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maintenance costs for diesel?

20K views 32 replies 18 participants last post by  sharkbait1 
#1 ·
was talking to my mechanic today while he was fixing my flat tire, and asked if he knew anything about the new diesel going into the GC. He said he knew a couple people that had the older one in 2008 or so, but wasn't familiar with the new one. He said that the one thing he'd warn is that basically all maintenance is significantly more expensive on diesels. He gave me an example of something he did on a Ford Super Duty, which makes me think it may be an apples-oranges comparison because it's so much bigger.

Anyway, does anyone have experience with maintenance costs, maintenance schedules for the 3.0 CRD, etc? I've pretty much convinced myself this is the route I want to go, but I want to make sure I'm making the right decision..

thanks!
 
#2 ·
....Anyway, does anyone have experience with maintenance costs, maintenance schedules for the 3.0 CRD, etc? I've pretty much convinced myself this is the route I want to go, but I want to make sure I'm making the right decision..
thanks!
I'm in the same boat as you. Waiting to order the CRD... I don't think "maitenence" costs are really that much more expensive. I mean it's not gonna cost any more for normal maitenance like oil changes, tire rotation, fluid flushes, etc, etc. I think the expensive things might happen later on down the road (after 10 years for example), when major problems with the engine develop. Diesel parts are a lot more expensive....

If you plan on having the car for 10+ years, buy the maxcare lifetime warranty and you'll never have to worry about it ;) I think I may consider doing this.
 
#3 ·
I have a 2008 Cummins Ram.

As far as diesel costs being higher, there are some things that are more expensive. Oil changes cost more because the amount of oil in a Diesel is significantly more in quantity. That being said, most other routine maintenance is about the same as are driveline related issues.

Injectors are expensive, catastrophic maintenance is more expensive on the engine side, but understand the diesel engines are built to a much stouter / stronger build point and will FAR outlast a petrol engine of same size and get better fuel economy to HP ratios to boot ( my RAM is rated at 350hp/650tq, weighs 8k plus pounds and was getting close to 20 mpg stock).

You can also run them on biodiesel b20 which helps the environment.

Cheers,
Ch

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
#4 ·
The costs are very similar to the Hemi. Normal service is almost the same as several things are not needed on a pertol such as sparkplugs offset the extra oil costs. Long term, I think the CRD may cost more as the fuel system is under massive pressure and I am sure the injectors and fuel pumps are costly items. Warranty is a worthwhile thing and will hopefully mitigate any costly items that may fail.
 
#5 ·
Dont forget the cost of having the piss tank refilled every 8k miles or so and the computer reset. Some automakers require that this be done at the dealer.
I have heard some BMW and Mercedes dealers charging up to $500 for this service. I wonder if thats for special organic Bavarian cattle and sheep who get a special diet of special grass and real Lowenbrau!!!!!

Also remember the price of diesel moves up and down with the time of year and the rise in price usually happens with an increase in demand for home heating oil and cold winter temps.
 
#6 ·
The worry isn't the cost of the maintenance, it's the quality.

Almost all the issues with the previous CRD engine can be traced back to improper upkeep, largely at dealerships themselves. Last time, the CRD was low production, and very different, many dealers didn't even have a diesel qualified tech. As a result, a LOT of the WK CRDs suffered tremendously at the hands of dealer techs.

If Jeep does the same thing and doesn't have properly trained dealer techs to work on the diesels, no matter how great the engine is, I wouldn't touch it with a 20 foot pole. The new engine is a VM Motori engine, so it's not even like it's used in other vehicles on the market.

I wouldn't buy one unless I knew for a fact that the dealership was going to have a dedicated diesel tech who would be the only guy to do any kind of work on the CRDs. That includes oil changes, which was a major killer of WK CRDs.
 
#8 ·
Urea injection will be mandatory in the good ole USA. Only diesel I know of that could meet our standards w/o it was a Honda diesel. Honda later decided not to send this diesel to US. Fiat just isnt that good in engine design. BMW, Audi, VW, Porsche and MB all require a piss refill.

Cant wait to hear about folks in late Spring/Summer of 2013 bitch about their diesel powered GC going into limp home mode before 8k mile refill interval.
Or some urban dwelling Obama loving Dem filling the container with human piss because they were too stupid to go to the dealer. Have a kegger and fill the tank.
 
#10 ·
The CRD is EURO5 compliant, so this is well beyond any USA specs.
I will be surprised if they do install urea system on the US spec ones. Do not make assumptions on this very fine motor, it is very fast and advanced. Anyone who gets one will me more than impressed by the economy, power and torque.
 
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#15 ·
They'll have to. Our standards are stupid. The EPA wrote them to be incredibly strict on passenger diesels, because, well, our government is easily coerced with campaign contributions and lobbying. The reason the Jetta doesn't have Urea is because it's vastly smaller and lighter.

Several diesels that require urea in the US don't have it overseas.
 
#11 ·
Here here Enforcer.

This is my first diesel let alone turbo diesel and I must say I am more than impressed. I used to think of them as smoke bellowing, truck like pulling machines and certainly not the economical and sophisticated machine I have with my new GC. Not to mention I have speed on tap when I need it.

So far so good & certainly worth getting.
 
#12 ·
Spot on guys.

And to back up ClarkeyWKCRD's comments, mine produces zero visible smoke at any time. Passengers have a hard time believing it's a diesel. Even one eagle eyed pedestrian that is thinking of upgrading to one, stopped to tell me that it sounds nothing like a diesel when it goes by.

Just wait till you see it in the US, then have a drive. You wont be disapponted.
 
#14 ·
This is not a Fiat engine. It uses a Fiat injection system, but it's made by VM Motori who have been making diesels since 1947. VM Motori happen to be 50/50 owned by GM and Fiat.

If you're going to call it a Fiat, then you may as well call it a Duramax.
 
#16 ·
You would think that the information about the US spec CRD's would be available now, considering it will hit the market soon. I guess you will have to wait and see if you have this requirement. I hope that you do not, as it will not be a great selling feature if you do, but a great selling feature if you do not. As you said Merc/Audi/BMW need it in their SUV's and Jeep could use it as a great selling feature and would allow them to "Piss" on the competition:lol:
 
#17 ·
All the info I've seen has said it will in fact have the urea injection, and that California is the problem with their absurd CARB requirements.

I've long said that the automakers should just not sell certain vehicles in CA rather than comply with their police state policies.
 
#18 ·
I know on larger trucks (2500s, F250s+ etc...) the fuel filters were required to be changed 2x/year and they have 2 of them. One pre-fuel pump and one post-fuel pump. That runs a couple hundred bucks each time, so I've been told.

Does anyone know if the CRD such as the jeep or the VW requires that maintenance?
 
#19 ·
The fuel filters are AU$30, which is the same in US$, although you may be able to get it cheaper. Aside from the silly service prices dealers are charging (around $400) the overall cost does not seem too bad in comparison to any other car I have owned.
From what I have seen we do not need to change the fuel/air filter until 40,000km
 
#20 · (Edited)
This is interesting reading ...

http://www.mynrma.com.au/motoring/b...erating-costs/top-10-cars.htm#SUV large under

The GC Laredo V6 and CRD are cheapest large SUV to run in Australia. Based on 5 years life, with 15000kms per year.

The difference between the V6 and CRD is so small, that daily fuel price variations can see them swap places. Also, do more than 15000km/year and the CRD will stand out on its own for sure.
 
#26 ·
We install Urea scrubbing into large gas driven generator installations thanks to our freindly, green, Prius driving tree huggers. Good if it works, 95% of the time it doesn't. A $250k white elephant thats nothing more than cattle piss.
 
#28 · (Edited)
You can buy the Mercedes/BMW/vw fluid online with the tank adapter for $12/gallon. Or you can get it at any station with a truck stop for $2.xx/gallon. No big deal IMO. Autozone sells 2.5gallon jugs for $15 so you can fill the tank for less than $40. I'm just going to negotiate the refills when I buy my crd. Merc and BMW include urea refills under the maintenance free plans for 4 years. Even vw does for 3 years. If I'm paying for a vehicle that jeep markets as "upscale" and a "luxury SUV" they need to step up their service. The msrp of this vehicle isn't that ar off from an x5 or ml blue tech, but their service couldn't be further from BMW/merc.
 
#31 ·
I have a 2007 Limited CRD with 75,000 miles on the clock, I got the vehicle new. I do a lot of the maintenamce myself but I must say the 3.0 is not cheap to maintain. I channge the oil faithfullly at 7500 miles (they recommend 10,000). You must use Mobil 1 ESP 5-30 that you must special order or get from a dealer and it runs like $11.50 per litre and it take 10 liters to fill, filters are $30.00 so you are at $130 per oil change. Fuel filter needs to be changed at 15-18,000 miles and that runs $110 at the dealer. I have had zero issues with the vehicle and engine since I have owned it. The only one big issue was the swirl valve and that was covered by extended warranty. Milage runs about 20 MPG around town and 24 on the highway. I purchease the 7/70,000 and they was able to buy and extension to 8/85000. They will never offer a lifetime on the new 3.0 just to many expensive parts to wear out. Great vehicle, great engine and transmission but not nessarily a steal in anyway. I have the Liberty diesel as well but that is a differnt animal all together! I just ordered and took delivery of a new GC and went with the 3.6 that with only 500 miles on it is getting 19.8 around town. Wife does say she misses the torque at light changes and finds the V-6 a little numb compared to the 3.0L, oh well that is life, she is more upset that she could not get the rain sensitive wipers without spending $4000 for the Luxury 2 package ganged with a ton of stuff she did not want. Hope this all helps?
 
#32 · (Edited)
One of the reasons the oil is so expensive is that it allows such long oil change intervals. If you then change the oil more frequently than the manufacturer’s recommendation, you are defeating the purpose and enriching your maintainer. Changing the oil at 7,500 miles rather than 10,000 miles means your long term maintenance costs will be 25% higher with a doubtful benefit to engine longevity.
 
#33 ·
I have two of them and I have had more issues than with my dodge and jettas. the biggy is the 100k timeing belt change. please do not procrastinate on this one issue.
also, go to "lost jeep" and read thru the Sir Sam Nood. It's on the "love that torque" thread. these are routine maintenance items that will eliminate a whole lot of issues. Also, I would strongly suggest getting the GDE ECU flash. Makes a big differeence also.
 
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