Gm 3.0 liter diesel opinions

Hey fellas, my F150 is getting a little bit long in the tooth but is still worth something for a trade-in value. I am looking into a GMC with a 3.0 L diesel V6. Anybody have an opinion on these? It seems like it’s a good mix of efficiency, towing power. I am towing a 21 foot Ranger Reata, not a bulldozer but I am traveling north to Duluth, Lake Vermilion, maybe even a Canada trip one or two times a year so Towing is important to me. According to my F150 data, I tow about 15% of the time and them in town the rest of the time. What do you think? I did a little bit of simple math and despite five dollar a gallon diesel fuel, with the significantly increased mileage up to 26 and 27 miles per gallon it seems like per 10,000 miles driven it would be about similar to a 5.3 L gas engine.

I drive both a diesel and gas every day. The want for a small half ton diesel I do not get. Are you considering anything besides a couple extra mpgs . As owner of both I wouldn’t ever consider a small diesel

I own an F150 3.0 liter diesel. Other than losing towing capacity due to suspension issues, I prefer the diesel. I change oil every 7500 miles and fuel filters every 15000 miles. Mileage equates to about 22-24 mpg without towing. Towing, like anything else depends on wind and what you’re towing. I put about 20000-24000 miles a year on a truck and wanted something to last longer than 4-5 years before it loses trade in value below what I’m willing to accept. I have a 2020 so it is still new with only about 44000 miles. It’ll tow 11000 bumper pull weight and 7500 5th wheel pull weight.

I have a 2022 Sierra with the 3.0 Diesel in it (14k mi). I love it. I get 27-30 on the hwy not towing. The efficiency dips under load though, pulling my 17′ pro-v I average 19-20 MPG, pulling a 7’x14′ steel enclosed decoy trailer to ND my average was 15 MPG.

Gopherhawk wrote:

I have a 2022 Sierra with the 3.0 Diesel in it (14k mi). I love it. I get 27-30 on the hwy not towing. The efficiency dips under load though, pulling my 17′ pro-v I average 19-20 MPG, pulling a 7’x14′ steel enclosed decoy trailer to ND my average was 15 MPG.

Kind of defeats the purpose

Bearcat89 wrote:

Are you considering anything besides a couple extra mpgs . As owner of both I wouldn’t ever consider a small diesel

A couple? LOL The baby duramax gets unreal MPG its not even close to a gas engine even the little 4 banger GM puts in pales in comparison. My buddy has a silverado with it and his average is 28 with the high being 36. You arent touching those numbers with a gas engine. The 2023 3.0 has been upgraded too with over 305 HP and more torque but same RPM ranges and can tow 13000 lbs. I researched this engine heavily before ordering my new truck (still not here) and was going to get it, but my buddy talked me out of it. Funny , this same buddy bought one 2 weeks later and absolutely loves it. I ordered the 6.2.

Having had both a 5.3 (2021) and 3.0 (2022) I would never go back to gas. The 3.0 has way more pep. We rented a 5.3 on vacation a couple of weeks ago and it reminded me why I love the 3.0 all the more. Averaging 26 MPG mixed driving with towing. Currently at 10,500 miles.

Bigger issue for me is reliability. Having been stranded next to Mille Lacs loaded for the weekend at 6800 miles. Had all lifers replaced by GM. To my knowledge GM is still having issues with their 5.3 and 6.2 lifters. Given the number of reports (check any gm forum) I would stay away from their gassers for now. They say it’s a supplier issue but 2022s are having problems too.

For me the reliability is more important, the mileage, torque, and towing is a bonus.

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Graham Redshaw wrote:</div>
I have a 2022 Sierra with the 3.0 Diesel in it (14k mi). I love it. I get 27-30 on the hwy not towing. The efficiency dips under load though, pulling my 17′ pro-v I average 19-20 MPG, pulling a 7’x14′ steel enclosed decoy trailer to ND my average was 15 MPG.

Kind of defeats the purpose

And with diesel costing $2.00/gal more the mileage savings isn’t there.

Justin riegel wrote:

And with diesel costing $2.00/gal more the mileage savings isn’t there.

Its around a dollar more here.

That baby dirtymax sounds intriguing. I had my doubts about the mileage numbers mentioned above. Checked out fuelly.com and it’s showing some pretty impressive real world numbers. 23-24mpg for the 3.0 compared to around 16 for the 5.3. That more than makes up for any higher cost for diesel.

If you wanna buy a diesel buy a big boy truck and get a 2500. Unless you do all of your own service you will realize real quick what it costs to own a diesel.

I have 1 customer with the 3.0 diesel chevy pickup. She’s been happy with it so far. She will admit that when pulling her smaller 2 horse trailer that she’d rather have her previous truck which was a 5.7 Ram. Mileage is good empty but drops drastically while towing and she feels it is lacking on power for towing.
Remember cost of maintenance and repair are going to be more on a diesel, along with the extra cost of fuel. Fuel economy would have to be a good margin better than the comparable gas truck for me to consider it. My 5.3s get 18-19 on the highway, towing my boat ot drops to 16 on average.
To clarify for the OP, the duramax 3.0 is an Inline 6, not a V6.

I test drove one a few months back and I swore it drove like the 6.2. It has so much torque and is super quiet. Now with the upgraded engine its even better. An inline 6 is far better for towing than a v6. My buddy with the silverado test drove a ram with their little diesel before the Silverado and he was not impressed at all. He’s towed his warrior 18 foot full windshield boat out to western ND and hardly knew it was there.

Dutchboy wrote:

If you wanna buy a diesel buy a big boy truck and get a 2500. Unless you do all of your own service you will realize real quick what it costs to own a diesel.

This.

worst of it being the EGR/DPF systems are NOT cheap to fix and the 3.0 is not immune to the issues that’s plagued EVERY diesel since they were adopted…

I looked closely at them before I settled on a 1 ton 6.6 gas…more reliable, less expensive and is slightly more capable.

So here’s my math. Diesel this morning $5.02/gallon, regular $3.34.

10,000\27 mpg (low average stated above)=370 gallons consumed x $5.02= $1859 per 10,000 miles for diesel

10,000\22 mpg (high average as stated by gm for 5.3l engine) = 454 gallons consumed x $3.34= $1518 per 10,000 miles

Would you guys say average mpg is accurate for both quotes above or way off? Seems like gasser would still be significantly cheaper per 10k

Youre not going to avg 22 with a 5.3. Ive owned 3 since 2015 and while its a fine motor and can get good MPG its not going to average 22. 20 at best. The highest I saw was 27 on a roadtrip, but daily driving was 20 with a mix of town and highway.

To follow up, plugging a few more numbers in.

Low estimate for 5.3 18 mpg as noted above.
10,000/18 mpg = 555 gallons consumed x $3.34 = $1855 per 10k

High estimate for diesel as above 30 mpg.
10,000/30 mpg = 333 gallons consumed x $5.02 = $1672 per 10k miles

My driving style is that of a grandma and again, I don’t tow bulldozers around as much as I would love to. Which quote do you folks is more accurate?

To compare my experience:

2021 burb 5.3 with 15000 miles when I traded it in was averaging 19.3 by computer (which I found generous compared by hand calculation)

2022 burb 3.0 with 10,500 on it 26.8. I’ve towed more with this rig. Average 21 when towing.

I also had poor luck with air ride suspension with GM. Ended up in shop for 2 months waiting for parts. The dealer thinks it is an O ring issue which is sandwiched between 2 washers. It was 40 degrees one day followed by -20 the next. Air ride went out likely due to temperature or potentially moisture in the system.

Do your own due diligence. There are horror stories from both sides. I find the diesel a nicer drive overall. When my current rig is done I will order a new one with a 3.0. In my opinion they are completely different vehicles in terms of how they drive. I prefer the diesel—even if it costs more to fuel and maintain.

rwmcvean wrote:

My driving style is that of a grandma and again, I don’t tow bulldozers around as much as I would love to. Which quote do you folks is more accurate?

This was my biggest concern about going with the diesel when I ordered my truck. My commute to work is 15 miles. I was worried that I wouldnt drive enough. Actually at the time I was working remote, but now I am in office 3 days a week. My buddy drives similar to me and he had NO issues with it. Absolutely loves that truck and it sort of ticked me off that he talked me out of getting it and then he got it. I researched it hard and was convinced it was the right move for me, but my driving style was my only concern so I opted for the 6.2. I may end up ordering a 23 when my truck finally gets here with the 3.0, but not sure. The price jumps are insane. As it sits my window sticker is 3k higher than my build quote and if I build a 23 its about 5k higher yet. I believe the 3.0 is cheaper than the 6.2 as well so you save a bit of money there.
When my wife is due for an upgrade to her Yukon Denali we will 100% replace it with one with the 3.0 in it.

How much more is the upfront cost to go diesel?

Dutchboy wrote:

How much more is the upfront cost to go diesel?

Its cheaper than the 6.2, but more than 5.3 but I dont remember exactly how much more. I think its $1500 or something like that over the 5.3. Edit, I just built a 23 and its $1000 more over the 5.3.

PersonLlim looking at a few used options out there, 30k or fewer miles. Same trim package gas and diesel are listed about the same, diesel 3.0’s are just harder to find. I can’t speak to new

In the last 10 years I’ve owned new Tundra’s, a F-150 and a Ram 3500 6.4 Hemi.
Last year I bought a 2021 3.0 duramax. My favorite truck so far. The baby duramax paired with the 10 speed is almost perfect IMO. I know diesel is higher and maintenance cost are more but I simply don’t care.

I have a 2022 Silverado crew 5.3 liter . 10k miles ( work truck ) on it gets about 20 mpg . Personally I think the transmission is clunky over the last Chevy I had with the 6 speed .

isu22andy wrote:

I have a 2022 Silverado crew 5.3 liter . 10k miles ( work truck ) on it gets about 20 mpg . Personally I think the transmission is clunky over the last Chevy I had with the 6 speed .

is this an 8 or 10 speed? The 6 speed was known to be clunky.

rwmcvean wrote:

So here’s my math. Diesel this morning $5.02/gallon, regular $3.34.

10,000\27 mpg (low average stated above)=370 gallons consumed x $5.02= $1859 per 10,000 miles for diesel

10,000\22 mpg (high average as stated by gm for 5.3l engine) = 454 gallons consumed x $3.34= $1518 per 10,000 miles

Would you guys say average mpg is accurate for both quotes above or way off? Seems like gasser would still be significantly cheaper per 10k

I get the gas Vs diesel cost but that doesn’t account for the life expectancy difference. Guy are happy to get 200k on a gasser, I see over half million miles on each of my diesels and still running strong.

Randy Wieland wrote:

I get the gas Vs diesel cost but that doesn’t account for the life expectancy difference. Guy are happy to get 200k on a gasser, I see over half million miles on each of my diesels and still running strong.

That’s pretty impressive just to have any vehicle last 500k with all the salt on the roads now days!

With the stupid price of diesel now you’ll never “save money” by driving one.

Go to Fuelly.com for real world tank to tank averages. My quick search came up with 17mpg for the 5.3 and 25.5 mpg for the 3.0. Right now it will cost a little more to run the diesel.

I get the gas Vs diesel cost but that doesn’t account for the life expectancy difference. Guy are happy to get 200k on a gasser, I see over half million miles on each of my diesels and still running strong.
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This…..I got tired of trading in every four years. Looking to get ten or more years out of my diesel.

Guys that complain about the higher front end costs of a diesel price must not realize that your resale value is going to be that much higher. The extra 5-12k up front has always came right back to us when its time to trade it in. That might change some down the road if the crazy cost difference on gas vs diesel stays like it is – TBD though.