I got a kick out of this guy's craigslist add. Seems he really cars about his car. http://raleigh.craigslist.org/car/419734895.html

__________________
1984 300d turbo

Hehe.. that cracked me up.

__________________
1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

Loved it! Especially the "hippie treehuggers" part

__________________
"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
'96 Impala SS
'71 Buick GS conv
'67 GTO conv
'63 Corvair conv
'57 Nomad

The only problem I see is that he's confusing biodiesel with veggie oil conversions, like 95% of the population out there.

__________________
2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

Who does he think reads Craigslist?

__________________

1998 E300D, 287k, barely broken in.

A "Purist" among us.

__________________
raMBow

1999 E300DT Obsydian Black Metallic, Heated Full Leather Parchment options, E2, K2, 136,000+, best 36.5 mpg - GP's 12-04 & 11-12 Zero Stuck
2010 Honda Odyssey - The BrideMobile - best 26.5
(2) 2005 Honday Accord- (1 -Corporate 1 - Personal) - 110,000 4-cyl 30mpg
2000 VW Golf GLS TDI, Upsolute Chip (sold to Brother, now 300+k on it) 48.5 mpg like clock work
1987 Honda CRX HF - Sold 87,000 always over 50 mpg Max 67 mpg

lol
I agree, he's confusing biodiesel with WVO.
I don't see myself "bastardizing" my cars in any way, shape, or form by using biodiesel.

__________________
99 E300 TD -- sold
01 540i 6 spd

If I ever sell my car this is going in bold at the bottom of the add!

"This is a fine car with plenty of good miles left. I am not selling this car to anyone who will bastardize it into a biodiesel frankenstein either. This is not a PRIUS so hippie treehuggers need not apply!"


Classic!

__________________
2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

The car? $6000
The next engine? $2000.00

Knowing it's not a Prius?
Priceless.

__________________


~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

So you mean to tell me that you, a guy with over 13K posts can't tell the difference between Biodiesel and WVO?

__________________
'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

The big "unknown" far as hybrids go is what happens when it comes time to sell or trade those vehicles. The lifespan of a battery pack is a fixed quantity. You can do a little to extend it - but eventually, physics get the better of you and the sucker won't accept or keep a charge Just ask me about all of the cordless tool batteries I've got accumulated waiting to recycle. I realize that the design of the hybrid batteries is different - lithium-ion (I think) vs NiCad or some newer technology. Lithium-ion, while more forgiving of charge-discharge cycles, will still eventually fail in the same manner as a lowly NiCad battery - at which time the car has the same resale value as a petrol-burner with a blown engine.

You can abuse a petrol-burner and shorten it's lifespan measurably. You can maintain it and easily get 250k miles of reliable service. Current technology makes that impossible on a hybrid.

I predict there will be a glut on the market of hybrids that nobody wants. Once the battery is kaput, unless technology or volume catches up and provides a replacement that's not multiple $K in price, the cars are going to be junked by the tens of thousands. The owners of these cars save $ at the pump now, and bleed those $ back when the car is worth squat at trade-in time. Why are they trading it in? Because the battery pack is shot, the seats are worn out, the A/C doesn't blow cold anymore, and it's only got 1 DVD screen in it, so they want a new car instead of fixing the old one. Who's gonna buy something like that - or accept something like that for a trade in?

Plus - we've yet to start seeing the news reports of people getting electrocuted or seriously injured when servicing a hybrid or attempting to aid a motorist after a severe crash. Bound to happen sooner-or-later.

You can see how hybrid technology is being bastardized into a luxury go-fast technology by folks like Lexus and Honda. Honda's Civic hybrid is a great car for the technology - I have a friend that makes a 50+ mile each way commute every day in his and the difference in fuel consumption almost makes the car note vs his old vehicle. However, "hybridding" an Accord to give it MORE HP, or a Lexus LS460 for that matter is not where that technology should be applied - IMHO. I'm not saying hybrids should be stuck in the right lane struggling to make the next hill in the road, but the technology, if it is to appeal to the masses, should be purposed to reduce fuel consumption, not cut your 0-60 times all the while being able to "act green" to your neighbors.

I'd never buy one because I hate the idea. I want a proper engine, hooked up to a proper gear box, driving the rear wheels. Thats the way a car should be. AWD would be a tough pill for me to swallow.

A Prius costs about $25k in my area. Hybrid and mileage aside, for that you get a cheap little econo box. Its like you are driving the economic penalty box of life, except you are paying a decent amount to do so. For that same money you can get a decent regular car like an Accord. Of a small Civic for $10k less.

To me a Prius is more about the statement, that H badge says I am better than you. Its no different than someone buying a BMW, Lexus, or MB for the badge. Big freaken deal you drive a hybrid you aren't saving the world on your own.

I don't see the point, a plain old Honda Civic will get all of 40mpg on the open road if not more. So you get a few mpg more, oh yeah that will get us off oil. Big freaken deal. I'd rather buy the Civic and keep the $10k in a bank. I hate the things, anytime I see one if I can I will cut it off or make its life difficult.

__________________
2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I have a "regular" Civic and it's a blast to drive and I get nearly 40 mpgs. It weighs less than the Hybrid version has a bigger trunk plus my rear seats fold which in the hybrid they don't. I also bought it slightly used with only 8500 miles on it so it cost me half what a comparable Hybrid version was selling for at the time. Its also simple enough to service it myself.
Hybrids fooey!
Mine will still be on the road for a long time after the Hybrids of the same age will been in the crusher.

__________________
DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

I rode in a Prius today, one of my profs. brought me back to the dorm from the parking lot after class.

First impression: Yes Toyota is Japanese... but for those who understand what I'm talking about, I felt like I was sitting in a "Made in China" label collection. The whole thing, especially the dashboard, just felt like I could take it apart with my fingernails if I wanted to.

1. The first thing the infernal thing did was start yelling about my seat belt. We were still in the parking lot. And not just a few friendly dings either, it was like having an alarm going off from the thing. I mean... I was going to buckle up, I just wanted to get all my stuff situated in the cup holders and so forth... that was the first annoyance. Guess all new cars do that. That's why I don't have a new car.

2. The dash creaked when my knees hit it (the seats were back) - it wasn't a sedan either, it was sort of a station wagon thing. It just felt... the buttons, the surfaces, the door handles... it all just felt Chinese and plastic-y. When I buy my twenty-year old prius, the first thing I'll do when I recover from changing the batteries is to fix the speakers that have died. Felt to me like when I took the dash apart, so much of it would snap and the clips would go and so forth.. felt to me like a glue-once-and-then-scrap-it deal.

3. Speaking of the battery... she went on to tell me that the dealership warned her never to let the passenger in the rear right seat go to sleep leaning on the side of the car, because they would cover up the ventilation for the battery and it would get too hot.

Do WHAT?!?!?!?

That ruins it for a beach-trip car, a road-trip car, an airport shuttle, a taxi... pretty much a practical car right there. Who wants to go on a ten hour trip when one out of five people has to stay awake and lean carefully not to hit the battery vents? That's just poor planning... unless it's a dealer exaggeration, in which case... idk. Just seems impractical. I mean... Granny can't keep her eyes open... Fluffy fell asleep and you hate to wake him... the baby threw the blanket over to that side... one of the grocery sacks shifted... just makes it about useless if this is true. If it's not then... it's still not great.

Bottom line in my mind, after seeing one? I guess it's a nifty little zippy car with lots of features and gadgets to play with. It's cool, it's interesting... but it's not practical. After seeing one, I'll still bet on our diesels or even the new diesels to outlast them. They just... they're one-owner cars. And if you're in the club that can afford a car trade every 3-10 years then I guess that's fair enough. That's pretty much the current way to do things I guess. But some of us are still old-schooling it and running cars for 10+ years... and after seeing one in person, I'd not place much of my life savings into betting on the Prius to make it that far.

__________________


~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

I think the new Hondas have very nice interiors actually. Not so much the 'Yotas. I think Toyota has just gotten too big too fast for their own good.

They feel a lot better than 20 year old crackly plastic that's for sure. I always hated the 300SDL on rough roads 'cause the squeaky leather would vibrate and the door panels would rattle. W123 was much better in the squeaks department.

I think in 10 years the "old" MB diesels will have started to die, as cheap owners don't want to shell out the dough for the front end rebuilds, the new injectors ('cause they were running cold veggie oil) etc

Only the true MB diesel fanatics will have their diesels left. At least they'll go up in value.

__________________
1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi