Just bought a VW Diesel - WOW

widmn · May 26, 2005

I believe that CA and NY have a law that allows no new diesels, but you can buy one and bring it in if it has over 7500 miles on it. Isn't that ridiculous. I hate politicians.

jim_wilson · Jun 13, 2005

Not sure what the law says exactly but I know that Mass. does not allow the sale of new diesel automobiles. Ma. enacted California style emissions requlations a few years back because of alleged air quality problems. Not sure what the sense of this is since you can right over the border to New Hampshire and buy a diesel auto (if you live in NH) and then drive it down to your job in Ma. all you want and there is no problem. But anyway - common sense is not something politicians and environmental lobbyists have been noted for.

ByronBob · Jun 13, 2005

This whole thing is kinda dumb because you can still buy tractors in NY that are diesel. Also you can register them here if you bought one and brought it here.

tc35dforme · Jun 13, 2005

<font color="blue"> Not sure what the law says exactly but I know that Mass. does not allow the sale of new diesel automobiles. </font>

Are pickup trucks exempt ??? Lots of diesels around.... /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Pilot · Jun 13, 2005

In their infinite wisdom, when the politicians wrote the laws to protect the environment, they set lower standards for vehicles larger than a certain size and the 3/4 ton pickups are above that limit. Thus, you can get a 3/4 diesel pickup, but not a half ton.

Diesel sedans are common in Europe, but they set lower emission standards for certain pollutants and diesels can meet them. Few diesel sedans can meet US standards, but they are working on it. You will see more diesels here in a few years.

I'm looking forward to replacing my Furd Ranger with a similar sized diesel. Get better mileage and probably be rated for more towing capacity, since diesels develop better torque.

Highbeam · Jun 14, 2005

Do you remember when the Ford ranger was equipped with a diesel? It was. As was a toyota pickup and chevy luv. I don't think the laws prevent a full size diesel half ton pickup but the market does. The big three don't see a large enough profit in a light duty diesel 1/2 ton when they can hardly keep up with the 3/4 ton market.

Why not just buy a full size 3/4 ton with a diesel? Both are full size trucks. Now put a small diesel in a toyota mini truck and we have somthing new. Just like the 4 door pickups, other countries have always had small diesel trucks, cars, and suvs.

Shazbat · Jun 14, 2005

I test drove the diesel Jetta a year ago, I loved the engine then.

Just a couple of weeks ago I rented a Seat (VW/Audi group)Toledo in England with the 2.0 litre 140hp TDI, what a HUGE improvement in power over the 1.8 litre version I drove before. I also got over 550 miles to a tank, which was fantastic considering fuel was about $6-7 a gallon.

Pretty much everything is available with a diesel there, including Ford Rangers and similarly sized Mitsubishi and Toyota trucks.

arthr31 · Jun 15, 2005

yeah, it's too bad there aren't more diesel vehicles available in the states. I used to drive a f-150- was looking to get a larger cab truck, not a full four door, but like a club cab. The japanese trucks were too small and under powered without a v8. The f-150 wasn't practical with a v6 or v8, the mileage is terrible.. so, i ended up going for a used 3/4 ton diesel truck with a club cab. The room is great, the engine too (cummins (dodge). I couldn't justify buying a larger cab pickup when I'd be getting 12-15 MPG. On my 2500 w/ cummins, I'm getting about 20-22 MPG. With a 35 gal tank I'm only filling up once a month. the possibility of running bio-diesel is another very strong reason to consider this engine / fuel type..

if you ask me, diesel has the long-term potential to address many of our oil dependency problems.... or maybe I think that 'cause I'm a diesel head??!?!? /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Av8r3400 · Jun 21, 2005

Magic number for the EPA is a 8501# GVW. Thats why the 1/2 ton diesels are not available, the emissions laws are different for the 8500# and lower GVWs. (stupid) Only VW, Jeep and Mercedes are making compliant vehicles in the lighter weights right now.

The laws are written to measure the pollutants per gallon of fuel used, not per mile (distance) traveled. If they were written per distance traveled, I'd wager that the light diesels would do better than the gas powered vehicles because of their much higher efficiency.