05-27-2022, 09:32 PM
d4 wrote:
Current price of gas around me is about $4.85, diesel is $6.50. Diesel has been more expensive than gas for a long time. Over 10 years. Maybe 20?
Even most frugal people trade in their cars after about 12-15 years. Does it matter if the engine supposedly lasts longer? I guess it feels good to know..
there is a subset of owners who run something into the ground, and they choose a vehicle based on realistic life expectancy.
My former co-worker who commuted 200 miles 4 days+ a week usually got one owner AWD Subarus because he wanted the traction for the mountain pass on his commute. He ran those into the ground (not diesel) My partner's brother has co-workers who drive old Geo Metros with manual transmissions that get great fuel economy. That is the only consideration. You get some of these diesel PU trucks where the engine goes half a million miles, they just swap out the clutch, and do regular oil changes in the gear boxes and run them to death. Back in the 90s, the Cummings diesel put in pick ups came with a 300K mile warranty. But when installed at the factory, only 100k.
What kills old diesel cars is people using very poorly "refined" bio-diesel that destroys the injector pumps. Happened to my bartender's diesel stake-bed truck. Otherwise, we would have a lot more 300-500K diesel Mercedes running around, like they do in Europe.