For most of my life Diesel cost less than Gasoline, but now

My dad and I have the exact same truck, except his is the 6.0L gas and mine is the Duramax. I get consistantly 50% better fuel milage than him, so as long as Diesel costs less than 50% more than gas, I win. (Plus the performance of the Duramax blows the gas motor out of the water) Sure it cost more in the begining, and maintenance costs are a bit higher, but as long as you put enough miles on it, the duramax is much more economical in the long run.

Right now diesel costs about 14% more than gas around here. That means I'm still doing 36% better than the same truck equiped with a gas motor.

When people ask, diesel or gas? From my experience, depends on how many miles you intend to put on it. If you put enough miles on it, the diesel is the way to go, if you only drive it on the weekend and don't need the extra towing capacity, go gas.

I fully expect to see 300,000 miles on my truck before I go for a new one. And I'm sure it will still have plenty of life left in it (at 160K now) Your not going to see that with a gas truck.

My 2005 truck gets about 4mpg better than a brand new truck. Thanks to emmisions crap. I don't get how that is better, how can burning that much more fuel be better for the environment?

Blah blah blah, they can talk any talk they want. They claim any and all excuses and are the best at inventing new ones. The bottom line, in my opinion, is: The cost of fuel, any fuel, is what it is because we have showed them we are willing to pay it. Every time consumption drops, the price drops. Over the last 25 years the oil companies have played a game of "raise prices until consumption drops, drop price ten cants, wait a few months, repeat". Doing so shows them the price we are willing to pay, and they do a bang up job of making us feel happy each time the price drops ten cents.

When people ask, diesel or gas? From my experience, depends on how many miles you intend to put on it. If you put enough miles on it, the diesel is the way to go, if you only drive it on the weekend and don't need the extra towing capacity, go gas.

I pull #12000++ with a 2000 F350 Ford 7.3 diesel (12MPG) and then a 1997 Ford F350 with a gasser 460 (4 MPG). Cost makes little difference as only a diesel will do - it's torque. That is why every big truck on the planet is diesel. My neighor has a 5 series Beamer with a diesel - what a dog that is. It's a shame as Euro cars are great diesel burners without the stoopid EPA.

Oros35 ... wishful thinking. My father said the same thing when he dropped $40k on his '02 in the fall of '01. My brother is still driving the truck now. New tranny, new turbo, nearly everything in the interior has failed, and over the past 2 years the body has been falling apart with rust piece by piece. Has 200k on it now.

Still cheaper than new any way you slice it, and it hauls ass.

The problem with a solid diesel powered vehicle...the engine outlasts the chassis.
This is certainly true in the NE & MW parts of the country. So unless you drive 50K a yr, I wonder if it is worth it? The extra cost up front, the need to heat the block in severe cold, the additional qts oil per change, etc.

I drove 1984 MB turbo diesels for a while. Terrific 3.0L diesel engine, the best! The 617.952 model. But everything else it the car would fail or rot. Transmissions would go out at 175k-200k. But that engine with proper care could go over 500k without fear of failure.

Cap wrote:The problem with a solid diesel powered vehicle...the engine outlasts the chassis.
This is certainly true in the NE & MW parts of the country. So unless you drive 50K a yr, I wonder if it is worth it? The extra cost up front, the need to heat the block in severe cold, the additional qts oil per change, etc.

I drove 1984 MB turbo diesels for a while. Terrific 3.0L diesel engine, the best! The 617.952 model. But everything else it the car would fail or rot. Transmissions would go out at 175k-200k. But that engine with proper care could go over 500k without fear of failure.

I can't speak for trucks..but I can for VW TDI's...completely different technology than 1984...NO need to heat the block! Advanced glow plugs now....even in 0 degrees...turn key for 1 second to wait for the glow plugs..starts right up....extra oil??? 5 quarts with a 10,000 mile oil change interval....the only slightly higher cost is the synthetic oil requirement...but u go twice as long on an oil change compared to gas...no spark plugs to change too!!!

stoker_RI wrote:...first thing I did was to buy an "Atkinson Smart Box"

Oops! Correction : the company is Van Aaken.

http://www.dieselsmartbox.com/

I drove 1984 MB turbo diesels for a while. Terrific 3.0L diesel engine, the best! The 617.952 model. But everything else it the car would fail or rot. Transmissions would go out at 175k-200k. But that engine with proper care could go over 500k without fear of failure.

I owned a 1987 300D that I converted to run on 100% Samsclub veggie oil and eventually cleaned soyoil from the local Jap. restaurant. That actually quieted down the injector and I am sure it would have done the 1MM miles. New diesels bother me however as I have no knowledge of longevity but I agree they look interesting. I'm still searching for the perfect W126 that has been in a Florida garage that will run on anything.

stoker_RI wrote:

Cap wrote:The problem with a solid diesel powered vehicle...the engine outlasts the chassis.
This is certainly true in the NE & MW parts of the country. So unless you drive 50K a yr, I wonder if it is worth it? The extra cost up front, the need to heat the block in severe cold, the additional qts oil per change, etc.

I drove 1984 MB turbo diesels for a while. Terrific 3.0L diesel engine, the best! The 617.952 model. But everything else it the car would fail or rot. Transmissions would go out at 175k-200k. But that engine with proper care could go over 500k without fear of failure.

I can't speak for trucks..but I can for VW TDI's...completely different technology than 1984...NO need to heat the block! Advanced glow plugs now....even in 0 degrees...turn key for 1 second to wait for the glow plugs..starts right up....extra oil??? 5 quarts with a 10,000 mile oil change interval....the only slightly higher cost is the synthetic oil requirement...but u go twice as long on an oil change compared to gas...no spark plugs to change too!!!

Most diesels hold more oil. My 617's held 8qts. This is a 3.0L engine. It's used a prechamber rather than direct injection. The big 7.3 Powerstroke IH in the Fords, I think hold 15? Your TDI had direct injection which is more modern and yes, will start up quicker but did you ever consider preheating your TDI's engine in order to put less wear & tear on that cold diesel? I love diesel technology. But I was only questioning whether it was worth while today with the cost of gas & diesel less than .50 apart and the fact the average gasoline engine can easily run 200k miles with a lighter engine block and the up front cost of new much lower. How many miles do you expect to put on your TDI before letting it go? Do you drive 100 miles a day?

Cap wrote:

stoker_RI wrote:

Cap wrote:The problem with a solid diesel powered vehicle...the engine outlasts the chassis.
This is certainly true in the NE & MW parts of the country. So unless you drive 50K a yr, I wonder if it is worth it? The extra cost up front, the need to heat the block in severe cold, the additional qts oil per change, etc.

I drove 1984 MB turbo diesels for a while. Terrific 3.0L diesel engine, the best! The 617.952 model. But everything else it the car would fail or rot. Transmissions would go out at 175k-200k. But that engine with proper care could go over 500k without fear of failure.

I can't speak for trucks..but I can for VW TDI's...completely different technology than 1984...NO need to heat the block! Advanced glow plugs now....even in 0 degrees...turn key for 1 second to wait for the glow plugs..starts right up....extra oil??? 5 quarts with a 10,000 mile oil change interval....the only slightly higher cost is the synthetic oil requirement...but u go twice as long on an oil change compared to gas...no spark plugs to change too!!!

Most diesels hold more oil. My 617's held 8qts. This is a 3.0L engine. It's used a prechamber rather than direct injection. The big 7.3 Powerstroke IH in the Fords, I think hold 15? Your TDI had direct injection which is more modern and yes, will start up quicker but did you ever consider preheating your TDI's engine in order to put less wear & tear on that cold diesel? I love diesel technology. But I was only questioning whether it was worth while today with the cost of gas & diesel less than .50 apart and the fact the average gasoline engine can easily run 200k miles with a lighter engine block and the up front cost of new much lower. How many miles do you expect to put on your TDI before letting it go? Do you drive 100 miles a day?

I have almost 300k and do about 150 miles/ day. 04 TDI