Modern diesel cars, short lived?

From Shropshire U.K., 1 post

Modern diesel cars, short lived?

You look at all the statistics of diesel car sales and they all show an increase of diesel cars in the car park, but will that continue?
We all know that the cost of diesel is no longer the incentive, neither is the economy of a diesel vehicle better that that of a modern petrol vehicle.
Oh, its has to be that a modern diesel vehicle has a better torque characteristic to that of a petrol engine, but the way I see it the only talking you as diesel owner is going to do, is to the garage when your high pressure common rail system goes wrong.
Will we see common rail engines achieving 100,000 to 200,000 miles on the same injectors, I don’t believe we will.
That shouldn’t be a problem because your old diesel car had its injectors replaced at a cost of £150, no longer my dear fellow diesel owner, try digesting bills from £1000 to £2000, just to replace your common rail injectors.
Symptoms to watch out for are hard starting, uneven tick over, low on power, black smoke and on some vehicles (Ford) the glow plug / heater plug light staying on.
Ok you have recovered from the shock that the injectors are going to cost you that much but I forgot to tell you that the garage has to remove the cylinder head to get the injectors out. On some vehicles the injectors corrode, stick or are just stubborn in coming out that I have heard of cases where the cylinder head had to be removed in order to extract the injectors. A certain vehicle manufacturer even suggests replacing the engine with an exchange engine because is less hassle than trying to remove the injectors.
Now its time to be positive, don’t despair, just have your vehicle correctly diagnosed from the start, be careful of the “local” garage replacing everything under the bonnet using the “elimination method” it will cost a fortune or you will make an enemy of your local mechanic.
Shop around for injectors, compare prices, a good site that will give you an honest opinion is www.uniteddiesel.co.uk regular maintenance, good fuel and a bit of luck helps.
Don’t be to hard on the manufactures; it is still early days with regards to high pressure fuel injection systems, with time they will get it right.

From London, 51 posts

Thats all a bit doom and gloom isn't it. I disagree with your comment about modern petrol engines getting similar economy to a diesel. My Vw Golf TDI gets 55mpg on a cruise.....you dont get that from a Toyota Prius, and thats a hybrid?! Where are you getting your stats from?



I've also looked at various forums re diesel injector failures and havent many at all.

From Lancashire / Uk, 1 post

There is some truth in repairs to modern common rail diesels being expensive. My A class Mercedes 170cdi needed one injector replacing at 102,000 miles. The turbo needed removing to complete this task and I ended up with a bill for over £1000. I was so disgusted that I sold the car soon after. With regards to economy though, the diesel will always produce better MPG, the question is though that with £1000 repair bills is it cheaper motoring?