# Why have Canadians gone diesel, while most U.S. cars run gas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-canadians-gone-diesel-while-most-u-s-cars-run-gas/323965 "2005-09-29T02:20:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jocularjason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@jocularjason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jocularjason)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-canadians-gone-diesel-while-most-u-s-cars-run-gas/323965/1 "2005-09-29T02:20:47Z")
I live in a tourist town in the U.S. and have noticed that many Canadian visitors coming over the border have similar model cars as ours, but their engines run diesel. I’ve heard that the diesel engine has many advantages–Better MPG, more power, etc. and that diesel takes less energy to refine than gasoline. But there has to be a good reason that the U.S. doesn’t go for that technology. Seems we use it for tractor trailers and big pickup trucks, but why isn’t it more popular in passenger cars and other lighter vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-canadians-gone-diesel-while-most-u-s-cars-run-gas/323965/2 "2005-09-29T02:28:20Z")
Anti-pollution laws may have something to do with it. I’ve heard that in California (where I no longer live – I live in a holiday community near the Canadian border) diesel VWs cannot be sold because of emissions. Another part may be the perception in the U.S. that diesel-powered cars are slow and dirty. They were years ago, but from what I’ve seen this is no longer true. I think there may still be a bias against diesel by people who believe that fuel is not widely available. I can’t remember the last time I saw a gas station that didn’t have diesel, but I’ve heard people make the argument. One thing I’ve noticed in the last year or so is that while diesel fuel is traditionally cheaper than gasoline in the summer and more expensive in the winter, it seems to have remained more expensive than gasoline all year long. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-canadians-gone-diesel-while-most-u-s-cars-run-gas/323965/3 "2005-09-29T02:30:32Z")
Oh – I don’t have a diesel car. I’d go for a diesel VW Golf, only I’ve heard so many horror stories about VW’s customer service that and reliability that it’s scaring me off. Newer, cars with more modern diesel powerplants than VW’s (according to **Coldfire** ) such as the Peugeot are not available in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-canadians-gone-diesel-while-most-u-s-cars-run-gas/323965/4 "2005-09-29T02:34:14Z")
The US got burned with diesels back in the late 70s/early 80s with Oldsmobile and VW diesels…slow, loud, smoky…the Mercedes Benz turbodiesel was somewhat better. Also, the engines were rather unfamiliar technology to both owners and mechanics alike, thus problems arose during repair and maintainence. The contemporary tech of diesels, with variable geometry intercolled turbos and common-rail injectors enable modern diesels to perform comparably to gasoline counterparts…clean, fast, quiet. We Americans are on the verge of a diesel renaissance…a diesel jeep Liberty is being offered, and other diesel cars are in the works. ---
**Author:** ![jocularjason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@jocularjason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jocularjason)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-canadians-gone-diesel-while-most-u-s-cars-run-gas/323965/5 "2005-09-29T02:42:58Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > One thing I’ve noticed in the last year or so is that while diesel fuel is traditionally cheaper than gasoline in the summer and more expensive in the winter, it seems to have remained more expensive than gasoline all year long. Is it different in Canada. Perhaps diesel costs the same or is cheaper? ---
**Author:** ![jocularjason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@jocularjason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jocularjason)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-canadians-gone-diesel-while-most-u-s-cars-run-gas/323965/6 "2005-09-29T02:48:38Z")
> [@Enola Straight](#): > > We Americans are on the verge of a diesel renaissance…a diesel jeep Liberty is being offered, and other diesel cars are in the works. But still, why would so many diesel versions of VW’s and Toyotas be available in Canada before they were offered in the U.S. on the mass market. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-canadians-gone-diesel-while-most-u-s-cars-run-gas/323965/7 "2005-09-29T02:50:21Z")
[This article](http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20050904/ca_pr_on_bu/diesel_demand) says that the percentage of diesel-engined cars & light trucks is much the same in the US & Canada (in fact, it says that Canada’s percentage is slightly below North America’s - 2.7% vs. 3%). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-canadians-gone-diesel-while-most-u-s-cars-run-gas/323965/8 "2005-09-29T03:19:35Z")
I live in Canada. I don’t personally know a single person who has ever owned car that runs diesel. Not one. I’m sure some people must have them, because I see diesel fuel for sale. But it’s a very, very uncommon choice. I think the OP is employing selective perception. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-canadians-gone-diesel-while-most-u-s-cars-run-gas/323965/9 "2005-09-29T03:42:16Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I live in Canada. > > I don’t personally know a single person who has ever owned car that runs diesel. Not one. > > I’m sure some people must have them, because I see diesel fuel for sale. But it’s a very, very uncommon choice. I think the OP is employing selective perception. It depends to some extent on where you are. Out here diesel pickups are quite popular, and there are plenty of VW diesels around. I owned a diesel Rabbit for several years. I still miss that thing every time I pull up to the pumps. However, I don’t miss it at all when I go out to start my car on a cold January morning. ---
**Author:** ![jocularjason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@jocularjason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jocularjason)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-canadians-gone-diesel-while-most-u-s-cars-run-gas/323965/10 "2005-09-29T04:04:54Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I live in Canada. > > I don’t personally know a single person who has ever owned car that runs diesel. Not one. > > I’m sure some people must have them, because I see diesel fuel for sale. But it’s a very, very uncommon choice. I think the OP is employing selective perception. I truly have no agenda here. I don’t believe I have selective perception–possibly limited perception–hence asking a question. Perhaps I should quaranteen the question to the west of Canada–British Columbia, Alberta–more to my local. Why are Albertians and British Columbians taking advantage of the new high performance diesel engines before the rest of us? ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-canadians-gone-diesel-while-most-u-s-cars-run-gas/323965/11 "2005-09-29T05:16:15Z")
::: Shrug::: I travel quite often to Vancouver BC and Toronto. Off the top of my head based on what I have observed, the percentage of diesel engine cars is about the same on either side of the border. Let’s put it this way, I am a car guy who works in the car business, and I have not noticed enough diesels in Canada (either Toronto or BC) to make me think “Holy shit there are a lot of diesel cars up here.” so this leads me to one of several conclusions A) The percentage is about the same on either side of the border (what **Xema** says) or B) I am so brain dead that I am not aware of the thousands upon thousands of extra diesels running around both Vancouver and Toronto. (I would not rule this out 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![jocularjason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b2d939/32.png) [@jocularjason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jocularjason)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-canadians-gone-diesel-while-most-u-s-cars-run-gas/323965/12 "2005-09-29T06:05:24Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > ::: Shrug::: > I am a car guy who works in the car business, and I have not noticed enough diesels in Canada (either Toronto or BC) to make me think “Holy shit there are a lot of diesel cars up here.” > 😃 ) So why do I see so many diesels here–proportionaly. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-canadians-gone-diesel-while-most-u-s-cars-run-gas/323965/13 "2005-09-29T15:20:24Z")
Well we have had one cite in this thread that says that your perception is wrong. My off the cuff, not paying particular attention, assessment of both coasts of Canada agrees with this cite. If you want to refute this, then you need to come up with something more than > [@](#): > > So why do I see so many diesels here–proportionaly. RL Polk has hard numbers and they say you are wrong. I am not trying to flame you here, but this is General questions we deal in facts. You may support facts with your observations, as I have done, but you do need facts. One reason that Canadians might tend to buy more diesels (but according to Polk don’t) is that fuel in Canada is real expensive. When I was in BC a few weeks back I paid (IIRC) $1.12 / Liter Doing the conversion from CDN to USD and Liters to Gallons makes this about four bucks a gallon. At that price I think more people would tend to look at cars that get better fuel mileage. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-canadians-gone-diesel-while-most-u-s-cars-run-gas/323965/14 "2005-09-29T15:32:31Z")
> [@](#): > > His firm projects diesel’s North American market penetration could reach 14.2 per cent by 2015, from the current estimate of three per cent. > > Bedwell has no hard numbers for Canada but estimates diesel’s share of the Canadian market could reach 13 per cent in 10 years from the 2005 estimate of **2.7** per cent. > > Numbers from R. L. Polk, a U.S.-based automotive consulting firm with offices in Toronto, show steady growth in the Canadian diesel market over the last five years, especially in pickup-crazed Alberta, which led the country. I did the bolding, by the way. So it looks like a 3% penetration according to this [article](http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20050904/ca_pr_on_bu/diesel_demand), which is somewhat sparse. The article does state that the sales lie mainly in the pickup truck space, _possibly_ making it more likely to find them in Alberta/BC due to geography. Insert massive hand waving here Further on in the article it mentions a doubling of the diesel market to 6 percent by 2012 implying a 3% market share now. However it doesn’t explicitly state if that’s for the US or North American market. Regardless it looks like the numbers are roughly the same for both countries over all. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-have-canadians-gone-diesel-while-most-u-s-cars-run-gas/323965/15 "2005-09-29T15:37:49Z")
Seems to me like it’s not a nationwide trend, but just a relatively large number of canadian diesel cars visiting jocularjason’s town. Without knowing where that is, we can’t really speculate much further. (I’m a canadian, and I don’t think I’ve actually ever heard of or noticed someone with a diesel car. But then, I don’t pay that much attention to cars either.)