Google SUV TAx Deduction and you will see at the end of 2004 Mr. Bush enacted this Law where these vehicles in this weight range could recieve a Tax Deduction up to $100,000. My Boss bought one xmas eve of 2004 at a cost of $70,000(Hummer with all the bells and whistles). Nice Gift, eh? At the expense of the rest of us. She runs a nursing agency in the city-this law was meant for farmers, loggers.ect but it has really been abused. To me it seems like a totally ridiculous law to encourage the purchase of gas guzzlers with HUGE TAX Breaks in this day of uncertain energy prices and short supply. Very BAD Energy Policy and Planning IMHO.

Diesel Power,
I have no arguement with having a new trustworthy car for out on the road...
But this is sorta funny .... since that " $500 240 manual " I mentioned I bought was from YOU ....

In spite of the price of ALL petrol fuels going through the roof, don't forget the seasonal aspect of Diesel. In winter, it generally becomes more expensive than gasoline due to increased demand for home heating oil. In my area, Diesel has come down dramatically already. In Halifax, the price ratio is now $3.20 / US gal. for Diesel and $3.72 for regular unleaded gas. Not nearly as good in other cities, but the "normal" situation of Diesel being cheaper for most of the year has returned- a sure sign of spring!

Dave

1976 White W115 300D "Pearl"
1970 Gray W115 200 "Earl"

Have you considered getting a little Prius Cap'n?

__________________
Jim

Hehe, Did you ever figure out where all that oil was going? That one you bought from me was the first one that I gave up on, when it was looking like I was going to have to rebuild an engine that was supposed to have just been rebuilt.

The second one was the white 240D that tossed its harmonic balancer. It got sold as a parts car to another forum member, whos name I am forgetting at the moment (stupid mental block).

The third one was that Euro that Palangi saved from the Toyota stealership, after I stupidly used it as part of a three car trade in. It had a persistent cooling problem that apparently Palangi found when the head gasket finally gave up the ghost. I lost track of the stuff I put in that car to chase the cooling issue down. While I couldn't trust it to go to work, I did not really want to give that car up. If I had it to do over again, I would have kept it.

I have both the first cars you gave up on on my place... the harmonic balancer one belongs to RLeo...

The oil issue had multiple causes... and I may not have found all of them yet... the copper washer on the oil plug had a couple of serious nicks in it... and changing to keeping the oil level at half way between low and full really made a huge difference...
The valve stem seals were in the glove compartment....and I have confirmed that they don't do much good there... but have not attacked changing them due to Diesel Ford Tractor work and grass...

It will run 75 all day long and get 24 mpg. I do not know what the deal was with the one cylinder which read so low on compression...

So the forth one was that 1959 from Oklahoma ? Sure hated to see you sell that one... it was so cute...

I bought my rust free 1983 W123 for $2,800 with 142,000 miles on it.

Figure what a toyota Echo costs.....or a Kia Rio........and figure even if I drive it 50,000 miles I am way ahead....not to mention another 100,000 car reassonible be expected. At 100,000 that Kia is gonna be lucky to be running.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

You mean that overgrown, mostly plastic, roomless, non-hauling imitation overgrown Suburban/Tahoe chassis H2-I'd like to hitch one of those up to the end of my Dodge and show it what a real truck is capable of(and the Cummins didn't cost $55K either!! Seriously, if GM doesn't fit a Duramax into one of those things soon, you'd have to be a millionaire to drive one!

__________________
1982 300DT 190K (Diesel Purge + synthetic oil=smoothness at last!!!)
2004 Ford E-350 6.0 L PSD 227K
2006 Dodge Ram 3500 SRW HO Cummins 4X4 48RE 42K (brute force tow vehicle)
2005 Scion xB wife's rolling pop can
1993 GMC Sierra C3500 6.2 142K

I got the '59 from West Virginia, from a former member of the forum. It was never meant to be a daily driver, so I don't count it in what I was trying to attempt with the 240d's. That car simply needed more than I had the skill or the funds to tackle, and it was killing me to watch it slowly deteriorate under the carport. I would like another one someday, or even better an old 170D, but it will need to be a completed driver level resto. Those will be more money, so I'll have to wait a while.

The W115 was from Oklahoma, but it never had a prayer. Ran great, but literally EVERYTHING else was broken on that car. I actually made a small profit on selling the W115.

The 300D I have now is more my speed. It doesn't need anything major with the exception of the climate control system, and I'm gradually amassing parts for it. The "ugliest" projects under the hood will be rolling in a new timing chain, and attacking the hacked up vacuum system. Effective today, I'm now back on evening shift, so I will finally be able to turn a couple of hours a day into tinkering under it's hood, once a few more higher priority irons are out of the fire.

Those seals in the glovebox were supposed to be spares. However, who knows how honest the seller was being to me when I bought it.

My guess, and that's all it is, is that those Hummer owners could find more economical alternatives, but that is beside the point. Even if they were giving them away, why would anyone want a Hummer to drive on the street?

To compensate for having a tiny penis I would guess........

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I saw an excellent photo of an early 60's 404 Unimog pulling an H2 out of a ditch it had gotten mired in. I'll have to find that again, it cracked me up.

My diesel is quite cheap to own. I make a large portion of my own fuel (and Brandon, I didn't know you were cooking, how long have you been at it, and what kind of reactor are you using?), which highly offsets my fuel cost. I ran with it all winter, using blends as low as 30% during the coldest times, and never had gelling trouble.

But even if I wasn't doing the biodiesel thing, the low cost of maintainence and the lack of auto payments and cheap insurance make the vehicle far cheaper than the alternatives. Combine that with my fuel-injected scooter which gets a hair over 100MPG (and I really cane the sucker too), and I've got a great combo of cheap and effective vehicles. The beautiful weather is coming too, so the scooter is getting more regular use, and the TD is for hauling people and stuff. Even with gas prices as high as they are, a full fillup (which earns me about 200 miles of range), is less than a 5-spot.

Peace,
Sam

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"That f***in' biodiesel is makin' me hungry."

1982 300TD Astral Silver w/ 250k (BIO BNZ)
2001 Aprilia SR50 Corsa Red w/ 5.5k (>100 MPG)

Mabye the H2 owners were complaining about the 6.0's 6-8mpg. I hear they are aiming for 7-9mpg for the H3.

9.6, IIRC

That is because the 5300 vortec is being overworked, I suspect. If you went with the H1 and get the diesel engine, you get about 16. Either or is not bad for something of it's weight class tho. I wouldn't buy the H2 because I'd have no real use for it as long as it has the 5300 vortec engine. No thanx. I have one of those. Just an LS1 engine with lousy low end. If they put a better engine, I would be tempted if the price was right.

Back to the question. I had a 99 C280 which was fine. However, the criteria changed. The wife needed more out of town driving so we went to the diesel which gave 32 mpg while the C280 ave 24. Now, if we just commuted around town, I would have gone back with anotehr gasser when the C280 was totaled.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Only if you don't consider your labor and storage, etc, etc as part of the equation. IMO, you cannot compare buying D2 and making fuel yourself since one is commercial and the other does not run into the same issues. Apples and oranges.

Now how would your low cost of maintenance and lack of auto payments and cheap insurance combined compare with another vehicle of it's type that was gas? IOW, a more accurate comparison for me would be my 99 E300 with another 99 E class that is similar in everything but the engine.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow