You're too stupid to... own a diesel small truck

[ungeheuer]

http://www.ford.com.au/servlet/Satellite?c=DFYPage&cid=1248884767068&pagename=FOA%2Fcontroller&site=FOA

[Randimus Maximus]

Competent mechanics is a big issue with the Jeep Diesels.  Most dealerships are clueless on how to work on them.  I've taken mine in for an oilchange and they had to go to the store across the highway to get the oil.  (Mobil 1)

There really is no support for the jeep diesel engines.

I don't know that it's limited to just diesel technicians. 

Good automotive technicians are hard to find.

[zooom]

That really speaks to the lack of skill by the mechanics (or unwillingness by the dealers to allow them to learn to spend the money for them to go to the schools that teach what they need to know offered by the manufacturer and the unwillingness to leave bays empty for customers to fill because a technician is out at school.)

Diesels aren't any more complicated than a modern gasoline engine.  The direct injection (gas) on our car looks pretty much the same as a diesel except the spark plugs.

corrected....see above

I don't know that it's limited to just diesel technicians. 

Good automotive technicians are hard to find.

once again....see above...especially due to the technology entagled with the mechanics of the machinery nowadays....thankfully, our dealership looks at the value of knowledge in terms of fixing a car right the first time for to keep a customer happy....but we aren't a big box kind of dealership.

[ungeheuer]

A couple of Australian built/available diesels from US parent companies:
http://www.carsguide.com.au/site/news-and-reviews/car-reviews-road-tests/ford_territory_diesel_first_drive

http://www.carshowroom.com.au/newcars/reviews/900/Chrysler_300C___Car_Review

I'm driving a Ford Mondeo turbo diesel >> http://theage.drive.com.au/new-car-reviews/ford-mondeo-zetec-tdci-wagon-20101216-18zdw.html

Goes very well (for a diesel) and is pretty frugal even when flogged hard - mine averages 6.8 litres/100km (you own a calculator). 

But I dont pay for fuel, so gimme back my gas powered 4.0 litre Ford Falcon!  .

Always seems desirable when you cant have it, dont it?   

[ducatiz]

Goes very well (for a diesel) and is pretty frugal even when flogged hard - mine averages 6.8 litres/100km (you own a calculator). 

Most people quote as km/l not L per 100km. 

That works out to about 34.5 mpg in real numbers.

I get about that in my VW Golf in aggressive city driving.  About 50mpg on the highway, which is about 4.7 L per 100km

[Drjones]

corrected....see above

   Self improvement is not the responsibility of others.

[ducatiz]

   Self improvement is not the responsibility of others.

nor is it the topic of this thread...

[Randimus Maximus]

once again....see above...especially due to the technology entagled with the mechanics of the machinery nowadays....thankfully, our dealership looks at the value of knowledge in terms of fixing a car right the first time for to keep a customer happy....but we aren't a big box kind of dealership.

Good on you for landing at a store that cares.  Unfortunately, not all are that way.

However, I'll ask you the following:

How many guidance counselors are directing youngsters towards the field?

How many technicians actively seek to continue to improve their skillsets?

How many technicians jump ship to another field?  I know dealers that have lost well-paid master level diesel techs to the oil fields of Wyoming or the copper mines in AZ/NM.

When I was working on my A.A.S. in Automotive Service some 15+ years ago, there was a nationwide shortage of technicians.  That problem still exists today, and will only get worse.

[MikeZ]

It's getting worse all the time for all mechanical fields.
Kids want to go to college and make $90k when they get out and just sit behind a desk and do nothing all day.
No one wants to work with their hands and get dirty any more.

[zooom]

   Self improvement is not the responsibility of others.

no...it isn't...but when you are paid flat rate based on the hours you turn solely, you need to make sure your bread is buttered and you can put a roof over your head...here at our dealership, they get an averaged 8 hour day of pay as "training wage" for compensation for when a technician goes to school in addition to the dealership paying for the training with the manufacturer itself...make no mistake...none of this is cheap....and this is all manufacturer certification training, not ASE...they have to sign up and coordinate with the service director, which they all do...

Good on you for landing at a store that cares.  Unfortunately, not all are that way.

However, I'll ask you the following:

How many guidance counselors are directing youngsters towards the field?

How many technicians actively seek to continue to improve their skillsets?

When I was working on my A.A.S. in Automotive Service some 15+ years ago, there was a nationwide shortage of technicians.  That problem still exists today, and will only get worse.

guidance counselors are a joke IMHO....but that is another story entirely...

how many techs seek further education depends on their circumstances...for example...

you work at a multiline dealer or even a single line dealer under a team system....some people naturally will just fall into their specialties...especially given the diagnostic ability of your A versus B versus C techs in how the jobs are dispatched and the hours earned ( we aren't including your D techs which do LOF's and tire jobs, because usually they are considered apprentices)...can the team afford 8 hours of said tech to be out for training, sure....and they ( the team leader and service manager) schedule and coordinate to accomodate that...

a tech that is not under the team system and is in a shop full of hungry techs and is dependant on a shop foreman to feed them the jobs to get the hours...if they don't have a good relationship with the shop foreman, they starve....and can't afford the time to go train as they are scraping by...

sure, these are diametric opposites in situation, but these are very real circumstances...and it isn't always as black and white as we generalize in conversating about this....techs live and starve based on hours turned....techs that are starving, aren't training and are looking to make their rent elsewhere if they have to....it is the nature of the beast unfortunatly....they have to take care of #1....

[ducatiz]

I could give a shit about guidance counselors.

If the car companies would sell those cars here, they would have trained techs to work on them.  and then the aftermarket would follow.

The tech at the VW place near me sucks, but the other dealer has a great diesel wrench.

They aren't withholding the cars/trucks that are diesel because there aren't diesel mechanics here.

[zooom]

They aren't withholding the cars/trucks that are diesel because there aren't diesel mechanics here.

no they aren't...they are withholding them because the other markets aren't EPA regulated with various levels depending on state and have stardards that make sense and that are are universally compliant and accepted across different world market zones....that and the foriegn markets have a much higher demand for those vehicles and they do not have to go through importation tariffs and so forth because the gas companies have the US politicians by the balls in reelection finance and other stated and unstated red tape to bring them here

[ducatiz]

no they aren't...they are withholding them because the other markets aren't EPA regulated with various levels depending on state and have stardards that make sense and that are are universally compliant and accepted across different world market zones....that and the foriegn markets have a much higher demand for those vehicles and they do not have to go through importation tariffs and so forth because the gas companies have the US politicians by the balls in reelection finance and other stated and unstated red tape to bring them here

In the US, there is only EPA and CARB.  If they import by EPA, they are 43 state legal and if they import by CARB, it's 50 state legal.  There is no state-by-state issue.  VW, Mercedes, and BMW don't have any problem doing it.

Chevy, which make the Colorado, could easily put the 3.0 I4 engine in their trucks which they assemble here in the USA.  There is no importation tariff issue.

Ford and Chevy both have small trucks with diesels and both could be made here at home with little changes.  The Chevy Colorado is practically a rebadged Mitsubishi truck, and both could be certified for sale in the US with little issues, they just have to certify the engine.

[ZLTFUL]

They aren't bringing those products here because Americans, as a society, expect their diesels to be big, obnoxious black smoke bellowing behemoths.
They want trucks that are too big for any job they will ever use it for.
They want cars that offer performance. Mileage is still a tertiary thought in the buying process.

Sadly, but true, Americans are mostly content with the current offerings. Until more people go into dealers and say, "You know, I like that model but I would only buy it if it was offered as a diesel.", there won't be enough demand for manufacturers to bring those products here.

[ducatiz]

Sadly, but true, Americans are mostly content with the current offerings. Until more people go into dealers and say, "You know, I like that model but I would only buy it if it was offered as a diesel.", there won't be enough demand for manufacturers to bring those products here.

Mahindra will eventually be selling their small diesel pickups here.  I guess it remains to be seen how well they'll do..

or maybe not.. i just read that Mahindra pulled out of the deal....