Just read an article from an well known Australian newspaper regarding the hidden cost of diesel and hybrid cars. Green fees | theage.com.au Will definitely think twice about getting a diesel powered car after reading that article. The hybrids are not perfect, but they don't have as much servicing costs as the diesels, especially turbo charged ones. What do you guys think?
Looks like a load of fud with a few facts thrown in. Eco cars are nonsense, diesel cars are not worth the money? So just keep on buying Australian made 5 litre V8 Holdens and Fords There are some valid arguments about some diesel cars not being happy in the city (as some of my colleagues have found out to their cost), but some do work very well. A cabbie colleague of mine has a new VW Passat diesel where the inside of the tailpipes are completely and utterly clean, even after thousands of miles of taxi use. I think some of the diesel particle filter issues arise from older technology engines being fitted with dpf's to enable them to barely squeeze through the new emission legislation. Newer tech engines do seem ok with dpf's. The same happened 20 years ago when catalytic converters were starting to be fitted to old tech petrol engines, which would then fail their annual emission test miserably 12 months later. Another interesting part of the fud was that you'll need 15 litres of oil between oil changes on a diesel car! ha ha ha ha ha. They're serious? Come on. Ha ha ha. That one comment discredited the whole article for me. With crap like that nobody will take the article seriously, though it did draw on some important down sides too. Diesels are great if you do lots of highway driving or travel long distances daily. Though SOME are not so great if used in town all day.
The linked article is specifically targeted at Australia. It makes a mostly economic argument, but based on prices and costs in Australia. The same situation does not exist in the United States, where cars cost less and the "hybrid premium" is much less. Tom
interesting article but it is simply "cherry-picking" article aimed against this website's vision statement. like uh?? why bother? the Prius or any other car for that matter is not a perfect solution for every one. each individual needs to make the determination as to what their needs are, the resources they have to meet the needs, etc. this article could have some merit to someone in the area due to the additional surcharges associated with the technology, but does someone in Australia need to be told that a Prius is expensive? and why? if comparing to a Golf, its hardly a discussion unless the Golf in AU is a much better car than the ones i am familiar with in the US
