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Old 03-13-2012, 06:53 PM   #121
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Your Duramax is a Isuzu Diesel, if every Chevy garage has a Diesel tech then you will be good. Mahindra is Indian but built in the U.S. as far as I know, they've been building farm tractors for quite awhile now. When I had my Duramax the only problems were the Chevy parts and my buddy has a Mahindra tractor and the only problems with it have been in the hydraulics and they are parts from Prince hydraulics. I wouldn't be afraid of a Mahindra small Diesel but I would prefer Toyota to use one of their Diesel forklift engines in a Toyota Tacoma.
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Old 03-13-2012, 07:15 PM   #122
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One of the "selling" points of brining the Mahindra truck to the US is there's already mechanical "dealers" setup across the country. Granted, you won't see shiny chromed vehicles, but it's all about the running gear if you breakdown in farm country. In fact, you'd probably find more places to get a Mahindra fixed than a Smart Car in the US.
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Old 03-13-2012, 07:41 PM   #123
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If Subaru diesel would be available in US I would give it very strong consideration and change my F350 with Bigfoot to a smaller trailer.
I am not sure if Subaru Diesel would work in US, we have different time zone....

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Old 03-13-2012, 08:53 PM   #124
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i haven't read all this thread but i haven't seen VW mentioned.
i used to pull my 13ft boler with a 20 year old vw rabbit that had
over 400,000k on it. a 1.6L diesel 5speed, good times!!
it got 35-40mpg pullin and over 50 empty.
todays VW diesels are way more powerful and better mileage.
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Old 03-13-2012, 11:28 PM   #125
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Originally Posted by GeorgeR View Post
Perhaps Mahindra will join forces with Ssangyong Motor Co. to get small diesel trucks in US. We will see.

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dl...ra-distributor

Ssangyong Motors Australia - Actyon Sports Ute

George.
Thanks for the links George.

In the first link they say this:
"Mahindra has taken giant steps in a different direction. The Indian company now owns an interest in Korean automaker Ssangyong Motor Co., which has its own interest in entering the U.S. market."

The second link to Ssangyong Motors; indicates these trucks have a 2300 KG braked towing capacity. That is a 5000+ Lb. Delve through the specs and you will find there is a 750 KG unbraked tow capacity (1650 lbs).

There looks to be lots of interesting options. I sort of liked the rear cap that made it look like a station wagon or SUV. The only thing I didn't really like about it was that the steering wheel was on the wrong side for North America.
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Old 03-14-2012, 06:19 AM   #126
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Originally Posted by FRED SMAILES
i haven't read all this thread but i haven't seen VW mentioned.
i used to pull my 13ft boler with a 20 year old vw rabbit that had
over 400,000k on it. a 1.6L diesel 5speed, good times!!
it got 35-40mpg pullin and over 50 empty.
todays VW diesels are way more powerful and better mileage.
fred
Today's VW diesels are a lot more powerful, but they get lower mileage than your rabbit. The last ones that got really great mileage were the 100hp ones. My father has a 2006 Jetta that regularly breaks 50 MPG. With the newer ones, it's not unusual for them to be getting mid 30s.

My 2003 was rated at 42/49, a new one is rated at 30/42.
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Old 03-14-2012, 06:21 AM   #127
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If Subaru diesel would be available in US I would give it very strong consideration and change my F350 with Bigfoot to a smaller trailer.
I am not sure if Subaru Diesel would work in US, we have different time zone....

2010 Subaru Forester 2.0D - First Drive - Motor Trend

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My thoughts exactly.
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Old 03-14-2012, 08:11 AM   #128
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lol, i do wonder,,,just what the heck is an "entertaining ride"?
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Old 03-14-2012, 09:29 AM   #129
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Today's VW diesels are a lot more powerful, but they get lower mileage than your rabbit. The last ones that got really great mileage were the 100hp ones. My father has a 2006 Jetta that regularly breaks 50 MPG. With the newer ones, it's not unusual for them to be getting mid 30s.

My 2003 was rated at 42/49, a new one is rated at 30/42.
I have Jetta 06 TDI and consistently get mid-forties 75%city/25% highway and occasionally over 50 on long stretches of highway. Even with high cost of diesel fuel, usually about 10% higher than regular my cost of travel is comparable to 40 mpg average car on regular.

I just heard on the news that new more efficient cars will cost $3K more to manufacture, wow, really? Would my equation work I would say that if we lower gas mileage the manufacturing cost will go down by $3K. I understand that price is not always link with cost but they were discussing costs. Is 4 cylinder engine more expensive than a 6 one? Is smaller chassis more expensive than a bigger chassis? Unnerving.

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Old 03-14-2012, 09:46 AM   #130
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Reliability

George,

We've considered a VW diesel for our next tow vehicle. Our only concern has been reliability. What is your experience?

Thank you,
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Old 03-14-2012, 11:26 AM   #131
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Reliability

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George,

We've considered a VW diesel for our next tow vehicle. Our only concern has been reliability. What is your experience?

Thank you,
Reliability is about 4 stars out of 5. It would be 5 if we did not have a fluke failure resulting in 16 hour drive from Portland OR to San Francisco. Because of a bank robbery we had to take a detour close to Lassen NP. In the middle of nowhere, no cell coverage the coolant level sensor showed its middle finger. We had a major coolant leak from somewhere. It was after 6PM so shops were closed and the closest VW dealer was 150 miles away. At the first grocery store we bought 4 gal of deionized water. The first fill lasted 4 min before warning. After removal of the overflow reservoir cap to reduce the pressure we were able to drive in 12-15 min intervals. After 10 gal and many hours we arrived to Redwood City.
It was a broken pipe within the engine compartment connecting the heater core and it was not available in the state of California. VW folks said they have never had this failure.

Except this one time problem we did not have any other issues. The front brake pads were changed at 60K; tires at 45K; expensive oil 3-5K. The timing belt change is expensive and it needs to be changed every 80K miles. Just parts are $300 (includes belts, water pump, seals, tensioner); TDI independent is $750-850, dealer $1,000-1,200. I went to an independent TDI shop and it was a messy shop. Dealer could not give me a fixed or not to exceed price so I am thinking to do it slowly and peacefully in my garage; it is about a day of work for inexperienced one like me.

Using TDI for towing is more of liability and hitch availability question. E-trailer has 1 ¼” square hitches only up to 2000lb for Jetta. I would consider getting EU gooseneck with 50mm ball, US has 50.8mm (2”) ball. I used to have one on my VW Camper. WESTFALIA-Automotive GmbH*|*Anhängekupplung - Elektrosatz - Fahrradträger*|*Product overview
Why VW TDI in US has such a meager towing capacity numbers is a big puzzle for me.

George.
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Old 03-14-2012, 12:39 PM   #132
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George

"Because of a Bank Robbery"?!?!?!?!?

You can't just lob that one out here ad leave it?

Robbing is bad.
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Old 03-14-2012, 12:52 PM   #133
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........................Robbing is bad.
Indeed.
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Old 03-14-2012, 01:39 PM   #134
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Using TDI for towing is more of liability and hitch availability question. E-trailer has 1 ¼” square hitches only up to 2000lb for Jetta. I would consider getting EU gooseneck with 50mm ball, US has 50.8mm (2”) ball. I used to have one on my VW Camper. WESTFALIA-Automotive GmbH*|*Anhängekupplung - Elektrosatz - Fahrradträger*|*Product overview
Why VW TDI in US has such a meager towing capacity numbers is a big puzzle for me.

George.
If I go with the VW Passat, my plan is to have Can-Am RV do the custom hitch before towing anything. They have years of experience towing with VW cars and setting them up to tow Airstreams and other trailers with correct hitches.

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Old 03-14-2012, 03:09 PM   #135
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On the subject of Ranger diesels, in Britain Ford only sell diesel Rangers, there just isn't a market for petrol/gas engined versions. 2.2 and 3.2 litre diesel engines with I-want-to-die European tow ratings up to 7400 lb.

The same is now true for what we think of as larger passenger cars - for example, Chrysler have given up trying to sell petrol/gas Voaygers and 300Cs.
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Old 03-14-2012, 03:19 PM   #136
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Andrew, what is the cost comparison there for fuel gas versus diesel? For forever diesel here was much cheaper, then several years ago that changed and it is higher than premium "high" octane here.
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Old 03-14-2012, 03:24 PM   #137
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George what are the oil changes like? Qts? $?

Honda's used to have belts that required changing. No Longer required.
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Old 03-14-2012, 03:31 PM   #138
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Andrew, what is the cost comparison there for fuel gas versus diesel?
Are you sitting down? And holding on tight to something secure? Then I'll begin, in US dollars per US gallon:
Regular unleaded $8.30
Regular diesel and premium unleaded $8.60
Premium diesel $9.10
So the difference between the regulars is 5%.

As you may guess, most of the price we pay is tax - we pinko commie-lovin' liberals have to collect a lot of tax!
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Old 03-14-2012, 03:51 PM   #139
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As you may guess, most of the price we pay is tax - we pinko commie-lovin' liberals have to collect a lot of tax!
That I do understand, I live in California!

I haven't checked prices today but regular is about $4.35-4.40 and diesel is about $4.59-4.89 depending on the station. Fuel varies in price here on a daily basis.
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Old 03-14-2012, 03:51 PM   #140
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We have had six VW TDIs in the family. All of them are/were 2003+. These include ALH, BEW, and BRM engine codes. They are a mix of five speed and DSG transmissions. I personally do all of the service on them.

Oil changes are somewhat expensive. They require synthetic, and some have even more stringent requirements. Many VW dealerships do not sock the required oil. Almost all fluids are VW specific. Every procedure is more difficult and time consuming than almost any other brand.

We didn't have many problems under warranty. However, VW tried their hardest not to cover items that later became recall items. The 2004 was the worst one. It would have cost thousands in repairs during the first 100,000 miles due to common part failures if we had the work done at the dealership.

Timing belts are VERY important. TB failures are very common, and usually require an engine swap. Turbo failures are common on the new models, but not on the old ones. Most shops cannot do a TB on a TDI due to specialty tools, the required computer hookup, and the liability. VW dealerships almost never replace the water pump and the required TTY "stretch" bolts on the motor mounts. If the water pump seizes, the belt often breaks and takes the engine with it. If the bolts break, the engine drops and usually causes some damage. They often don't replace the tensioner and rollers, which are the first things to fail, and can also result in catastrophic engine damage.

Some of the newer TDIs are experiencing fuel pump failures. This is not like. $50 fuel pump in a gas car. This can cost thousands.

In Europe, they tend to flaunt the car 's 'longevity' more so than its 'reliability'. They don't take it personally if a car needs $1,000 here or there to keep going, but ultimately last 300,000 miles or more. Here in the US, most people want a car that can go 100,000 to 200,000 miles with very little spent in repairs, and then go to the junkyard.
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