GC44

Just been browsing autotrader and kijiji for cars/suv's and there seems to be a distinct lack of diesels engines. When I was over there last August I'm sure there were diesel pumps at filling stations and unlike the UK it was cheaper than gas.
Were are all the diesel motors?

FlirtyKnickers

As far as I can tell they are few and far between...you have to remember, diesel gels up in the cold weather, gas doesn't...

JB0591

You wont find diesel at every garage only some. I hired a truck and had to refill it, had to go round the block a few times to find a garage with diesel.

JB

GC44

I believe that nowadays diesel has additives added at refining that prevent gelling .

FlirtyKnickers

My lovely little diesel froze solid back in the UK !

iaink

The only diesel cars around come from Germany (VW, M-B, a very few BMWs), so they are mostly out of the budget of most buyers, tend to be bought and retained by high mileage drive them till they drop types. There were also a few diesel Jeeps out there, thanks to the Chrysler/ MB merger.

Trucks can be had with diesels, but tend to be in the old school coarse and clattery camp, bought for the torque.

Diesel itself is widely available, if not totally universal. But remember there is limited refining capacity in North America, and its basically the same as heating oil. Prices seem less volatile than gas, but sometimes is less and sometimes its more than regular gasoline due to the fluctuations elsewhere.

Gelling isnt much of a problem with local bought fuel as they add stuff to it in the winter to prevent it. If you drive up from the south in one though you might not be as lucky?

jamesmc

we used to put anti gel additive in, if we filled up in the southern usa and couldnt find winter fuel.
there again i went to fuel up at swift current last winter and the pump was frozen solid..

4d32ftw

they had a bad experience with poor quality diesel cars many years back, and like most people they havent forgotten this and simply wont buy them, so there is no real market for them. it takes years of constant marketing to improve the image of them and get it to the standard we know in the UK, just like it took skoda years in the Uk to be remotly accepted by the masses.

yet they seem to have a fasination with hybrid cars, even though they will still stick a big v6 or v8 up front. maybe one day diesel cars will be favorable here, but it will be a long time.

GC44

Well thats a shame. If we do get over there I will miss my TDi's.

FlirtyKnickers

I just bought a Hybrid car and to my suprise and the dealers I get to claim my tax back.... One more reason to think about a hybrid

mandymoochops

certainly in these parts a diesel truck is a workhorse, so people keep em until they die, and for those in a certain trade - fuel is pretty um - cheap

Luckyone

No shortage of TDI Jetta's and Golfs here. Our main highways in Nova Scotia are full of them commuting to the city. I've had mine since new in 2000, it's now got over a half a million kms on it, and it still does the same trip day in dayout. Soon be time to retire both it and me.....yeah!

jerry brewer

Hi
Diesel fuel is around and there are a few diesel vehicles, but it seems not very popular here in canada, like a manual gearbox..
Diesel is a reliable fuel in cold weather,almost every truck and bus runs on it, almost every emergency generator runs on it.
Hybrids are attractive, but have a look at the long term maintenance cost as well before buying one ..
cheers
jerry

Atlantic Xpat

Diesel vehicles suffer from an image problem in North America as has been previously said. Further, Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel has only relatively recently been introduced in North America which accounts for low refining capacity and relatively high costs. As vehicles are developed for North America as a whole rather than Canada (30m market vs. 300m market in USA), state emission regulations also play a huge factor. California being the main driver in this regard.

In cars, diesels are only to be found in VW & Mercedes product. In SUV's only Mercedes and BMW (I believe). Compared to the dominance of small diesel engined vehicles in Europe, gas is very much still king this side of the pond.

I had a diesel Jeep Liberty for a 3 year lease and loved the engine. (the rest of the Jeep not so much from a reliability/quality point of view). I believe there is a market for mid size diesel SUV's and pick ups, but the product planners at the automakers don't seem to see it my way.

Availability isn't really an issue. Not every gas station will sell it but given the amount of HD pickups and commercial trucks using diesel it is not difficult to find if and when you need it.

iaink

Stuttgart vs Detroit innit