I have a long history with diesels, all Mercedes related. You may consider
me a Mercedes Snob because of my opinion but I've worked on enough VW and
Mercedes diesel engines to say there is no comparison between the two other
than they both happen to be diesels. I'd take a Mercedes diesel over a VW
diesel any day because of the way they are designed.

Thanks, Tom Hargrave
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-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of
David Moyal
Sent: Tuesday, June 4, 2013 9:43 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Diesels

eric caron recently posted re: buying a stock diesel.
I read some of the responses. Having put up with one for 7 years before
(finally) converting to an AAZ turbodiesel, I'll speak up for the NA
(stock) diesel. Yes, slow, but certainly reliable with just a little care.
Way less fire risk. They run cool, don't have head gasket problems, and if
you're on back roads the power is adequate. And on the freeway, they'll
cruise at 60 mph all day - until you come to a hill. & there are tons of
conversion options - mine was a no brainer. I don't notice excessive
vibration, and the noise after the conversion is no worse than before.
Probably less.
I'd regard the diesel as desireable, and would go ahead and get it. Have it
checked out by a decent mechanic. David