I would still try for a foriegn diesel.I remember the generation of bad ones. Coincidentally, I saw a rather new GM jacked up barbaric retarded looking pickup (it was the bigger ones) on the highway as it stepped out jerking a top heavy snap into the left lane with a spew of black smoke..not once…not twice.. it kept doing it in spurts. Then I smelled it. Still junk. the cummins dodge and thier 45ton straight 6 is something to watch fade away as a v8 takes over, and as for american, that seems to be a winner for modern, as well as brand name, as well as its a v8 (that counter balance crank deserves it). A v8 out there is a winner, like a mack e9 I was looking at recently (500hp tractor Class A). That is the only american diesel of the past that went away that bothers me.I am sure they will show up with common sense better than ever. Times like these always make a few common sense winners…and a whole lot more losers.

Diesel fuel is not always higher-priced than regular unleaded.

In the summer of ’07, diesel fuel averaged $.35 cheaper than gasoline, however, since fall, diesel fuel has averaged $.35 more than regular gasoline, so one must remember than comparing fuel prices is just a snapshot and one cannot make conclusions based on the price today.

Oops!

Forgot the Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD which is now on sale in forty-five states using a Mercedes-Benz designed, 3.0 V-6 diesel that will soon be fifty-state emission compliant with the help Ad-Blue and an SCR (select -catalyst reaction) exhaust treatment system to abate nitrogen oxides (NOx). Like the Mercedes-Benz diesels, the Cherokee will probably change its badge from CRD to BlueTec (Mercedes diesels are currently branded as CDI and will be changed to BlueTec once they become fifty-state emission clean).

A couple of points not listed here.

Modern diesel engines (the kind that will be coming to the U.S. over the next three years) will be just as quite operating, responsive, and powerful as gas cars while achieving one-and-a-half times the peak torque of naturally-aspired, gas-guzzlers, and 30% better fuel economy (on average). If you drive a diesel today or have driven them in the past, you have no idea how good the upcoming diesels will be. Technology has taken them miles away from yesteryear and the new ones are miles away from ones sold here in 2007.

For instance, the upcoming BMW 335d (diesel sedan) will achieve over 240 horsepower and 400 lbs of torque from a 3.0 I-6 twin turbo and will achieve 33 mpg fuel economy rating on the hwy. The 335d will run quieter at cruising speed than BMW’s comparable I-6 gas engine.

All diesels, new and old, can accept any blend of biodiesel or other diesel fuel alternatives like renewable diesel and green diesel fuels without loss of fuel economy and without any engine modification. Unlike gas cars which can be designed to run on propane or ethanol blends with a 30% sacrifice in fuel economy, all diesels can run on diesel fuel alternatives and keep almost all the fuel economy even if you run 100% renewable fuel. Since diesels get hybrid-like fuel economy as compared to their gasoline-powered counterparts, diesels actually have an advantage over gas-electric hybrids, because they are also alternative-fuel capable.

All upcoming diesel cars, vans, pickups, and SUVs will be fifty-state emission compliant. This is because the whole nation moves to the same limits as NY, ME, CA, MA, and VT on emissions by 2010, so it wouldn’t make sense to design a diesel car now for forty-five states today that would soon be outlawed nation wide. These upcoming diesels will be required by law to be as clean burning as gas cars in every category, and, will in fact, be cleaner in some areas like CO2 and hydrocarbons by the simple fact that they use less fuel.

There is absolutely no question (at this point) whether or not automakers are going to bring clean diesel vehicles here in our near future. Here is the list I’ve read about!

Note: It has been confirmed by different automakers that there will be at least seventeen new, fifty-state emission compliant diesels here in our market as early as the end of 2009. After 2009, I quit counting, but it will be a minimum of thirty-two, clean diesel cars, trucks, SUVs, and vans under 8501 gross vehicle weight rating. By comparison, we now have only six being sold in forty-five states with none being sold in all fifty states under 8501 gross vehicle weight rating.

2008-2009
Mercedes-Benz: (1) E320 BlueTec (2) ML320 BlueTec (3) R320 Blue Tec (4) GL320 BlueTec Possibly (5) S300 BlueTec.

Volkswagen (6) Jetta TDI (7) Jetta SportWagen TDI (8)Tiguan TDI (9) Touareg TDI (10) Passat TDI.

Audi: (11) Q7 TDI (3.0 V-6) (12) Q7 TDI(6.0 V-12 (13) A4 TDI.

BMW: (14) X-5 X-Drive (15) 335d.

Acura: (16)TSX i-DTEC

Ford: (17)F150

2010 AND BEYOND

Acura: MDX, TL with a V-6 i-DTEC

Honda: Accord i-DTEC and probably the Ridgeline, Pilot, and Odyssey with a V-6.

Dodge Ram w/ a 4.2 V-6 Cummins and/or a 5.6 V-8 Cummins.

Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra, Hummer H2 with a 4.5 V-8 Duramax.

Mitsubishi Lancer

Hyundai Veracruz

Kia ??? (forgot the name of this mid-size SUV)

Cadillac CTS

Saturn Aura

Nissan Maxima and possibly a Nissan Titan (if that vehicle survives)

Toyota Tundra

Mihandra pickup (Indian automaker)

Land Rover

I own a TDI, and you’d be amazed at the power. It’s not fast off the line, but it pulls from 50 like a big block.

Diesels have a cult following in the U.S., and there are even more who admire them but probably wouldn’t own one.
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Diesel is more expensive than regular gas. Diesel isn’t as easy to find on the road as regular gas, not avalable at some stations. A lot of shadetree mechanics don’t have any experience with Diesel. Also, decades of smoking, smelly Diesel semi’s on our roads has been really bad publicity for the technology.
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Frankly (and I’m not endorsing this, just an observation) the Gasoline engine is like Windows Operating System. All other means of powering passenger vehicles are Linux, OS2, Unix, etc… on the fringe and partly there because of their own limitations or perceived limitations.

In my opinion, I’d order a truck with a diesel, no problem.
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When Dodge had the Cummins Diesel, I wanted one, but never needed a truck.
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In the 80′s, GM put out lots of crappy diesel cars, that were not reliable. Period. My friends would buy them in California, just so they could swap the motor, and do a gasoline conversion, and then skip the California Smog checks.
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So, in a way, GM has taught us that GM can’t make a GM car engine that is any good.
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Unless it was quieter, and had the equivalent power / torque, and it had a PROVEN track record of reliability, and cost the same as the gas version, I would not touch a diesel.

I see tons of diesel pickups around lately, especially Dodges. I could definitely see me owning a diesel car.

they smell..not everyone knows how to work on them…they don’t like to be started in the cold….if you get one with any power it puffs black smoke…they sound like shit…gas isn’t always easy to find…..but they last forever get better mpg and when you know how to work on them its easy and if it wasn’t for them our ricers wouldn’t have turbos

Jetta diesels will be sold in New York again starting Fall of 08.