Im back again after several months. I ended up buying a nice gasser truck, but I am still kicking myself for not buying a diesel. Not to mention that because its newer, it has way too many electronics for my liking and has given me a lot of problems. An expensive lesson learned.

I have been doing a lot of research on diesel engines again and have decided that a more mechanical one would be better for me since I don't trust grease monkeys to do work on my vehicles. So it has come to the 6.5 or the 12v. Seeing as how I live in Dodge state, everyone and their dog drives a Cummins. So of course people really jack up the prices for them. I saw a few months back a 99 24v with 230k miles for $14k. Some might pay that much for one but I sure as hell won't.

I have heard scores of good things about the 12v so I have to say I am a bit partial to buying one even for a slightly jacked up price. The only thing that really worries me with the Cummins is thr shitty tranny behind it. I dont want to pay 10k for a truck then have 4k of repairs several months later. Of the many people I have talked to, they all say the 6.5l is garbage, but I take what they say with a grain of salt, because they either own a Cummins or they have never even test driven one.

The 6.5 is very hard to find here just because people here dont seem to like them much so they typically go for lower than book prices. The OEM parts for the 6.5 are also much cheaper from what I see, so fixing something would be considerably less.

As stated before, I don't do any towing and I will not drive a manual, not because I can't, but because I got tired of driving them real fast. It is a DD and will have a garage to sit in. I also don't care to add power, so I don't care about moddability. The only thing I would do is if I got the 12v, is get it up to 200-250HP. What I am looking for is something with good reliability and that is easy to fix if something breaks.

 

the dodge auto trans isnt as bad as what people make them out to be. if you do all the proper maintenance and adjustments they are just fine. it when people crank up the pump and stomp on it every light it gets upset. my boss own 2 '93. the one has more than 800,000 miles on it. he put a trans in it 200,000 ago. the other is almost 500,000 miles and we just had it rebuild. both auto, 1 ton dually work trucks. and i mean work trucks. the one hasnt been unhooked from the trailer for idk how long.

i personally own 2 2002 dodge cummins, and 2 6.5l. one is a '94 and '93. they are a good engine "for what they are", not a power house by any means and less mpg then the dodges. i like them both but when it come to reliable the dodge takes it all day long. just an all around better vehicle. but do not buy a 6.5 after '97.

 

is this a trick question 12VALVE CUMMINS ALL DAY. 6.5s are turds

---AutoMerged DoublePost---

also if you like a truck that is easy to fix get a first gen, 2nd gens are a bit harder because of the smaller engine bay and the ppump is larger. but a inline 6 is a joy to work on. V8s are a pain in the ***. Also if you talk to anybody in the armed forces ask them how they like the 6.5 because they are in every hummer h1 up to 2006 Im guessing 90% of them didnt like the engine in the humvee. They get crappy mpg and they dont have a reputation for longevity and reliabilty. Things are still the same there were still die hard dodge , ford and chevy guys in the 90s and there is a reason you see more fords and dodges then chevys today. That is because the 7.3 is a solid 500,000 mile engine with good power and a good transmision, and well I think the cummins name can stand on its own but its a million mile engine with excellent power and reliabilty, And chevy had the 454 and if you wanted a diesel you got a clunky old thing that sounded like it was going to fall apart and it didnt have much power and gale banks was the only person that had performance parts for it. Im guising most of the chevys that have over 300k have been put out to pasture and that is why you dont see many. if you want a chevy get a duramax