Why Americans hate diesel cars and trucks?

Answer 1

Not all Americans "hate diesel cars and trucks"; witness the brisk business done by Dodge, Chevy, Ford, Mercedes and even Volkswagen as far as diesel sales go. The reason you don't see more of them is simple: most diesels (until now) were noisy, smoke producing, uncomfortable vehicles in which to drive, ride or own! Since there is only a relatively small amount of savings in using diesel fuel over gasoline, most Americans prefer the smoothness, driveability, and comfort of their gas-driven vehicles. Thanks for asking. Good luck!

Answer 2

Here are a few common reason why:

1. The engines are loud and obnoxious and do not idle smoothly. Newer models have some a long way.

2. They smoke and smell worse than gasoline engines.

3. They do not meet emissions standards. Particulate pollution is very high in comparison to gasoline engines.

4. Diesel fuel holds more moisture and will gel in Winter temp's plugging the fuel filters and leaving you stranded.

5. You need to wear gloves when fueling up since diesel leaves an oily residue on the pump nozzle and on everything it touches.

6. Diesel fuel is a lightly refined crude oil and has massive amounts of resin's in it so you are burning things like plastics and other crud that isn't refined out of the fuel.

7. Diesel has not always been available at your neighborhood gas station and truck stops were your only source for fuel.

The nozzles for diesel is much fatter for commercial applications than the civilian applications. I have never seen a Ford take on a truck stop style nozzle as the fuel foams up in the tank hose and backs up turning off the nozzle. On the other hand, both Volkswagen and Mercedes are designed to handle the fatter, higher volume nozzles common to truck stops.

I watched a Ford saleman nearly freeze to death at my fuel station one day in January when he was trying to be "nice" to a new customer and give him a new truck with a full tank of diesel. It took him 15 minutes to put in 15 gallons and then gave up. Chevy trucks are a little better so long as you set the nozzle at the lowest fill (slowest) setting.

Many old timers with Ford diesels have added a secondary tank set above the bed and it gravity feeds the lower tank so they never have to use the factory fill spot to fill the factory tank. The onkly way around this is to find a station with a smaller nozzle with a lower fuel pressure delivery.

Have I said enough? I can go on for another page or two.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Diesels have a stigma in the US as Dirty, loud, and stinky cars. Most of that came about because US diesel fuel is so much dirtier than what is distributed in most of the world. The US government finally cleaned up the diesel regulations here, so hopefully diesels can start to enjoy more popularity here.

I for one am a huge supporter of Biodiesel as a viable alternative to foreign oil, so I'm definitely hoping that America learns to embrace diesels.

Answer 4

we dont hate diesel trucks . diesel trucks are our specialty. we just hate the cars because they dont have the horsepower we want to fly down the road with we hate the small diesel engines. the trucks are another story

Answer 5

I don't know anybody that hates diesel trucks. Everyone I know is buying diesel.

Answer 6

I'm sure diesel has it's good uses, but diesel fumes smell awful, and the noise, racket is more like it, that diesel engines make, well, you get the idea.

Answer 7

Because they think of tractors when they think of diesel. The new car diesel are cleaner, quieter and not smelly like tractors.

Answer 8

I dont hate them if u actually use them for their intended use. When i see ppl with giant gas guzzling trucks all pristine and perfect just so they can have some sort of status symbol. (that goes for escalades too) it just pisses me off and then the same ppl start to complain about gas prices.

Answer 9

because they smell like diesel and gasoline smells better

Answer 10

That's an uneducated generalization.