Am I foolish to buy a diesel?
 

Hi all,

So I'm a NEWB to all this so bear with me. I have been looking at buying a truck for quite some time now ( never owned one, family came before vehicle expenses ) and am having a difficlut time figuring out what to do. I seem to find myself continually gravitating back to either a Ford or a Chevy/Gmc in either a gas jobber or diesel. To be honest I dont usually tow anything at all, I am a buider so often I have lots of tools or materials in my rig, I drive on average 120 miles a day up to 6 days a week, nearly all on the interstate. I dont really have any interest in a 1500 class, partially because or their stance, the other is their feel; ie a little too " boaty " or car like to me, so I have settled on the 2500 / 250 class, yet if the deal was right I wouldnt really have any issues with going with a 3500 / 350 class. So I have a family ( three kids ) which makes four full doors really a necessity, and not to sound fickle but leather is also a must as more often than not I am so dirty at the end of the day I have found that leather holds up so much better and is way easier to clean. So here is my dilema; am I foolsih for wanting a diesel? Its immature I know but they just seem so much more of a REAL TRUCK, a mans truck. None of my friends own one, so their responses are always, dont bother - way too expensive to maintain and you dont really get that much more mpg. Are they correct? I have been researching this for a long time now and to be honest I really have ZERO brand loyalty, there's things i like about fords and there's things i like about chevy/gmc 's. Increased mpg is in a way here my main goal, with light moding cant you get great highway mpg out of a diesel? I have read countless forums about the pros and cons of either a powerstroke vs a gm and dont really see any true advantage to one or the other, there is a lot of brand loyalty out there ( thats fine i totally get that ) and a lot of interest in getting plus 500 hp. I am not really interested in that to be honest. Yeah its cool in all but to me, at least at this point in my life, i need something that is reliable as can be, and that is not going to be a gold sink. I personally am not intimidated by diesels, actually I'd love one. So there it is, thanks for any advice!!!!!

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oh and another thing, I wont be buying it new, purchase will mainy depend on the deal I can get as far as the year/mileage/cost..... thanks again

Sounds like a diesel truck would fit nicely into your life. I would look for a newer common rail diesel. Seems those get good milage with a good tune. If its 08 and newer you will be needing a deletes. Your in the rite place though, look through all the forums here and other brand specific forums. There is alot of info here! Weigh the pros and cons you find and get what you want.

Thanks Harry22,
I am leaning towards a 2500 duramax, anything that I need to know or look for at time of purchase ?

I was in the same boat as you, needed a truck and have 3 kids :c: also wanted something that would last and not need to be replace in a long while. I decidedon a diesel its robust and unlike your friends told you dont need much keep up compare to gas truck, all they mostly need is oil and filters changed.I got a quad cab we fit with room to spare fido even rides in the cab with us once in a while, I average 17-19 MPG's in city and im a lead foot :td: all diesel have a defect depends on which you rig get just fix it and your set. Hope this helps you some.

1longbed,
thanks for the response.

If mpgs are a big deal, a Cummins might be the way to go. When programmed, they can average 25-26. That is of course with good driving habits. And it's hard to do when they sound good. But, in my personal opinion, the duramax is most reliable.

Cole,
Thx... I was going to go look at a, 04 f350 lariat crew this week, but after reading all the posts about troubles with the 6.0.... man I don't know now. The rig looks good, one owner, 110k and is listed for$12999 which I am sure I can talk down... but still..... from what I can tell I wil want to drop another 3-4k right off to mod it in the right direction of dependability.... Thats seems like a lot to me.... Theres nothing that I hate more than breaking down and after reading all the posts I am hesitant on the 6.0 reliabilty.... I drive 125 miles a day every day and I dont need the hassle of breaking down....I wouldnt hesitate for a cummins but I cant stand dodge trucks, its a bummer. Any advice on helping my decision to go diesel would help

Stay away from the 6.0 . Any other truck with that low of miles wouldn't go for that price. There's a reason it's cheap. Haha. I've owned dodges, Chevys, and now a ford. If you don't want to spend the money for a 6.4 or 6.7 powerstroke, the 7.3 is a reliable motor, but they are SLOW. Mine is almost completely stock and they are down right slow. But every diesel has its problem. In my perspective, the duramax is the most reliable. And I think you should get a diesel. Every man needs a mans truck. The 01-04 duramax a had injector problems. And they were internal so they are difficult to work on. So any 01-04 over 120k, make sure it's a good deal, or they've been changed. The 04.5-05 sounds like it'd work best for you. The only problems they had were they'd blow head gaskets under heavy loads. And after that year, I'm not educated enough to have an opinion. So my opinion you should look for an 04.5-05 duramax. But be sure it's 04-5. That's when they changed motors.

cole,
So if they would bow head gaskets under heavy loads, its fairly safe to say that if I find a rig that was not used for towing and hauling then I should be ok yeah ? Also, I am from VT and everything is expensive as hell here. What seems to be a reasonable price for an 04-06 model with roughly 100k gie or take on it ? I understand that options and trim packages come into play, but setting that aside because those are fairly small diff in price, what seems to be a good price? Everything around here goes for like mid $20k's which I think is too much...

Thanks again

We just bought a crew cab leather interior 04.5 dually duramax for 19,200$. With 112k. That was after he put a chip, an egr delete, a big turbo mouthpiece, and a leveling kit. I would expect to pay close to 20k with around 100k miles. But you really can't garuntee the history of the truck.