Jay Gratton

In the next year I am going to be buying myself a truck/DD/toy hauler. For the past 5 years I have been using my Dad’s Chevy 1500 which has done fine towing our open aluminum trailer with our 2000-3000 pound Porsches depend which once we are hauling. In a perfect world I would love to get a diesel, but being a poor educator I don’t know if I can justify spending $45K+ on a new diesel. My father in-law was a service manager for a GM dealership and he says the heavy duty trucks are just built so much better and that I should avoid the 1500/F150 trucks, but then I wonder how much more I will spend in gas to drive a 2500/F250 type truck. I am thinking about just biting the bullet and buy diesel as I will own it 10 years easy and diesels last better then gas engines. I would like to buy new, but all suggestions are welcomed. What would you buy that would give you the best value, MPG, ownership cost, longevity, etc.

Gary R.

Well, as I just replaced my 1st set of rear rotor/pads on my HD2500 Duramax (80,000+ miles, about 10K towing) and checked the fronts (still almost HALF left!), and have only replaced a PS line and front wheel hubs so far (along with religious oil/fuel/filters I can say i'm still happy with the purchase of the truck in 06. Though the sticker was about $43K I think I paid about $34K for it, would think deals of this nature are out there now also. Full leather, Bose stereo, and other extras make it a pleasant vehicle for every day driving. My guess is it is still the quietest diesel around also though it makes 650 ft/lb of torque and will pull anything you throw at it..

Add the towing my 24' enclosed at 75+ I get 11-12 MPG, around town 18MPG.

Lemming

I have a 2008 F250 6.4L King's Ranch (2WD) and am happy with it. I bought it used (1.5 years) with 24,000 miles on it. I've had no problems to date and use it to pull a 28ft trailer with race car and gear (tows great). I also use it for a daily driver since it's more fun to sit in the big truck in traffic than my 968. If I only use the track for commuting to work (no highway driving, all stop and go), I average 12.5 mpg, compared to my past F150 (5.4L V8 gasser) that got 13.5 mpg.

Veloce Raptor

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Jay Gratton

I would really like to do a diesel and I am fully prepared to shop around. As I said I will be keeping it a while and I know the resale on diesels are amazing.

Jay Gratton

The above might work too! Thanks for the pic. I wonder how it would tow.

vintage914racer

I have a 2002 Silverado 2500HD and and amazed at how well it tows my 24' enclosed compared to the 1/2 ton Suburbans I used to tow with. I use it as my DD and it isn't horrible, although parking iin tight lots is a real PIA. Diesel would be ideal, although I couldn't justifiy it based on my current amount of towing.

Jay Gratton

Thanks! That is my problem, I won't be towing a lot and I certainly won't be towing anything that a regular gas truck couldn't handle. I am just trying to weight the cost of ownership over 10 years with gas vs. a diesel. Granted a diesel costs more up front, but they certainly hold up better from what I read and their re-sale is extremily high.

Robert Henriksen

Why not buy a used diesel instead?

ltc

Towing....wheelbase and diesel.....enough said.

The next question is whether you are a Ford, Chevy or Dodge person.
(in full disclosure, I am a Ford HD man for life).

utkinpol

i am thinking about v8 VW Tuareg as i`ll need to seat in wife and 2 kids as well in it while in DD mode. But it can tow only 7.5K lbs.

pmason

I have a F250 crew diesel, bought new in 2006, only vechical that is really worth anything with high miles. Like Gary, I'm in the ~75k miles area and need to replace the rear pads, everything else is just normal maintaince, oil changes, tire rotating etc. I pull a 24ft enclosed trailer for the car, scooter, etc.

M758

If you are towing under 10k lbs I think and 2500/250 type gas motor would be ok. (Ford 5.4 is the exception).

These gas motors are all making around 350_+ hp and close to 400lbs of torque. Enough to pull a 24 ft trailer loaded at 10lbs max. The don't have primum of a diesel.

So at this point diesel vs gas comes down to cost. MPG vs initial cost.

Figure gas at 13 mpg enpty and diesel at 18-19.
Pickup trucks.com just did a test of 2010 pickups from the big 3 incuding gas, diesel and dually.

http://special-reports.pickuptrucks....-shootout.html

If you want to tow over 10k or will be towing just about all the time just get a diesel. For daily driver/mixed use It wil come down to costs. $8000 preimum covers alot of gas.


My personal take is that I would be ok towing an open trailer with a 1500/150 type truck. I would not want to tow my 24 foot enclosed trailer behind a 1500/150 truck. I want the 2500/250 for the extra chassis stability even if the motors are sometimes in the same in lighter truck. I currently tow my 24 footer with 99 dodge 2500 V10. The big gas motor is great and the chassis has no issues with the weight. The only downside is fuel mileage. Since I have 38 mile one way trip to work at 12-13 mph truck is not viable daily driver. heck even 20 mph is not very good. My daily BMW gets me 28-29. So for me better to have an older gas truck in a addition to good mileage daily driver.

PorscheDoc

my 2500hd has the 6.0L gas and has no problem pulling a loaded 24 foot enclosed though the gas mileage takes a beating on the enclosed trailer. Pulling an open trailer with the car it gets about the same 13-14mpg as it does around town without the trailer. Same story on the brakes, rear brakes at about 90k and fronts are still good. Also have replaced one front hub, and I know i will replace the other soon. Steering shafts also tend to make some noise due to the design, but they are cheap and very easy to replace. If you can swing it, go diesel to reduce the depreciation.

They also make a 1500HD version, though I don't have any experience with it.

A buddy of mine has a 2001 or 2002 F250 superduty with the diesel and has major issues with the front suspension/steering that he still hasn't gotten sorted out. Running wise though I think it has been pretty bulletproof.

Giacomo

Earlier this year I purchased a reasonably priced used 3/4 ton Suburban with the 6.0 litre motor and 88K miles. The vehicle is rated to 12,000 lbs. and the dash actually includes a factory tranny fluid temp gauge. I decided on this over a pickup truck because I thought that the enclosed cabin would be more useful than the rear bed of a pickup. This truck is a vast improvement over the 1/2 tons pickups I had used previously. The reality is that this truck usually just sits in my laneway unless I am towing or have to haul something that won't fit in the 997. For the amount I drive it I could not justify the cost of buying new or spending much more on a diesel. Maintenance on older diesels can also be expensive although longevity may compensate. There was also an 8.1 litre offered in the old subs if you think you need it. Sure it would be better to have a diesel for towing, but I just don't need it the other 85% of the days I might drive it.