Recommend a diesel...

Which USA available diesel car? Waited for a long time hoping for a new TDI, but that's not going to happen soon so need to expand my diesel search.

I need to roll out of the MKIV and get a diesel, new or used. Is there an engine to stay away from, or is there one that stands above the others?

It seems really hard to find much, and would prefer to be under $25K - new or used. MB, BMW, etc.. are all in the running but would love to hear a distillation of the views of those who've heard anything about alternatives.

Thanks.

I am sure I will start a religious argument with this comment, but here I go

Personally, other than the MK5 TDI, I would look at the Mercedes product. A friend of mine reminded me of something we both observed when we went to Germany a few months ago. There is a whole lot of Mercedes Diesel cabs compared to BMWs.

I am looking to add a E series CDI based diesel to my driveway. Everything I have seen on these has spelled out a decent longevity. The jury is still out on the Bluetec, IMHO as far a long term durability. I have heard both good and bad. I am only one voice though, it will be interesting to hear what others have to say on the topic.

Your question is a bit vague. Not sure what you are after here. I would not really think a 2015 E-class diesel would be a valid comparison to a 2000 Jetta diesel.

Do you just want something newer? Bigger? Fancier?

I am hoping MB will include 200e wagon/suv with diesel. It may be a good JSW replacement,although more dough. I hate to give up on my Gen 1 09 JSW,only 40k miles,but the deal is too good to turn down.

MB C 300d 4MATIC wagon suppose to be available in Canada come spring

oilhammer said:

Your question is a bit vague. Not sure what you are after here. I would not really think a 2015 E-class diesel would be a valid comparison to a 2000 Jetta diesel.
Do you just want something newer? Bigger? Fancier?

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I'm trying to start with diesel motors and separate out the bad from the good.

I'd usually restrict myself to new, but for a diesel I'll follow wherever it takes me. Newer, bigger, fancier is secondary to dependability.

The first dollar goes to the motor, what's left over decides the rest.

$25K gives you some room: You can probably find a BMW 328d for that amount, 335d for much less. Neither are exactly trouble-free but once you get them sorted they're pretty reliable. Mercedes E320 CDI, '04-09. Hard to find those without high miles, but they're durable.

I will say that Cummins makes a great engine, but dodge chose an crappy alternator that likes to kill the ECM and PCM.
My '99 ram had the alternator kill the ECM, constantly have to check the alternator for ac current. Anything over .5 Vac is reason to change or rebuild the alternator.

As far as economy goes the VW is the most efficient.

Reliability wise they are all about the same, study and maintain for reliability.

I would personally recommend an MKIV unless you really want something newer.

If you want efficiency and reliability and are not absolutely stuck on diesel I would recommend going with a gasser, Toyota is made in Kentucky these days.

I refuse to buy a US car made in Mexico. I would rather buy a VW made in Germany or a Toyota made in Kentucky.

Why get out of the MKIV? Those are generally agreed as the longest-lasting engine that VW has ever made, and they are fairly easy to fix / build up / maintain. A solid runner is way more valuable b/c it is proven, versus newer and way more complex setups like the bluetec.

I guess I'm asking - why change? Is it just b/c of the age of the platform, or do you need specific things like more room or 4wd or towing?

SuburbanTDI said:

I'm trying to start with diesel motors and separate out the bad from the good.
I'd usually restrict myself to new, but for a diesel I'll follow wherever it takes me. Newer, bigger, fancier is secondary to dependability.
The first dollar goes to the motor, what's left over decides the rest.

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Sounds like your current stable has you covered then. Motor on.

I just brought another ALH back to life (2001 New Beetle with only 272k on the clock). It is a backup for my other TDIs.

oilhammer said:

Sounds like your current stable has you covered then. Motor on.

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Bought new, now coming up to 400k, and this is my mom's wagon - and she herself has just gone over 80.

Both run perfectly, but it's time she was put in something more recent. And as you can see, she drives an awful lot. Lives on a farm in the country, teaches and has a practice in town. I think it's a 150 mile round trip, 145 of it on federal interstate, 4.5 on country road, then .5 off the exit.

She's also been addicted to diesel since her "W116 300SD". Now, that, was a car. I almost want to go find one of those and pull it out of a collection for her.

Looking at the BMW's, I've had a bunch and still have an E46 Touring. The quirks won't hurt you as long as you maintain them like an aircraft mechanic. The engineers that built them had little tolerance for people that don't follow the small print.

For her, I just read about the 2017 Mazda CX-5 diesel that is due here in a couple weeks. It's priced new right where the TDI wagons were, cheaper even. The Mazda diesel motor apparently has 8% of the Japanese market and is reported (without specifics) to have an MPG to rival hybrids. 50mpg+? Very interesting.

Honda CR-V Diesel, not yet available, may never be. They talked about bringing them here by 2016, didn't happen. The thing is about 10% slower than a petrol CR-V (no race car), your mom would love it!
Other than that, the Olds is terrible, the Liberty is made by Jeep, bad choices.
Really just leaves Audi, BMW and MB, all pricey.

What about the Chevy Cruz diesel? I'm not a fan of Chevrolet, but when those came out I was kind of excited: it was good to hear that someone was engaged in trying to prop up the NA diesel market. I thought about one for a while; no standard transmission was the decisive factor for me.

Not yet ready for a Chevy, I've just started to accept Ford's. Give me time.

Yeah, the Chevy was going to be my suggestion too, 50+ mpg is nothing to sneeze at. However I've recently discovered something distressing about Chevy, at least on the Equinox: No transmission stick, fill port, OR FILTER. There is an internal filter somewhere, but you can't change it without removing the entire transmission from the vehicle. That is nowhere close to acceptable.

I don't know if the Cruze diesel does the same thing, but that would put me off of it quick.

Geordi said:

Yeah, the Chevy was going to be my suggestion too, 50+ mpg is nothing to sneeze at. However I've recently discovered something distressing about Chevy, at least on the Equinox: No transmission stick, fill port, OR FILTER. There is an internal filter somewhere, but you can't change it without removing the entire transmission from the vehicle. That is nowhere close to acceptable.

I don't know if the Cruze diesel does the same thing, but that would put me off of it quick.

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WTH? Did some VW engineers start working at GM? "Lifetime fill" mentality?

SuburbanTDI said:

...

For her, I just read about the 2017 Mazda CX-5 diesel that is due here in a couple weeks. It's priced new right where the TDI wagons were, cheaper even. The Mazda diesel motor apparently has 8% of the Japanese market and is reported (without specifics) to have an MPG to rival hybrids. 50mpg+? Very interesting.

Click to expand...

OK, well, that was going to be my suggestion; other than it being first year in US/North America, what could go wrong? Gas CX-5s get consistently good/great reviews, Kodo design, zoom zoom...I'd roll the dice on one, if I wanted to get out of my MkIVs. Maybe.

UhOh said:

WTH? Did some VW engineers start working at GM? "Lifetime fill" mentality?

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Pretty much... Actually it may be the other way around. If you remember, Chevy was the ones complaining about putting more than two gears into a transmission way back in the day, and they were the first to remove actual gauges and replace them with idiot lights to save a few pennies.

They eliminated drain plugs on the transmissions (save a nickel!) and were probably the first to remove the dipsticks too. The attitude at GM for decades has been "we build $#!t, you'll buy it anyway" and for some reason, people do. They dumbed-down the car experience to the point where you can drive one off the lot and do NOTHING other than put fuel in it, never check or change the oil, NOT ONE THING and it will drive the length of the warranty. Of course, it will probably seize up 50 feet past the end of the warranty... But hey, then they get to sell you a new car!

I don't think that Chevy has EVER built anything that was capable of finding 375k miles, like so many of the VWs have done.

There are (and have been for quite some time) lots of cars without any "dipstick" for the transmission. Why this is so shocking to some people makes me scratch my head.

There are some ENGINES that have no dipsticks either now.