To Diesel or not to Diesel?

Love my Tahoe, but after getting a work trailer which now makes it an everyday vehicle and trailering the boat and ice vehicles I’m thinking may need to upgrade. Pulling something probably 75% of the time, but also commuting the kids around alot for activities.

What used diesels out there that are solid? Not brand specific at all. Just don’t have the want to drop $800 month on a new one, so looking lightly broken in. Maybe even a bigger gas might do the trick?

Confused on what may be the best option.

I bought a chevy diesel last fall. Paid $50 for it new. On the highway Empty i get 19-20. Pulling a ranger 620 I get 15. I have a 16′ enclosed trailer i use for hunting. Get around 13 pulling that.

At the time i couldn’t get a 3/4 ltz gas for $50, so i bought the diesel.

I previously had a dodge with the hemi. I wouldn’t go back to gas. As far as towing, its hard to beat a diesel.

If you do buy a diesel, you will soon understand why we get mad when cars park at the diesel pumps

If looking for best truck (IMO) for lowish price look mid to late 2000’s F250. If you can swing it tho, buy a RAM1500 ECO Diesel.

And to answer your title q…YES DIESEL

However, this is all coming from a 98 Chevy 2500 6.5TD owner.

I bought a F350 with 6.7 diesel in it last November. It had 63,000 miles on it. I now have 84,000 on it and I could not be happier with the truck. My first diesel and I won’t be going back to a gasser.

Know 3 people outside of IDO now that have had pretty nasty issues with their Dodge diesels. Not a deal breaker, may be coincidence but assuming I won’t have any warranty left is concerning.

Appreciate the info so far

never owned a diesel and don’t know much about em except that for towing they cant be beat. I know some people that have made the switch and they all seem happy they did. the one thing keeps me from being interested is the starting issue in the winter. I dont want to constantly be worried about how im going to keep it plugged in all the time especially when im ice fishing overnight.

I love my 6.7 f250. 16-18 mpg. No diesel exhaust stink. Finally a diesel that is quiet! I can’t imagine a better truck.

nhamm wrote:

Know 3 people outside of IDO now that have had pretty nasty issues with their Dodge diesels. Not a deal breaker, may be coincidence but assuming I won’t have any warranty left is concerning.

Appreciate the info so far

remember dodge uses the Cumming engine. Cummings is a commercial brand.

Power stroke and Duramax are not Commercial from what I know.

Ok nhamm here’s the deal with diesel. They’re a lot more maintenance, the cost of owning one is higher but for pulling all the time you can’t beat them. I’m partial to dodge myself (mostly because they’ve treated me so well, meaning the pickups and dodge company themselves) but any of these new ones are good.

Have a friend that bought a used 99 dodge with 118000 on it and still owns it. It’s been his work truck since the day he bought it. It now has 260000 something on it. Yeah he’s had repairs and maintenance but that’s any vehicle. And trust me when I say this, he beats the crap out of that thing between pulling and the way he drives. 2 major repairs he’s done is 1 clutch and fuel lift pump. He is now on his 3rd dodge diesel and wouldn’t think of owning a different brand of pickup and he used to be a chevy man.

Plain and simple:
Initial cost is higher
Maintenance and repair costs are higher
Fuel is higher especially in winter
Pulling you can’t beat them
Will outlast gas vehicles
Made for working and pulling

I was pro diesel until they forced all the emissions onto them now. I see many plugged cats and head gasket jobs going through the shop now on them, all brands. Try finding one pre-emission which was around 2005 or so, might have to extend the search area. The ford 6.0 was hit and miss, best to stay away from IMO. I could go either way now, depends on what fits your needs best.

I’ve been driving a diesel for the last 14 months.

Just so you know, everything about them is way more expensive when a repair is needed.

Breakdowns mechanics are not readily available like gas engines.

For those reasons I’m highly considering getting out of diesel.

I’ve got a 2006 Ford 6.0 turbo
Easily spent $5k since I’ve owned it on PM’s and a repair or two.

And there’s some looming big dollar repairs likely in the next 50k miles.

I don’t need the power, but it is fun.

David Blais wrote:

If you do buy a diesel, you will soon understand why we get mad when cars park at the diesel pumps

Haha yup!!

Maybe specifics would help.

Work trailer 6×8 vnose, total weight 1500-2k#

Boat and trailer fully loaded, maybe 2500-3k#

Ice machines even less.

I’ve gotten to know the Chevy platform pretty well with the vortec, and thinking future repairs most likely could be done by myself so that could offset the lower mpg for gas if going that route. The 5.3l now pulls them ok, anyone have experience with the larger gas engines?

Still leaning diesel but maybe that MUCH power may be overkill? Don’t plan on upgrading boat or work trailers anytime soon.

Gm 6.0 gas is a great motor. Fuel mileage is not good but they run forever, 300k without an issue and no oil burning and pleanty of pulling power, but agaun fuel mileage not good, around 12-13.

Can’t beat a 5.9 Cummins. It is better to have and not need, than to need and not have.

I’ve weighed out the cost and I can not justify it. I also have a commuter car, so my truck is strictly used for towing and ice fishing. Gas all the way. If my trailers weighed more than 6-8000lbs, I would consider a diesel. The maintenance for long-term ownership and repair cost have kept me from owning one. If you trade your truck in every 2-4 years, read no further and buy a diesel, you’ll like it. If you plan on keeping it for 10-15 years, read on.

The biggest argument diesel owners use when comparing is that they last twice as long as gas engines. Yes, that’s true but you are NOT taking into consideration the maintenance cost, mile per mile. They also bring up the MPG you can save using a diesel, but once you weigh in average fuel cost and the drastic decline in MPG if you need to use winterized diesel, the point is negligible…the gas almost always wins $$ wise.

My father and two of my brothers own diesels and they are each very happy with them. It’s personal preference once you weigh out the positives and negatives.

If that’s all your are pulling, you don’t need a diesel! No WAY I’d consider the extra pain in the *** of owning one to pull those- even if it’s daily. Go drive any F150 with 2.7, 3.5 ecos or the 5.0 and never look back. Anything with the newer 6 speed, now going to 10 speed will make a joke out of those trailers and you won’t know they are even back there.

Ford is going to a 10 speed transmission!? gee willikers!

Ford and gm worked together and designed the 10 speed, they are both going to it. One step closer to a cvt, fuel economy and emissions is forcing it.

05 dirtymax about to turn 300,000 and still a solid rig.

diesel if your pulling a lot. It will hold its value way better than a gas, but maintenance is part of the deal it will cost a good amount to maintain.

WHATEVER YOU DO DO NOT BUY A FORD WITH A 6.0 DIESEL.
If you go ford be careful with equipment they still make 2017s with shift on the floor and manually locking hubs. 50,000 truck and you have to get out to lock in the hubs.

Have driven all 3 for work I always choose the ram when I have a choice.

I have a 2005 2500HD with the Duramax and I love it. I just pull the 620, sleds and a hunting trailer but have hauled car trailers a few times. I certainly don’t NEED the diesel but I’ve been driving this truck for 8-9 years and while I would love a new one I can’t justify getting rid of it. It’s had some repairs but at 250k miles one would expect that.

I really like the power when pulling the boat, it allows me to easily pass slow pokes on the 2 lane without needing miles of open road.

AND….yeah…those people that block the diesel pumps even though there are other gas pumps open….just smile and wait patiently.

6.7 DIESEL FOR SURE.. love my 350.. quiet diesel. tons of power, great mileage.

I bought a used dodge 2500 last winter with a 5.7 hemi. It does everything I need it to and actually gets decent mileage 15-17 when empty. With my camper and boat I have been getting 11-12.

If going ford 6.7 for sure, I have heard a lot of good about them. I personally run a 6.0 vortec and a 08 duramax. The 6.0 vortec is at 320,000 miles and just hauled a car back from Colorado and was not nervous about it at all. But the diesel is a beast! in the early DPF (emission equipment days) as in 07.5-2010 DPFs seemed to have issues on the GM side not sure on other brands. I just deleted the emissions equipment to bypass the issue. If you plan on keeping the vehicle for over 100k miles I just haven’t heard of high mile eco boosts that pull a lot, I’m not saying they aren’t out there but as the saying goes “there is no replacement for displacement”. If you are to buy low mileage and not put over say 120k miles or so the eco boost does seem to be a crowd pleaser among those that use them. I do not pull often but I stayed away from gas because when I do hook onto Items it can be in the 12k lb mark and I prefer to have more than enough power and be overbuilt for what I am doing. It saves on wear and tear in my eyes.

onestout wrote:

Gm 6.0 gas is a great motor. Fuel mileage is not good but they run forever, 300k without an issue and no oil burning and pleanty of pulling power, but agaun fuel mileage not good, around 12-13.

All three people I’ve know that have owned the GM 6.0 gas have felt the same way, just figured the bad gas mileage was the trade off vs diesel maintenance, would say this is another alternative for you.

Not a fan of overkill, at this time it seems like diesel might be just that for my scenario.

Great info I’m chewing on here.

Woody nailed it.

Nick – I know a few people with the Dodge eco diesel and they love em. Great mileage. Pull mid size trailers ok.

But their ain’t nothin like a cummins!

I am driving an Eco-diesel right now… Love the power and fuel economy. Like stated though, they are not a Cummins… they are built by VM Motori in Italy. Winter starting issues are pretty much a thing of the past with the pre-heaters and better fuel they have in all the diesels these days. Quite honestly though, with 2500 lbs gassers will handle it.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

Woody nailed it.

Nick – I know a few people with the Dodge eco diesel and they love em. Great mileage. Pull mid size trailers ok.

How many miles do they have on there Eco Diesel’s? I started looking at them tell I looked at reviews online about major motor problems around 70k. Hopefully they have figured out there issues by now.