diesel cars?

[Mr.Bryan]

I'm thinking I'm going to ditch my ls400 pretty soon and I'm trying to think of a replacement. It doesn't have to be in the same class, in fact I'm all over the place on this one. I know you guys may be a bit biased but I'm curious if you guys can think of something that I may have missed.

I'm considering an older Mercedes 300d and a golf but I dont really want a golf.

I'm also considering a mid 80s supra and a 1st gen 4runner. Basically my thoughts are I'll spend more on a diesel car than the toyotas if i go that route because of fuel mileage but the toyotas are fun to drive and I do drive quite a bit. My budget is around $5-6k.

Thoughts or suggestions?

 

[Gumby]

One thing to consider is biofuel.

Biodiesel is a goodish idea once the manufacturers develop ways to keep the pumps and injectors together with the higher particulate content and reduced lubricity of bio.

Unfortunately, our state representatives needed downstate votes so they set the level of allowable bio as high as 20%

Because the gas stations never know exactly what they are getting you'll see signs saying the fuel will be between 5 and 20% bio. They don't even know what it'll be.

There are no manufacturers who recommend more than 5% bio in the fuel. I've read MB is talking about pulling out of IL for diesel sales until either the fuel gets better or they start making pumps and injectors able to handle the new fuel. They are losing their ass on warranty repairs.

Older vehicles are often even less tolerant of bio.

 

[zebrabeefj40]

I recently drove a 2001 VW Golf TDI/5sp 4-dr belonging to Jim C.'s wife. It is chipped, EGR deleted and no cat; 175K miles. While I expected it to be a decent little car I was quite surprised with how nice it was to drive. Yep, Jim has had to fix a bunch of little stupid crap that comes with a VW, but has had no major problems. Runs commercial biodiesel (brewed in Cincinnati) with no issues. He doses the tank at each fill-up with Power Service biodiesel or not. The car gets TDI spec oil and German-made filters on the factory service schedule. Most parts are purchased from aftermarket suppliers that sell parts from the OEM manufacturers.

In talking with him Monday about his car he says 1999-2003 are the best years for VW TDI cars. The Jetta is the sedan version of the same platform if you don't like the hatchback Golf.

I've also worked on a 300D that Cruiserhead Junk used to own. That car had it's own issues but they are well documented on enthusiast forums like Mud. It also seemed like a decent car but Junk had not yet fixed all the issues with his before someone totalled it out for him. It also had good aftermarket support plus the dealer parts support is very good.

Like any vehicle, once you learn the quirks, they can be good cars.


Nick

 

[Gappy]

I've had both '02 TDI Jetta and '82 MB TD300 (pic).

The Jetta was a DD and I really liked it. I know of some on here who hate VW's but I had real good luck with this car. Had 250K miles and rode and drove fantastic. Would get over 50 mpg on Hwy and consistantly mid 40's in town. Could set the cruise at 75 and still get 50 mpg.
The Merecedes was a cream puff, absolutely looked new, low miles so it sat alot covered in the barn. Sold it because it wasn't serving a purpose other than an occasional sunny day drive. I bought it because I'm a sucker for station wagons. (anybody know of a '67 buick Sportwagon thats FS?)It was built very solid, well made car. Nick is right there is cult following of these, this chassis is called a W123. There are groups that swear by them.
This all may be a mute point with what Gum said about diesel in your state. Both ran great with our local diesel.

Dont know how valid it is but I have read in MB club publications that you want to stay awy from all MB's newer than mid 90's. QC issues. Dont take just my word on this but I know peeps that have had night mare stories from late model MB's.
Maybe Gum knows something.

 

[Gumby]

Maybe he does.

 

[Mr.Bryan]

Sweet ride Tom. It'd be like National Lampoons something type of Chevy Chase yelling on a road trip vacation in a wagon like that!

I don't often notice the bio around here, but then again I haven't been paying too much attention for it.

I really like the mpg factor of it as I do put on about 25k/yr or so on my DD'er.

I've actually been entertaining an Element lately as well. It's a bit minivanish for my tastes but it does have some cool features. I'm all over the place on these cars, I don't really want to ditch the ls400 but on top of the feeling I have that it's going to start nickle and dimeing me to death because of the accident, it's not the best when I'm pulling up infront of someone's house for an appointment and they do a double take at the awesome dents and scraps that coat the car.

 

[Gappy]

If you are worried about metro image.....which really you should for sales reasons, I say stay with a Lexus. To me in general, Lexus says, business is good and I'm smart enough to know a good value.

 

[SSCR]

I had a 2002 Jetta TDI, awesome car with great mileage. I drove from southside of Chicago to the Kentucky Derby and back with 3 guys and still had over a quarter tank. I filled up right outside of town at a truck stop before leaving and bought a cup of coffee. The gas attendant told me "no charge with diesel purchase" guess he was used to truckers buying 100 gallons of diesel fuel so coffee was free. It was already paying for itself!