OK, now to the meat of the issue, gas or diesel

robison · Jul 10, 2005

To quote: "Did you know that used car guides automatically deduct $1000 off of the value of used cars with a diesel engine? "

That statement is incorrect. Almost all pickup trucks and heavy SUVs are significantly more valuable at trade-in time with diesel power. That is especially true at higher mileages.

Mercedes E300 diesels sell for more than same-year E320 gas models when mileage gets over 50-60k.

Older Mercedes diesels are generally more valuable than their comparable gas models. For example, 300SDs are generally worth more than 380SEs from the mid-1980s.

Late model VW diesels are rare and command a premium in the used market.

There have been some unpopular diesel models but your statement is not applicable at all to the popular models that make up most of today's sales.

Dargo · Jul 10, 2005

Don't tell, but I was a used car manager at a large Chevy dealership back in the mid 80's. At that time, there was a significant deduct for a diesel powered car. Afterall, they were just gas engines converted to run on diesel. One true situation that comes to mind was when a salesman brought me a deal to appraise a Chevy Chevette. It was a stick shift with high miles, a diesel, and no A/C. My memory may not be exact, but the average black book price for the car was something like $500. There was a $300 deduct for standard shift, a $500 deduct for no A/C, and a $900 deduct for a diesel engine. So, according to my trade in book, the customer would owe the dealership $1200 to take the car! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif True story!

In case you are wondering, we did make the deal. I actually appraised the car at $25.00; figuring that most of our junkyards would give me $50 for a complete car at the time. Needless to say, the customer was really wanting to get out of that car! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Now, it is a huge addition on value for a diesel engine. For the GM, Ford, and Dodge pickups. On a 4 year old or so model, I think the average add for the engine is around $3500. It's a huge difference from the big deduction it used to be. However, I think on those same trucks the book does show a deduct for the 10 cyl gas engine. With gas being $2.50 or more a gallon, those engines being relatively weak on power, and none of them getting into the double digits on fuel economy; the book price is starting to hurt them.

Gees, I can tell all sorts of stories about appraising thousands of customer's cars. One time I had the crap scared out of me when I was test driving a car to appraise and the customer's drunk girlfriend (who unbeknownst to me was passed out in the back seat floor) woke up and puked on me! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Another car smelled so bad that I couldn't drive it. When asked, the customer said that his St. Bernard dog had died several days earlier and he had not gotten around to burying it yet; and it was still in the trunk. This was in the summer when it was well over 90 degrees every day! Yeesh! I want to forget most of those days! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

danbike · Jul 11, 2005

I may not be the brightest bulb in the bunch, but the Chevette was produced in the mid-1970's and had a gas engine. Unless someone did a conversion, you must be talking about some other type of car.

I was foolish enough to have bought a Chevette. The car had one interesting fault. The shift linkage on the 4 speed was plastic and so weak that the shift lever pulled out of the tranny after about 5000 miles of use. Another example of the great engineering from Generous Motors.

Bird · Jul 11, 2005

( Chevette was produced in the mid-1970's and had a gas engine. Unless someone did a conversion, you must be talking about some other type of car. )

Nope, he's talking about a Chevette. I don't know how many they sold, but they were available with the Isuzu diesel engine as an option. To the best of my knowledge that engine was the best thing about those models. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif If the rest of the car had held up as well as the engine, they'd have been all right.

besserheimerpha · Jul 12, 2005

( In underground mines, it's okay to run diesel equipment, but a big time (and deadly) voilation to run gas powered equipment. Apparently diesel smells stronger, but won't kill you like a gasoline powered engine. Where is our resident chemists to explain that one to me?
)

In diesel exhaust, the main pollutant is NOx (nitrous oxides), soot and other particulates. Small particles of unburned fuel. This contributes to acid rain and smog mostly due to the sulfur content of the diesel (the sulfur is added for lubricity). It will make you cough but won't necessarily kill you right away. With gas exhaust the main pollutants are CO and CO2 (greenhouse gasses). Overexposure to CO for more than a few minutes will kill you by preventing oxygen from entering your blood stream. The CO bonds to the red blood cells, displacing the O2.

In Europe, the emissions standards for over the road vehicles are looser than in the US particularly with regard to particulates. The European versions of gas models are usually higher performance due to less emissions equipment, also due to less stringent emissions standards. I believe the US standards give more leeway for CO/CO2, but are very tight on particulates, and even 1-ton trucks are starting to have difficulty meeting the emissions requirements.

Duh, also forgot that CO2 is heavier than air, and in a mine would quickly displace the air unless it is pumped out.