Cars, Trucks, Grease If you're interested in getting into the diesel car market, take a look at the early '80s Mercedes-Benz cars. They are built to last, and from personal experience, are very nice to drive. And these days, they're pretty cheap to buy. Specifically, I'd look for a 300SD sedan with under 300,000 miles. That would be a good car for years to come.

As I try to take up more space on this page to try to troubleshoot the sidebar, I'll continue to rant about diesel.

I've had experience with Volkswagen diesels as well. The '01-'05 Jetta and Golf TDIs have really nice engines. They get upwards of 45mpg, are quiet, composed, and powerful. On the highway, accelerating from 60 to 80 in order to pass is no problem, with no need whatsoever to downshift when you've got a standard transmission. I'll assume the slushbox is equally pleasant, but have no experience with such things, as they don't interst me.

The '98 Jetta in my family is also a decent car, although power is somewhat lacking. It runs out of the box, so to speak, on B-20 biodiesel, which is a good thing.

As far as Trucks are concerned, most people are aware that Ford, GM, and Dodge offer diesel varients of their full-size pickups. They lack, however, diesel models of smaller trucks, such as the midsize segment. It would be a wondrous thing to see a few I-5 turbodiesel models to choose from in this part of the truck market, and IO'd be willing to bet that you will find these without too much trouble if you look towards the east. Specifically, Europe.

Dodge offers an engine Manufactured by Cummins, a good company with a long, successful track record. This engine, a 5.9-liter inline 6, is capable of cold-weather starts without the aid of glow plugs.

Ford's engines are made by International, another easily recognized name in the Diesel market. The new 6.0L powerstroke V8 is smaller, more efficient, and more powerful than the older 7.3L V8 it replaced.

GM turned to Japan for their most recent technology, the Duramax. I've driven a Chevy 2500 Toolbody truck with this 6.6L V8 powerplant, and it had more than adequate power to easily pass several cars without a problem. Also, the Allison 1000 automatic transmission is smooth and light. The engine itself is manufactured by Isuzu, another longtime name in diesel engines, although many people wouldn't think so.  ¶ Posted By james 3:20 PM