diesel in sedans

Nope no need to worry at all, just check whether its a chain cam or belt cam. The chain cam is for the life of the engine, the belt cam's need replacing as normal. The general diesel engine life is about 300k before things like the turbo's need work. I've got a diesel Jetta and I'm expecting it to run like clockwork for another 10 years or so.

The only other caveat is the servicing, older diesels service intervals are between 6 and 9000ks the newer ones generally up tio 15000ks. Check out the camry intervals as that can negate the savings on fuel if its a low service interval.

If the Camry has a decent service history you should be ok, they are pretty hard to kill. I would get an RAA or similar check if you are unsure, they give the car a decent checkover before you buy.

Hope that helps.

Chris

Diesels used to be just used in big stuff and had bearings etc built oversized to handle the higher compression and loads and they lasted forever. Starting with the VW Golf GLD, manufacturers simply bolted a diesel head onto the regular petrol engines bottom end to keep weight down in passenger vehicles. At the time the first diesel Golfs came out there was speculation that diesel engines done like this wouldn't have the longer life that generally everyone had come to expect from diesels. I have no idea whether or not this proved to be the case with the early diesel Golfs, but I wouldn't assume that the diesels fitted to cars are necessarily going to give the sort of extended mileage life that you get out of diesels in trucks. Anyone have any other knowledge on this?

I put 1/2 million k on a diesel 504 Peugeot. Fabulous car, a 5 speed would have been better but that is taken care of now.
I dont believe you should consider the current diesel motors in cars
to be in anyway inferior to those in trucks or 4WD. Treated fairly
you should see 300k plus without incident. Economy is excellent,
& the service intervals long. The big question is whether you intend to keep it long enough to balance out the difference in
purchase price plus the more expensive fuel. If you run it till it
drops you will be far in front, keep it a couple of years & maybe
not. Europe has adopted diesel cars in huge numbers & the trend
will happen here . 120k on a diesel is nothing, finding one second
hand with that sort of Ks is the problem. People tend to stick to
them for long periods. Cant go wrong with Peugeot, Citroen,
VW etc. I've never driven any car except Peugeot for 40 years
& I am still trying to find another diesel one to see me out. If you
can swap a 90k Camry for a 120k diesel you have got a bargain.:))
cheers...oldbaz.

Mate if you can't get 300,000km plus out of the camry then somthing is wrong.
They as with corollas go for a very long time if treated properly.
I know first hand of an ae92 corolla that has done 498000km on the original everything exept brakes and still uses next to no oil every 10,000km.

Our 98 corolla has 190km and uses no oil and still has the original brakes.

A couple of years ago a taxi driver in Darwin bought a new camry to replace his 1,000,000km camry that still had the original motor in it. He kept it for his wife to drive.

Why nwould you go a diesel when the fuel is dearer as is the oil and filters?

my 2 cents
Regards
Dave

I lived in Singapore for a number of years. All the taxis were diesel. A lot were Morris Oxfords and had diesel engines in them. They had a CAV rotary fuel pump where the distributer would have been and a high compression head. I don't know what other mods were made but I never heard the drivers complain or heard of many breakdowns

The worst time for an engine is during the cold start phase. Petrol condenses on the upper cylinder wall which causes the dry start wear. The best part about a diesel, in comparison, is that the injector is spraying a lubricant into the combustion chamber which negates the dry start phenomena. In other words the top ring is never dry, therefore bore wear is MUCH less...slvbk

In 2005 I visited the UK with the family. Did 4,000 miles in the mother in law's Volkswagon Passat. 4door sedan 1.6 litre turbo diesel 1994 model.Tank was around the 60 lt.mark and I always got around 600 MILES from a tank.That car had 108,000 miles on the clock and blew no smoke.It sold me on diesels,if only the hilux did as well.

thanks everyone. In general they sound stronger and longer life so I shouldn't be too worried about the mileage. Obviously there is still the normal stuff which hangs off the engine which needs to be taken into consideration (belts, fans, pumps etc).

Thanks all.