Just picked up my my new 2005 Limited CRD and I love it. Pics:

http://www.polter.net/~dan/jeep/Dan_kj_ ... 6_1328.jpg
http://www.polter.net/~dan/jeep/Dan_kj_ ... 6_1329.jpg

Are there any national fuel chains that tend to have better quality diesel, or is completely a regional thing? I haven't had my first fuel-up yet, but I want to do it right from the start.

Dan

if there any of these are close

http://www.biodiesel.org/buyingbiodiesel/retailfuelingsites/showstate.asp?st=GA

Bio is good

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Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons
For you are crunchy and taste good with Catsup

Black 06CRD Sport, Yakima Safari cage, otherwise stock...

I am thinking it's a regional thing. I only fuel up at major truck stops located in town (Flying J, Pilot, or Mr. Fuel) which are all located at the same interchange. I get the same mileage from all three places. But, all three sell a LOT of diesel, so it's always fresh. Plus, the major truck stops here in town are always significantly lower in price than the smaller stations, even just across the street. Sometimes to the tune of 50 cents per gallon cheaper.

What part of the country are you in/did you buy your CRD in?

A lot of the big truck stops have lower cetane fuel because the OTR big rigs are tuned to run on the lower number. Our CRDs love the higher cetane stuff, 49 or so. If you live in an area where they have the cetane number listed on the pump, go for the higher stuff. Here in VA Beach, they only have to put that worthless little "Minimum 40 Cetane" sticker on the old greasy black fuel pump.

Through trial and error, I've found the stations that have the best diesel in my area.

If you have access to at least B20, use it! I would never EVER put full petro diesel in my truck if I had a bio retailer close. I used one tank of B20 and it was an INSTANT difference.

The national chain stations are completely regional in their quality. Filled up at a Shell in Philly and my truck smoked like a freight-train through the whole tank. Fill-ups at the Shell closest to my house here in VA Beach produce my second best fuel mileage. Oddly enough, the Crown I found gives me the best mileage AND has the lowest price I can find (filled up yesterday @ $2.49/gallon). Go figure.

So, Bio if you have access to it. Trial and error petro fillups if you don't.

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I'm in Atlanta, GA, which is a pretty sizeable shipping hub, but the closest Biodiesel place is about 20 miles from my house. There are some larger truck stops over in the heavy-industrial part of town which I can try.

Ironically, the giant fuel depot towers (where the tankers fill up) for most of the southeast US for about 4 major brands are 2 miles from my house, but there's none for sale, only fleet distribution.

Local fuel price results:

Local Oil company who serves commercial fleets and sells lubricants by the drum:
B100: $2.35/gal mixed in with petro at any percentage at my reuquest

Local <a href="http://www.pilotcorp.com/Locations/Location.aspx?location_id=331&Title=%23331+Atlanta%2c+GA">Pilot Travel Center</a>:
Petro-D: $2.58/gal


Hmmm, is it just me, or does the Bio sound WAYYYY better?

Are you one of the lucky few that got a great deal at CARMAX at the Norcross dealer in Atlanta, GA? They were unloading their '05 CRDs for over $7500 off of MSRP. Made me sick to my stomach for quite some time, but hopefully you got to take advantage!

Nah. I almost did, though. The ones they were unloading didn't have the right options for what I wanted. I ended up using a corporate discount (through my work) which gave me a flat % under dealer invoice, then the dealer in question gave me the "dealer cash" (which I understand is a pretty common way to make a buyer feel good about the price they were getting).

All things considered, I paid about a grant more than I would have if the same vehicle had been available at carmax (but it wasn't, not with the options I wanted). In return, I got to build a relationship with a dealer that I would actually go back to becuase they just plain treated me right. I also got to have a really pretty drive through the steps of the North Georgia mountains on a bright, sunny day and to stop at a local place with some really good Bar-B-Que.

The dealer is Jasper Jeep, and they are VERY customer-centric, to the extent of recently ordering a new right-hand drive wrangler for a British ex-patriot living in the states. Give them a call if you're in the market: http://www.jasperjeep.com/en_US/

It's awesome to hear about a dealer putting that much effort into customer satisfaction. Nice!

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Nanette

03 Freedom with some neat stuff done to it that I learned about here.

My wife happend to find the CRD on a chance call to the dealer about one of the Libertys in auto-trader being a bit more expensive than the others. It was an un-advertized CRD limited. The fellow she talked to when she called was no-nonsense and no-pressure, like a brother-in law that you always enjoy a visit from. I found out later talking about pricing with him over email (yes, he would actually email me multiple times in the same day), that he happened to be the president of the dealership (talk about unassuming)!

The founder (and this fellow's father) was a country-gent from Northern GA who had tried to buy a jeep from several atlanta dealers some years back while dressed in his every-day attire, which happened to be overalls. Well, after not being treated seriously at several new jeep dealerships, the fellow finally ended up buying a used jeep from a local place near his home along with a slew of spare parts. The owner of that lot suggesed that he would be quite good at selling vehicles to folks like himself, so the dealership was purchased over a handshake and several decades and several expansions later, are known as one of the largest volume jeep dealers in the US, consistently drawing business away from the Atlanta DCX dealers, dispite the 1-hour drive from the metro.

If you can't tell, I really enjoyed the buying experience, and I'm even a Yankee by birth. I suppose I'm a converted redneck (but I still don't have a drawl...)

Congrats on the new CRD.

I've had my CRD since September and tried a variety of fuels. I have a choice of at least 10 stations within 10 miles of the house for #2 diesel, can't tell any difference any yet to get any "bad" fuel.

I believe mine runs it's best on @ B10 to B20 mix especially with winter blends in the tank. You can definately hear the difference especially on cold starts where it no longer smokes or sounds like the rods are comming through the block. Biodiesel usage is not something you want to openly discuss with your dealer (that is if you expect DC to honor their warranty). I buy B100 from a local oil supplier for @ $2.50/gal dispensed into 5 gal fuel cans and spalsh blend as needed.

Do yourself a big favor while everything is still clean, get a CCV filter installed and check your CAC hoses religeously. If you could see the mess it makes (unprotected) and sludge inside my Provent, you would park it until it's done.

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2005 Liberty Sport CRD, Lt Khaki, sunroof

Thankful to now be an EX-CRD owner.

This is somewhat true... Some dealers may be better than others...

But I honestly feel that things are reaching critical mass. With several states passing legislation putting Biodiesel in all of their diesel fuel, with the biodiesel market exploding and the popularity of "alternative fuels" in the press and with the public... With high profile companies like BioWillie and the like...

I think that the days of "biodiesel voids your warranty" are numbered. Judging from the Liberty forums, a HUGE percentage of CRD buyers did so either to run biodiesel now, or as soon as it becomes available in their area.

This is not something that is going away.

Also, DC officially supports B5 - so if anyone at the dealership asks say you only use B5. It is even what they ship in the tank from the factory (mostply for PR reasons, but also quiets the engines for test drives...).

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http://www.pdxbiodiesel.org

On my last warranty visit dropped it off overnight to get a transfer case seal replaced. It was obvious that they went for a testdrive. I thought it was funny when I picked it up. Service writer was commenting how well it ran, much smoother, quiter and less smoke than the other CRD's they service. Asked me if I purchased "premium" diesel fuel. Told them "yep" and left it at that. Had B20 in it at the time, didn't have the heart to tell them. They were also inside my CAC hoses and Provent lid, I marked the clamps and the cover.

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2005 Liberty Sport CRD, Lt Khaki, sunroof

Thankful to now be an EX-CRD owner.