Best Diesel Car for $3000?

[JCE10]

I'm tired of paying an arm, a leg, and my left nut to feed my gas guzzling SUV so I've come to the conclusion that I should just go ahead and buy a diesel car for the purpose of converting it into biodiesel. I've been reading a lot and I've concluded that those Chevy V8 diesels are crap, and the more reliable choices are of the VW and Mercedes variety. And BMW varieties are much too rare to be affordable. So before I commit to a single vehicle, I like to ask:

What diesel car would you purchase for $3000 give or take 10%? And Why?

 

[JEDIYoda]

Diesel is more expensive than gas.....duhhh...

 

[nsafreak]

From the research I've read it costs more to fuel a biodiesel vehicle than a regular gas vehicle. Perhaps you should just get a more gas efficient car?

 

[ironcrotch]

Get yourself an rabbit diesel or a golf. A good diesel car will get you 40-50mpg easy. Everyone I know that drives diesel has a 98+ golf. Aside from normal maintenance, they seem to be pretty reliable.

 

[Jeff7181]

Where are you going to get biodiesel? Are there gas stations that actually sell it, or are you planning on making it yourself after watching Trucks on SpikeTV? 🙂 I believe biodiesel only really becomes more economical when you get the vegetable oil for free (waste oil from restaurants that they normally have to pay to dipose of).

 

[compuwiz1]

Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
Diesel is more expensive than gas.....duhhh...

Actually, diesel is not more expensive than gas. It's always been about 10-20c cheaper per gallon, up until a few years ago, when lots of diesel trucks got sold. From there, the fuel companys took advantage of the saturation, making sure there was no advantage to driving a diesel. 🙁

 

[RCN]

Originally posted by: nsafreak
From the research I've read it costs more to fuel a biodiesel vehicle than a regular gas vehicle. Perhaps you should just get a more gas efficient car?

Not if you make it yourself.

< .60/gallon

 

[JCE10]

Originally posted by: nsafreak
From the research I've read it costs more to fuel a biodiesel vehicle than a regular gas vehicle. Perhaps you should just get a more gas efficient car?

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Where are you going to get biodiesel? Are there gas stations that actually sell it, or are you planning on making it yourself after watching Trucks on SpikeTV? 🙂 I believe biodiesel only really becomes more economical when you get the vegetable oil for free (waste oil from restaurants that they normally have to pay to dipose of).

Not if you use the waste oil from restaurants. A friend already has built a filtering system. All I really have to do is convert the car which brings me to the whole point of the topic.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: JCE10

Originally posted by: nsafreak
From the research I've read it costs more to fuel a biodiesel vehicle than a regular gas vehicle. Perhaps you should just get a more gas efficient car?

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Where are you going to get biodiesel? Are there gas stations that actually sell it, or are you planning on making it yourself after watching Trucks on SpikeTV? 🙂 I believe biodiesel only really becomes more economical when you get the vegetable oil for free (waste oil from restaurants that they normally have to pay to dipose of).

Not if you use the waste oil from restaurants. A friend already has built a filtering system. All I really have to do is convert the car which brings me to the whole point of the topic.

Conversion isn't necessary from what I understand. Biodiesel is 100% compatible with existing diesel engines... they require zero modification.

 

[drnickriviera]

If you are going with an old car, just get a W123 chassis mercedes. (240D, 300D) The ones with the round headlights. Warning: The 240D is a slug. Best thing about them is they can run greasel/filtered cooking oil. No need to go through the refining process to make biodiesel.

If your friend has a refining rig running, what does he do with the glycerine? Since you said filtering system, sounds like you are not making biodiesel