW 507.00 specification oil 7/8 oil change intervals) .
On the 09 Jetta TDI, have just come off the dealers VW Castrol LL3 (gold bottle a big deal for a longer time) VW 507.00 and have just put in Total INEO 5w30 VW 507.00 and am targeting 30,000 miles OCI's. The VW dealer that services the Touareg just converted to Castrol EDGE 5w30 507.00 in 42 gal barrels. So I am glad for the (European) upgrade. I will either stay with Castrol EDGE, Mobil One ESP 5w30 and /or 5w40 or stay with the Total INEO 5w30 VW 507. More diesel oil options are hitting the markets, prices are going down and its ALL good.
The fact of the matter is the MB 3.0 L V6 BlueTec engine ( I 6 for that matter) is ONE of the best TDI engines on the market. MB has also taken great pains to mate it to a very reliable and durable 7 speed A/T. The MB ML 350 BlueTec is mated to a 7 speed hybrid CVT, so to me, I am longer term curious about it.
10K miles - within the next year? Diesel?
That was another point against MB when I made my decision. The cost for maintenance on the ML 350 Bluetec for 3 years 30k miles was $1465. BMW performs all maintenance free for 4 years 50k miles. VW gives 3 years and 36K miles. If Mercedes wanted to kill that rumor about $250 Adblue charges, they would offer free service during the warranty period. Which to me makes so much sense. They are then sure the vehicle is maintained properly while under warranty. I think MB is riding high right now on top of the Luxury heap. They may do some fine tuning when BMW passes them probably this month.
But if you want to swap cars for a week, maybe that would be a good test....
PS
He lives right in the middle of coal generation country and has not has an attack.
Different triggers for different folks.
Interesting to note that if you do a search for "asthma gasoline exhaust", most of the hits talk about diesel. And some people think diesel exhaust is not simply a trigger but a cause of asthma.
I doubt any 21st century passenger car diesels cause asthma problems - they don't seem to expel any visible emissions or particulates.
Part of the reason why I posted TMI on the OCI for the 09 Jetta TDI (in a recent post) was really to indicate the relative lower costs for a TDI (vs gasser), IF one is inclined to DIY, which a lot of gasser folks are/or chose to do. In some cases, the cost per mile lubricated can be @ par, to less, to slightly more. Of course once given/delineated the realities, one can inject what one tends to do in those situations.
So for example given the design of the TDI, one can literally park on the Streets of San Francisco (anywhere actually) in a metered space or (if you can find one, UNMETERED space) and do an OCI. Drop all the used (2 to 6) containers in a public trash can (sans oil, one should responsibly recycle used oil at a used oil recycle center like.... PEP Boys) and go SHOPPING !!
Current cost for 507.00 oil is app $6.60 per L. My cost per mile driven lubricated was .0014 cents.
(outrageous price for oil filter $8.59, Again, TMI interestingly enough, this filter also fits the GASSER VW/AUDI products)
Well, that's the real kicker. The stuff that will mess you up the most is the stuff you cannot see (except at very high concentrations). "PM2.5" as it is dubbed, which is the particulate matter that is at or smaller than 2.5 microns, will do you the most harm.
Not saying modern vehicles DO cause the issues you mention, just saying that what you can't see CAN kill you.
There are app 270.5 M passenger vehicles in Europe; of which 50% plus are diesels (135.25 M) passenger diesel vehicles. There are app 258.4 M passenger vehicles in the US market: of which less than 5% are diesels (vs 12.92 M; further stratification puts 50% of those diesels being "light trucks", defacto leaving 6.46 M passenger diesel CARS= 2.5% of the passenger vehicle population) . This takes "reasonable doubt" to (almost breath taking , pun intended) elevated levels of absurdity.
Oh, speaking of diesel, paid 3.99 today - got around 500 miles on 3/4 tank, which included city slogging. RUG was 3.79, PUG was 4.09, mid grade was the same as diesel.
http://www.wcrf.org/cancer_statistics/cancer_frequency.php
http://www.exxonmobilperspectives.com/2012/01/27/what-am-i-paying-for-in-the-pri- ce-of-a-gallon-of-gasoline-2/?utm_content=what%20am%20i%20paying%20for%20in%20th- e%20price%20of%20a%20gallon%20of%20gasoline&utm_source=Outbrain&utm_medium=cpc&u- tm_campaign=Perspectives_-_Tier_1
Driving hard is a big fuel consumer in my experiences. I get at least 20% better fuel economy than my wife does on any of our vehicles for local driving and about 10% better on trips. Same speed, just pumping gas pedal vs being able to hold rpms steady.
Not saying modern vehicles DO cause the issues you mention, just saying that what you can't see CAN kill you."...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non_sequitur_(logic)
Well no ! I did NOT point to you to say YOU are advancing this common "ANTI" diesel hysterical attitude. I just defined it further and call it what it is. Indeed, if there are the sounds of one hand clapping, you could actually be saying you were really talking of gassers !! ?? (since you were responding to a prior post, I think not) If you didn't want to go there, perhaps you should have left it out !?
SO, if for some reason you may have felt (whatever), that was never the intention and apologize for any lack of clarity. The numbers simply are not there and the correlations not made. The sentiment so defies the reality, as to be beyond "magic". Yet, there are a sizable number of folks who take the magic to be THE REALITY. We can speculate why and there are many reasons and answers, but I say cut to the chase and , FOLLOW THE MONEY. We love to demonize the oil companies, as they are vilified for making unconscionable percentages of money. I would submit to you that 39 cents is 457 % to 388% GREATER than 7 cents to 8 cents !!!!!
The truth is as one would think. We don't even need grade school math to chose. Would one rather make 7 to 8 cents or...... 39 cents?
My driving hard was flying up mountain passes and such. I'm not one for jackrabbit starts in town. But it was pretty fun on winding mountain roads, where an oaf in a truck or SUV would come up on my bumper as I was going 15 over (but refusing to pass me) on a straight, then I would absolutely lose him in the turns, as even my heavy diesel automatic sedan can waste the middle American bloatmobile in the curves.
A/C uses a lot of fuel. It is often masked because warmer temperatures help mpg considerably. So you may get the same mpg driving in 95 degrees with A/C as you do at 50 degrees with no A/C.
This is one trick a lot of the high mpg drivers use. Never turn on the A/C and drive on warm days. Also take as long a trip as possible so the engine stays nice and hot.
No, I completely get what you're saying. The whole state of fuel in this country is quite aggravating, to say the least. I'm not looking forward to subjecting my car to ethanol-laced fuel when I head to America next week....
A/C uses a lot of fuel. It is often masked because warmer temperatures help mpg considerably. So you may get the same mpg driving in 95 degrees with A/C as you do at 50 degrees with no A/C.
This is one trick a lot of the high mpg drivers use. Never turn on the A/C and drive on warm days. Also take as long a trip as possible so the engine stays nice and hot.
As you can see, not much changes from grammar school. The school yard bully goes scott free !!!
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-20/california-considers-if-pg-e-penalty-is- - - -worth-bankruptcy.html?cmpid=yhoo
This should prove INTERESTING.
That 18.6 could have been doubled fairly easily.
Sounds like you had a flat fr enclosed trlr. The V style help break that barn door flow, and worth their premium if you do much highway with these trlr loads. Plus you can throw stuff up front in that area to help get the best tongue load balance.
Not sure what flawed their testing, but in real world comments I've read here (Edmunds real world MPG forums) and elsewhere... and my own findings, is that an easy 2-3mpg +or- a fair bit cuz of so many variables that apply, is not small potatoes in my book. I use A/C and I would even if it cost me 10 mpg. The only time I would turn it off when it was needed, is if I was running low on gas in unfamiliar territory and not sure where the next refueling point was. It makes that much difference. And if I need to do an aggressive pass on a two-lane, I switch it off then too...it is like I just got an extra 30 hp under the hood. Again tho..the smaller the engine, the bigger the difference it makes. The other extreme was with my big truck. When you have 1200 ft lbs of torque, clicking on the A/C isn't noticeable. When you have 10 times less, it is.
Carving through the corners like that is fun driving, one of the highlights of my trip. Yellow sign says 40, I say 60
Oh, that's for sure, gimme!
The trailer was a flat front. It was a UHaul rental (5x8), and they don't offer any V-fronts. If I were to buy one, I'd definitely get a V-front.
I was hauling a piano and nothing else in the trailer, so I centered it for optimal weight distribution, then used four ratcheting tie downs to strap it down with an 'X' pattern over the top and two 'U' patterns around the bottom from LF-to-LR and RF-to-RR, respectively. That sucker was locked in there so well that it didn't even wiggle on the way home (~350 miles over seven hours with several construction areas and typical Alaska roads).