Re: Diesel Powered Pickups

Posted by Carp on March 01, 2007 at 09:32:35 from (208.221.24.49):

In Reply to: Diesel Powered Pickups posted by Glenn F. on February 28, 2007 at 18:06:45:

I was always a big fan of diesel pickup trucks until the last few years. Lets do the math I did 2 years ago when I bought my truck. Gas PU gets 14MPG unloaded and 10MPG loaded. Friends diesel gets 19MPG unloaded and 15MPG Loaded. That is 26% better unloaded and 33 % better loaded. Right now gas is $2.30 and diesel is $2.75. Diesel costs 12% more. The net result would be 14% savings unloaded and 19% loaded. If you drive 15,000 miles year unloaded and 10,000 miles year loaded your total savings would be:

(15,000/14*$2.30*14%)+(10,000/10*$2.30*19%)=$782 year.

If you drive that truck for 10 years at 25,000 miles a year you will save $7,820 over that 10 years.

It cost approximately $3,000 to $6,000 more for a diesel. If you take $4,500 and invest it for 10 years you would have gained $1,547 in interest at 3% not to mention you don"t have to pay interest on the extra $4,500. Of course maybe some of us pay cash, but I cant afford to.

So if you keep a truck for 10 years you will save about $1,772 not including maintenance according to these very rought numbers.

Now let"s talk about towing. The numbers I used to compare above when I did it 2 years ago was between a 97 2500 chevy ext cab long bed with a 454 compared to a 97 250 ford ext cab long bed with a 7.3 diesel. The chevy will pull 14,000 lbs as easily as the ford. I can drive the speed limit on the freeway with that weight and not loose speed on the hills in Ohio and so can the ford. Not sure if you need to go faster than that.

If I was going to buy a truck right now, I would look for a 2003-2005 2500 chevy with the 8.1 and a 5 or 6 speed std trans. If you find one, they are fairly cheap. Look at the same exact truck with a duramax and compare prices.

I think that you will also find that maintenance is much higher price on the diesels. My friend found out. 14 quarts of oil, expensive oil filters, recomended to add lubricant to the fuel at about $6 per tank. Compare to spark plugs $2.50 each, wires at $40 and cap ???. These things last pretty easily at least 60,000 any more.

I don"t know which is right or wrong, but I went gas and am happy I did. Maybe if I was hauling 20,000 lbs several times a year I would have a diesel, but it would probably be an International for a Freightliner.

Replies:

• Re: Diesel Powered Pickups jdemaris 11:43:10 03/01/07 (3)
  • Re: Diesel Powered Pickups Carp 11:52:01 03/01/07 (2)
    • Re: Diesel Powered Pickups jdemaris 12:56:24 03/01/07 (1)
      • Re: Diesel Powered Pickups Carp 13:33:20 03/01/07 (0)

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