moroney@jon.DEC (Mike Moroney) (01/18/86)
Diesel cars came out for 3 reasons: 1) Diesel fuel cost less per gallon than gasoline. 2) Diesel cars could usually go farther than the equivalent gas cars on a gallon of fuel, therefore more cruising range, and less cost. 3) No lines at diesel pumps. The G.M. V8 diesels have a lousy reputation since they are redesigned gas motors. They never seemed to get all the bugs out. Too bad they weren't able to use the GMC truck diesels, they are excellent motors. Other reasons why diesels are unpopular: 1) Some people think they are unreliable. This is because they don't maintain the cars as well as they should. A diesel needs an oil/filter change every 3,000 miles since the oil gets so dirty. However, a properly maintained diesel motor should last 200K miles easily (except the non-GMC GM V8's). 2) Hard starting in the winter. Non-winterized diesel fuel can jell when it gets real cold out. 3) Several other minor idiosyncroncies with diesels that people just aren't used to. -Mike Moroney