26 whichcar.com.au/wheels
ONE
is n
bu
fing
$10-$12,
are furious!”
Secondhand values for some dWhil
headl
Dies
E IN five new vehicles sold in Australia
now diesel powered. For many owners,
uying one is starting the clock on a
nancial time bomb.
While theglossy advertisingtouts
gutsyperformance, miserlyfuel
consumption and legendary diesel
durability, the ownership experience can
prove very different, especiallyfor city-
based drivers.
To o oftenit is punctuated by
massive maintenance bills, with as
few as 40,000km loggedfrom new. And
manufacturers are baulkingat paying
warranty costs, blamingdriver habits
rather than sub-standard technology.
Out of the warranty period, owners are
on their own, andfacejaw-droppingcosts.
“Repair bills above$10,000 are not
uncommonfor common-raildiesels,”
says one of Australia’ s most respected
authoriti es, Andrew Leimroth of Berrima
Di esel Service.His fellowBosch-trained
di esel service specialist Bryce Spiteriin
Sydneyis just as blunt.
“Most quotes we’ve seenfrom clients,
say with BMW X5s, are approximately
$10-$12,000,” he says. “And the customersme diesels
are softening as the bad news spreads
in the used car trade.
Australia’ svery own Dieselgateis
a complex problem that’sbuilding
into a massiveissuefor owners. It has
happened since theintroduction of
ti ghter emissions rules, changes tofuel
qualitystandards and theintroduction of
astronomically priced diesel particulate
filters (DPFs).
Some of these developments date
back more than a decade, some are only
recent, but the longer-term effects are
now painfully apparent, as our appetite
for diesels has exploded. Sales are up
57 percent since 2012, according to the
Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Accordingto ABS data released last
August, some 22 percent of new vehicle
registrations are now diesel powered.
The problemis not singular – but a
combination of engineering short cuts,
pennypi nchingbymanuf acturers,
incredibly poor customer communication
and uninformed choicesinnewcar
sh owrooms.
It’s a case ofpoliti cs meets science
in the battlefor clean air. Butit’ s the
customer picking up the tab.
PHIL SCOTTle the Volkswagen scandal grabs all the
lines,Phil Scottuncovers Austra lia’ sown
eselgate, a saga costing drivers a fortune
JUNE 201 8S PEC IAL REPO R T