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What Would It Take for YOU to buy a diesel car?
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We pulled in to fuel behind a (charcoal gray) BMW 535 "D". (gorgeous) The wife asked the driver how she liked it. She responded that they had the gas version (BMW 535 i) that got 35 mpg. They literally loved the new "D" version and it gets 45 MPG ?!
The wife couldn't pass up the $1.50 Polish. ( code for...) So we split it, the drink and the new $5.00 Ciabatta 1/3 pound burger.
The wife got pass happy on the upgrade! Yee ha! (code for: eyes are blue again? I just love passing the summit. On the down grade, the very scenic South Lake Tahoe, CA overlook never fails to inspire! The weather promises to remain gorgeous !
Too much to too many more $$'s to insure. Durability, reliability, unknown & more to repair?, past a couple of years?.....
I was happy as a clam with Goggle Maps for many years. As a driver, I only listen for direction changes. It was/remains great ( as long as I did not compare it against anything). As "shotgun", I was able to run (A/B circa 2013) WAZE. WOW! I was about to visualize as well as hear direction changes. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waze
One example (before TMI), Waze notified of "debris" in the road. It was literally a flannel shirt wrapping what seemed to have been a cushion. (A bit less than torso size in the middle of two lanes on painted line divider) Google Maps? NADA.
Why would one knowing buy installed unchangeable software (navi in this example) that is 4 to 6 years obsolete, when you buy the car new?
It's just too expensive to repair to make it a tenable option.
Once again NHTSA.gov falls short! They spread the (speed and) lack of air bags kill scary bedtime story. Yet they fail to negligently/actually document how many lives were actually saved. Indeed they bury/ continue to bury the real story that air bags actually killed a lot of folks unnessarily!
Let me drive the car myself, thank you!
1. Front impact sensor system (one-time use, apparently).
2. Steering column (includes wheel and airbag, which were the "spent" portions of the system to my eye).
3. Seat belt system (whether there was an occupant or not, all pre-tensioners fired, rendering the belt system inoperable).
All told, this is approximately $3,000 or more (they never gave me a final estimate, as we all agreed to stop after they surpassed $12,000 on the car). The only way to get the cost on these (and other damaged) items down is to cut safety corners, and I was not willing to do that just to keep the car.
South Lake Tahoe, CA, another gorgeous day! ?
Heavenly ski resort to close April 30, 2017.
It was interesting to be shotgun, observing the sides of the roads and the damages due to the winters season. We had to slow, @ the construction zone giving the opportunity to see the progress on the highway's three lanes that fell off the mountain due to snow and water damage.
Diesel haters have never answered the question: what's going to happen to all of this (locally) produced diesel (13 gals to 19 gals of gasoline per barrel) ? The rest of the world relentlessly increases its barrel of oil production to satisfy its increased demand. Even the EIA.gov indicates the LOW USA consumption. Industry as well as government data indicates US 8 to 9% of world consumption. The math indicates that IF we have upwards of 50% of the PVF diesel, those % PVF's would crush the US oil consumption further DOWN ( from 8% /9% to 4% to 4.5 %).
For example, China could not have elevated 300 M (/1.4 B ) of its people to "middle class" without the use of oil. Keep in mind that this was done at relatively VERY efficient technological levels. Keep in mind 300 M is/are only about 21.4 % of the Chinese population, with the vast remaining majority of the rest being ...poor. Do/does the Eco conservatives environmentalist movement/s really think the vast majority want to remain dirt poor? The list of coarse goes on & on!
If more and more vehicles do go to pure electric, demands on the power grid will continue to grow. I would prefer to see a diesel plant from time to time as opposed to having the entire landscape blanketed with solar or wind arrays!
IF gasoline were so GREAT, the mandate should be gasoline: manufacturing, big rig trucking, small rig trucking, power plants, off/on road construction, home heat, etc.,etc,. A switch to gasoline would make a "dent" in the gasoline glut. Even 10% to 15% US ethanol removal would be a rounding error in WW oil consumption LOL everybody knows gasoline is CHEAPER tha diesel anyway!? Then,... all of those should be then electrified FIRST!!!!
You would rightfully notice, those segments are NOT being implemented first!!!??
So here is a modest proposal, build & retrofit) high rise construction in NYC, ONLY IF the site is energy self sufficient ! (Any construction really) Even practical people can wave magic wands Does anybody else sense the Hollywood fairytale here?
Actually it is not magical. The technology exists off shelf right now! It's been around for 60 + years & SAFELY powers ....(Jeapardy style) Who is Hyman Rickover?
Lacking the stability and energy content of diesel, it's no wonder that it is not preferred for these types of applications.
People like that like to be in the back seat of a chauffeur driven (E 85, GM ) extra long giant SUV, with armed guards? Don't forget similar escorts & decoys. Hey 12 mpg is better than 10 mpg! * what 20 SUV's? Indeed under the rules, if it uses E85, it/they gets/get 100 mpg, whether gets it or not
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/solar-greenhouse-could-change-way-we-eat
We all knew sooner or later they'd come off Jimmy Hendrix's "Purple Haze" & make contributions! But, I'm reminded that (medical) marijuana is legal in CA. Thanks CIA for trail blazing! Peace Man. Funny, solar panel application to hot/green houses always ( well not always, maybe 40 years) seemed a no brainer to me, rather than a happy serendipity!? The issues always seemed to make it as productive as possible. Harold, stop sampling the "product"!
More seriously, it's about WAY more production "per acre", lower costs, as close to 24//7, 29,30, 31/mo, 12/365, the better., faster turn around time (more & even sunlight past sun up/down.) etc.
Perhaps one policy in a 40,000 ft " cruising altitude look at it"in the green/hot houses, it's about how many farm acres we can let go "fallow", getting the same to higher productions @ less cost & environmental damage. To me, that would be hugely short sighted. Make the whole infrastructure way more productive.
http://finance.yahoo.com/m/48746c5a-0b3f-3279-bef8-d1fa4fb0701b/gm-joins-fordworrying-about.html
Got to thank "whomevever" for freezing prices @ September 2015 levels, in the VW "diesel gates" 2.0 L, 3.0L brouhaha! GM/FORD & pundits think lower new car volumes, & used car prices will be a going forward landscape. http://finance.yahoo.com/m/48746c5a-0b3f-3279-bef8-d1fa4fb0701b/gm-joins-ford-worrying-about.html
Naturally, there are some qualifiers. Here are four off the top of my head. First off, the Macan was so good, Jaguar had to again hit the drawing board for the F Pace, just to ever so slightly edge out the Porsche Macan. Second, in US markets the F Pace offers a diesel. Third, the already compact Macan's backseat might be uncomfortable even for small children. Fourth, the comparison was done in YIPPEE YAHOO mode, ala riproaring sportscar mode. They are FAR from Huey Lewis' " Hip To Be Square".
https://youtu.be/54p_IaGUJqQu
Indeed, Audi has been there ahead of a load of competitors.
V12 TDI in a 24 hrs @ Lemans context! One can actually hear the car & the environment instead of the incessant whining & whiney gasoline engine. Don't forget the LACK of noise & effort with far less up/down shifting! TMI might include: more stable & far less tricky vehicle dynamics in acceleration/deceleration, braking & cornering.
https://youtu.be/_0R5kbWU7YQ
It's beautiful, efficient, and it can easily tow ridiculous loads, but that's just not enough for me to want it around long term.
"Apple's new $5 billion campus has more space for parking than offices"
(It's the LAW!!!) http://finance.yahoo.com/news/apples-5-billion-campus-more-144157614.html
This is the same city that used to want $20,000 in fees to consider a residential solar installation.
Do the math on how much each costs!
For those who have ever parked a vehicle in a Las Vegas casino parking garage (non VIP, valet, etc.), I would not be surprised if it will take as long to reach one's destination @ Apple's Space Ship.
So, IF the math is correct, Apple will spend app $357,000 per employee. The AVERAGE office size = 12 ft x 20.37 ft. Common space, etc will probably be taken off the length metric. I have absolutely no fore knowledge, so it will be interesting to see what reality comes out to be.
6 year/72,000 mile warranty hardly seems like a game changer? Unless you happen to have gotten a (very remote) statistical lemon or happened to be unlucky in getting one with some type of failure. I say this just having come off 2009 VW Jetta TDI VW 10 years and 100,000 miles (transmission) warranty. (After 36,000 miles) I had know nothing would go kaflewie, & nothing has.
TMI story
I spent some time in a relatives brand new, fully loaded, Honda CR-V. It was seemingly a no brainer either way with only a $1,500 difference between 2017/2016. They are far from being car information junkies, so we were going on about the "intoxicating" new car smell. They appeared to have sold a Honda Pilot. Perplexing was they are gone 3 to 4 months out of the year, so why the new CR-V? Why not just keep the Honda Pilot? They've a Jaguar Sedan also.
So this is the city where I fill on the way to/from South Tahoe, CA. Never have gotten stuck in Lodi either. Since the Govenor/ legislature passed the extra & already high .20 cent diesel tax, I will probably look more to fuel out of state.
https://youtu.be/Z_d87Pv9DuM
https://youtu.be/H3OJ03BECBU
Some one has got a weird sense of humor rating Folsom Prison 4/5 stars on Yelp!?
http://www.fuelly.com/car/honda/cr-v/2017
Honda 2.4 L CVT 27/28 mpg, with 22.4 mpg to 32.7 mpg range, I'm wondering how it would do on the South Lake Tahoe, trip.
For me, a deal breaker without TDI/8-9 speed AT.
Even @ 179 # ft of torque (119 # ft per L), for me I'd have 369 # ft l(176 # ft per L) lurking in the (memory) background, no matter how stellar.
The realities THEN/ergo, etc. limit diesels to very good vehicles! GM's Canyon/Colorado in the small PU truck segment, one example. The Jaguar F Pace (TDI, small CUV) got an almost total redesign to be a hair better than the stellar Porsche Macan. The Macan does not have an American TDI option. The TDI F Pace appears to sport the 8 speed A/T. I say yee ha if it fits what you want or need.
This morning! 13AP2017.
One local TV channel said some resorts have had 600 inches of snow. Tommorrow's forecast, a foot of powder ! Yahoo! The picture is not @ a ski resort.
CA is going to "benefit" from this!? Locally we are app .17 cents away from this benefit. http://www.upi.com/Gas-at-3-per-gallon-could-hurt-US-economy/1491492075484/?ref=yfp
One fairly local VW dealeris advertising over 22- 2015 TDI's for sale!
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-jerry-brown-gas-tax-side-deals-20170409-story.html