Diesel always seems to cost less than typical gas. Why?

Heck, why aren't there more diesel cars? If there's more of that stuff, why not use more of it?

And there are a lot of teamsters out there who vote.

Diesel's also more efficient and less dangerous to use. Americans have never taken to diesel cars. I drove my stepdad's old 300D and was sold on it after a week.

First off, you Volkswagen TDI owners stay out of this...

The process of starting a diesel car in the morning is enough to turn off half of the potential buyers:

a. Turn the key to the "on" position. The Wait light will come on as the glow plugs heat the cylinders.
b. In a minute or two, when the engine is warm enough to ignite fuel, the Wait light will go out. Crank the engine at that time.

It's not hard, but most people don't want to sit in the car in the driveway waiting for it to warm up enough to start. They would rather get in, turn the key and leave.

Also consider: diesels are louder than gas engines, the exhaust smells like a semi, and they don't accelerate as well nor do they have the top speed of a gas car.

In their favor, diesels have a lot of torque, and their service life is excellent if you take the time to let the engine idle for a minute or so before shutting it down to let your turbos spool down, and if you run them within manufacturers' designed horsepower ratings. Excellent for hauling stuff, and B20 biodiesel is a good liberal fuel. Add to that diesels' lower CO emissions (offset by their increased NOx emissions on diesels with mechanical fuel injection).

I wouldn't have a diesel car, but I wouldn't have a pickup without a diesel in it.

40-55 mpg if you're careful how you drive them. If someone would make a good AWD Diesel passenger car, I'd be very likely to buy it to replace our old Subaru.

Mercedes includes a female connector on the bumper to plug an extension cord to keep the glow plugs warm overnight in cold climates. I'd love to have one of the newer diesels. VW and other manufacturers have worked a lot of the bugs out. To compare, most gasoline engines are on their last legs at 200K miles; a diesel has just reached it's break in point.

upstate New York. I had to get a running start on the interstate going up mountains. I would loose power going up hill. Real hassle in the winter. Although it really wasn't much worse than a regular car in the cold. It was a pain finding diesel fuel while traveling. One time I had to go where the trucks went to fill up. They have special pumps that really fill fast. Took 5 seconds to fill my tank!

We left for Frisco in your Rambler
The radiator running dry
I've never been much of a gambler
and had a preference to fly

You said "forget about the airline,
let's take the car and save the fare."
We blew a gasket on the Grapevine
and eighty dollars on repairs

All aboard (Sausalito summernight)
All aboard (Sausalito summernight)
All aboard (Sausalito summernight)
All aboard

Hot summer night in Sausalito
Can't stand the heat another mile
Let's drop a quarter in the meter
and hit the sidewalk for a while
I'll have a burger and a root beer

You feed the heap some of the grape
A shot of premium to boot, dear
We'll get across the Golden Gate

All aboard (Sausalito summernight)
All aboard (Sausalito summernight)
All aboard (Sausalito summernight)
All aboard

Cashin' all my checks
?Straightenin' out my bank?
Spend it on a Rambler
with a wormhole in the tank

Look out over here
Watch out over there
Can't afford a blowout
'cause we haven't got a spare

All aboard (Sausalito summernight)
All aboard (Sausalito summernight)
All aboard (Sausalito summernight)
All aboard

Diesel is similar to the fuel oil used to heat many rural homes. Every winter, they raise the price of fuel oil, and say the reason is that they haven't converted to fuel oil production yet. In the spring time, they raise the price of gas and say that they haven't switched to gasoline production yet. It's a racket.