 Diesel Vehicles
I know just a very few things about diesel vehicles, mostly about the fuel not the mechanical operation of the engine.
If you are looking at a deisel van, have you also looked at diesel fuel prices and how they've increased over the past 6 years? Literally from arount $1.60/gal to $3.17/gal in some places. If you are going through places with cold weather, often you need an additive to keep the fuel from gelling. A type of diesel gaining ground is called Biodiesel, and is made from vegetable oil, alcohol, and lye. A few places sell Biodiesel, but mostly you have to produce your own for now. In a couple of very cold areas (Alaska, Wyoming) the US park service uses Biodiesel in their park vehicles, and reports no problems, and in some cases, better performance.
Other than that, diesel engines are very durable, workhorse engines.
did this help? LunarVan | 
