For the first time in nearly two years, the average price of diesel fuel has fallen below regular gas. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), it's a "traditional" spring inversion that occurs in the U.S., but there's no doubt that BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagen will try to take advantage of the new pricing structure.
All three automakers took the plunge and introduced new diesel models in the last year, but apart from strong sales of Volkswagen's TDI cars, sales have been disappointing. As Bill Visnic points out on AutoObserver, several other manufacturers had diesel programs in the works, but shelved them when got prices plunged.
Now that prices have evened out, and stricter CAFE regulations are on the way, there are some incentives to get those programs moving again. Hard to tell if consumers would respnod at this point, but it seems like it's worth another try given refined and quiet modern diesel engines have become.
AutoObserver: Diesel-Fuel Price Plunges; Will Engines Be Revived?
jederino says:
03:32 PM, 05/27/09
Well, it's summer, so diesel prices tend to be lower with respect to gasoline. However, volatility in diesel prices is not going away soon. But if the market would even prices out, and the premium for diesel trim levels was a little lower, I think there would be more takers.
Also, wouldn't variable compression ratio (VCR) engines even the playing field, giving gasoline engines the best of both worlds?
hondacura4 says:
04:09 PM, 05/27/09
Regarding BMW, I think they should have offered a LOWER PRICED 4cyl diesel 1st and if that was successful, introduce the 335d. The starting price for a 335d is insane.
I wish Acura would have considered investing more in making its automatic diesel TSX meet emission standards as it would have been the first Japanese luxury diesel offering (correct me if Im wrong) and offered Acura some much needed drivetrain diversity.
blueguydotcom says:
05:32 PM, 05/27/09
Still wish BMW had released the 320d and 330d instead of the ridiculous 335d. The 20 and 30 get over 40 MPGs and are just better cars than the 335d.
andrew717 says:
08:14 AM, 05/28/09
Helps me, I'm trying to get my wife to look into a Jetta TDI as a replacement for her Camry. Since she puts about 30,000-40,000 interstate miles a year on her car, diesel is the way to go. And my Golf has been lightyears better than her Camry as far as reliability goes.
jederino says:
10:03 AM, 05/28/09
^^Strange, I wouldn't expect the Golf to be more reliable than a Camry. I hope they are getting better, because the stigma of dismal reliability has really prevented me from considering a GTI or Jetta TDI for my wife.
andrew717 says:
10:52 AM, 05/28/09
Mystifies me, too. I've had to replace the water pump under warranty (about 1,000 miles before the warranty expired), and I disconnected the light for the passenger side vanity mirror rather than trace the gremlin that made it turn on whenever I hit a speedbump. Apart from that, just scheduled maintenance for three years and 60,000 miles now. My wife's Camry, however, is forever shuttling to the shop. Never standing faults, but things like the A/C having eternal gremlins, phantom check engine lights that come and go with no discernable cause to either the dealer or our independent shop, door locks that won't work except from the button in the driver seat, auto-on and off headlights that sometimes aren't, etc. Apart from the A/C and the CEL issues it's msotly little annyoign stuff you can fix with five minutes of messing with it. But five minutes three or four times a week gets annoying. And it's spent more time in the shop in 2009 than my much-maligned VW has in three years. Though to be fair the quality on my sister's Beetle has been about par with the Toyota.
And I'm not some fanboy. I kinda hate my car and would trade it in a minute if it wasn't underwater. I'm getting the same sort of mpg as a G8 GT and I only get 115hp to play with. A GTI on the other hand. . .
andrew717 says:
10:54 AM, 05/28/09
Mystifies me, too. I've had to replace the water pump under warranty (about 1,000 miles before the warranty expired), and I disconnected the light for the passenger side vanity mirror rather than trace the gremlin that made it turn on whenever I hit a speedbump. Apart from that, just scheduled maintenance for three years and 60,000 miles now. My wife's Camry, however, is forever shuttling to the shop. Never stranding faults, but things like the A/C having eternal gremlins, phantom check engine lights that come and go with no discernable cause to either the dealer or our independent shop, door locks that won't work except from the button in the driver seat, auto-on and off headlights that sometimes aren't, etc. Apart from the A/C and the CEL issues it's mostly little annoying stuff you can fix with five minutes of messing with it. But five minutes three or four times a week gets annoying. And it's spent more time in the shop in 2009 than my much-maligned VW has in three years. Though to be fair the quality on my sister's Beetle has been about par with the Toyota.
And I'm not some fanboy. I kinda hate my car and would trade it in a minute if it wasn't underwater. I'm getting the same sort of mpg as a G8 GT and I only get 115hp to play with. A GTI on the other hand. . .
1speedbike says:
08:44 PM, 05/28/09
the 335d is a marvelous machine and i would have bought it if it was in my price range.
i think what BMW needs to do is offer at LEAST 1 (hopefully 2+) of it's 1 series diesel hatches in the US. forget a smaller diesel engine in a 3 series, bring in the 1 series turbodiesels!