DMCJordaan

Hey everyone I was thinking about gradually saving for a 300D as I heard they are a bit more reliable and stuff, they really arnt all that expensive, only problem is diesel is hella expensive ...thoughts?

Bigpete123

If you calculate it out, even though diesel is more expensive per gallon, you will more than make up with your mileage.

shdoug

A coworker of mine has a VW Jetta diesel that gets 50 MPG on the highway. If it were gas it would probably get 30. That more than makes up for the cost of diesel being higher. I don't know about the new ones, but the old ones had a lot less to go wrong with them compared to gas engines.

DMCJordaan

I looked up gas mileage online for an 87 300D and it gets 22 city and 27 highway, that's not too shabby. I think I might get serious about getting one. Although I'd hate to depart with my good ol 300E but if it will last longer, provide better performace and be more economical, then why not aye? I'll have to look around also with my instrument cluster, I got the tools from the w124 guy at our local AutoZone. He is awesome! He not only lent me the parts but provided bulbs of every size and a Mercedes-Benz parts catalog which sells parts for our models, the website is performaceproducts4benz.com. Anyway, I pulled it out with some ease and replaced that bad boy and the warning light works like a charm! Problem was when I put everything back together again the economy guage stopped working haha. It ended up being an easy fix though a line just had been pulled from the terminal. Nothing major. Thanks again for the reply guys! -goes to ebaymotors.com to look for 300D's-

DMCJordaan

That's AWESOME mileage for a jetta! I never thought Diesel could make such a difference in gas mileage... pretty cool!

vili1982

I have a 92 diesel Golf, as my daily driver, I average around 1000 k's to the tank.

myfirstbenz

Diesel fo sho. My next vehicle will be a diesel. My buddy's GF has an automatic TDI that gets in the upper 40's to low 50's in MPG. It amazes me that US car makers don't use the technology more often when they complain about our CAFE standards. Losers

DMCJordaan

Damn!!! I'm hearing about all these amazing MPG's with Diesel! what am I not doing with one?!

Bigpete123

27 MPG's on the Highway for a diesel isn't really that impressive by today's standards... I guess I assumed it would be higher.

howie

DIESEL is no longer worth it!

vili1982

Care to elaborate why?

Where I live it's only 5 cen'ts more expensive, I get way over double the mialage I get on the 320, I drive the benz on the weekends only... if it was my daily driver, I'd need a second job just for fuel.

myfirstbenz

Howie, I am having a hard time following your logic

Saijin_Naib

Diesels from our (w124) generation are no longer impressive by today's fuel economy standards, but modern diesels most certainly out-mileage (word?) fuel injected cars by a large margin. And have more torque to boot.

Bigpete123

Alright, I just did a mini-break even analysis on a W124 diesel vs a W124 gasser. Why? Because I'm a huge nerd and this is what finance guys do. I stand corrected. This does not seem like a good deal, unless you are banking on the diesel's reputation for low maintenance cost (which is not factored in here).

Cars for comparison:

1995 E300D, 100k Miles, in 98119 Zip code (seattle), valued at Private party KBB in "good condition"

1995 E320 Sedan, 100k miles, in 98119 Zip code (seattle), valued at Private party KBB in "good condition"

Stats:
Diesel stated HWY mileage (per KBB): 32 MPG
Gasser stated HWY mileage (per KBB): 26 MPG

Diesel Blue Book: $6,825
Gasser Blue Book: $5,625
Diesel purchase price premium: $1,200

Gas prices in seattle (cheapest you'll find):
Diesel: $4.32/gal
Gas: $3.50/gal

When I run all of these calculations, assuming you drive 12k miles per year, your annual fuel cost will only be $37 cheaper with the diesel... Making your break-even point on paying the premium for the diesel 32.5 years.

NOT WORTH IT in my area, that's for sure.

DMCJordaan

I don't know though, even though Diesel is VERY expensive, I get horrible mileage with my 300E. Gas prices here in Palm Springs, California have just hit 4.05 for 91 octain. Although I have seen some 4.15 and 4.25 at a shell station. It seems that when I put about 25$ in it will get me just before the halfway mark, but I attend our local community college which is about 19-20 miles away. I live right next to the freeway so it's all freeway driving. When I get back home i'm already back at that line right before "R" it sucks! The only time I see that needle move slow is when I fill her up and that's like what now? 55-60$? Plus I live in the Desert, where summers get up to 125oF and air conditioning is not even a question. With the A/C oh man...might as well puncture a whole in the gas tank and it would be the same thing. Now I love my 300E and other than gas she's a good ol girl. But if Diesel will help with not only fuel pricing but with repair costs then why not, you know? Probably in August i'm driving to San Antonio, Texas to live there (Very Excited). That's a 2,000 mile drive and I imagine I could get more mileage with a diesel on that trip. It's kind of sad too, everyone tells me my 300E won't make the trip. My sister is iffy about driving to SA in it. When I told her we were taking it her automatic response was "But won't it break down?", I've talked to diesel Mercedes owners and they say how they feel like they could drive from New Mexico, USA to New York and not be worried at all. I know it depends on the condition of the car but i don't know, Diesel sounds more reliable. But I realize anything can break down.. i'll still be doing more research and other than those stupid Diesel prices it still sounds like a good deal... thanks guys for the input!

howie

well down here the difference in price is substantial not just 5 cents so in the end the cost/efficiency of driving a diesel that burns xxx amount of gas it nearly equals in cost compared to driving a economic gas car...not to mention a hybrid!

DITTO

DMCJordaan

I forgot that you can also convert Diesels for that corn oil stuff (Cheaper?). Bad thing is though... It smells like French Fries lol

howie

^^^ and you'll be changing your fuel pump every month!!! Trust me a close friend of mine did this in his duallie and he had to buy 50 bucks worth of fuel filter per tank burned. Then his car wouldn't start and didn't run great either.

Bigpete123

Even if you estimate 50/50 city and hwy driving and apply that mileage, your annual savings will be $100 (12.2 years to break even).

If you take the same model and apply it to the comparison between the e320 and a VW diesel (2005 Golf TDI) with 20k miles and 38MPG city and 46MPG Hwy, your annual fuel cost savings is still only $660. And you pay $13k more, so your break even point is almost 20 years.

LEt's assume you have to spend $2k/year more to maintain your e320... your break even point becomes 5 years.

But that difference is really only due to the fact that the VW is newer than the MB, not because it's a diesel. And it also doesn't take the cost of depreciation into account.

So my point is, I think Howie is right. The higher gas price of a diesel (and the purchase premium that diesels command) really negates the MPG gains.

It's a shame that the government doesn't lower its taxes on diesel to encourage people to drive more effecient cars. From what I can tell, the federal excise tax on diesel is 6 cents per gallon higher than gasoline... Why don't they make it 6 cents LOWER than gasoline, especially given new technology that makes the diesel itself, and the cars themself, less pollutive?

DMCJordaan

wow this really sucks, I remember when Diesel was always cheaper than gas. They need to lower those prices now so I can get my 300D without any second thoughts

howie

get it now?

things are different in canada

Bigpete123

well I'm afraid the main reason that diesel is more expensive than gas is really market forces (not taxes, although they are part of it).

Unbeknownst to me until recently, there are many people aroudn the country who burn fossil fuels to heat their homes! Out here on the west coast, I have never met somebody who does that. But that raises the cost of diesel apparrently... even though the refinery process for diesel is much cheaper than gasoline. Supply and demand can be a b*tch sometimes, huh?

ML55CLA45

if your looking to save money on fuel...

buy a diesel and convert it to veggie oil....

im planning on doing this to my 79 300d and turning it into my daily driver to work.

-carino

DMCJordaan

yeah it really is.

shdoug

Almost every house around here is heated by natural gas, including mine. There's no other choice but electric here and electric is very expensive compared to gas. What do they use is Seattle? (Not that it ever gets cold enough to need heat )

BTW Howie, my coworker has been running biodiesel in his stock '06 Jetta for 26,000 miles with no problems whatsoever.

And those MPG figures for the '87300D (22/27) are miserable. I almost got that with my gas E320!