Reminder - Cost of Ownership of Gas vs Diesel

[Wolfy]

I do not want to sound like a diesel hater but... a 7.3PSD holds 14-15 quarts. The filter is about 4 times bigger than a V-8 filter, and probably 2-3 times $. Not many oil filters can go 15,000 miles. That's a few dollars. A gasoline fuel filter does not need to be changed as often as a diesel fuel filter. Spark plugs on modern engines do not need to be changed very often either. A diesel will often wear out batteries more often, and there are usually two. RollingsFarms also has an excellent point. And if diesels are so great, why do I always see them for sale at a 10-1 ratio to a gas engine? I think enough people will get fed up with this and reliability will have to return.

 

[dodge man]

I agree with a lot of the points, which is why I plan on hanging on to me 2004 Cummins a little longer. I didn't write the article either. You can look at the results a couple of different ways. A point someone hasn't brought up is they appear to just be carrying the cost of ownership out to 5 years or less, which is the trouble free years for most vehicles, gas or diesel. What is the cost diesel vs gas going out to a longer period of time or say 200,000 miles? The article doesn't address that. This article also appears to be about cars, but I'm not sure it says either way.

I still say for every fault of a diesel, there is a counterpoint for it with a strength. I would still bet depending on how the vehicle is used its a wash on long term cost.

 

[dodge man]

I agree with a lot of the points, which is why I plan on hanging on to me 2004 Cummins a little longer. I didn't write the article either. You can look at the results a couple of different ways. A point someone hasn't brought up is they appear to just be carrying the cost of ownership out to 5 years or less, which is the trouble free years for most vehicles, gas or diesel. What is the cost diesel vs gas going out to a longer period of time or say 200,000 miles? The article doesn't address that. This article also appears to be about cars, but I'm not sure it says either way.

I still say for every fault of a diesel, there is a counterpoint for it with a strength. I would still bet depending on how the vehicle is used its a wash on long term cost.

 

[RollingsFarms]

With the newer diesels many experts are recommending you add on a coolant filter. I know of one fella that will "bullet proof" any diesel you bring him at a cost of $7900 and he gives a lifetime warranty with that. I could get away with that here in South Carolina since we don't have emission inspections anymore but most people can't do that. That's still tough to swallow buying a $40,000-$60,000 truck and have to spend an extra $8k to make it reliable.

I'm currently buying all the older tractors I can get my hands on to replace my aging fleet of tractors because the new stuff just scares me and plus I really like the older iron, I can work on it. There's a farmer near me that had a john Deere 2240 with 23000 hours on its third rebuild. Yeah you heard right, 23000 hours.

 

[Haoleguy]

Four 3/4 ton trucks are in this study and only the Ford Gas came out as lower cost to own in large part because of the Ford diesel reputation still dogs the resale value. Otherwise Chevy, GMC, & Ram diesels came out ahead in cost of ownership over their gas counterparts.......Gary

 

[buickanddeere]

The good old days of cheap diesel fuel and the Cummins 6BT and ISB vs gassers with carburetors are long gone.
Gassers have become a rather simple engine with just direct injection, camshaft phase changing, a couple of cat converters and some o2 sensors making up the entire emissions system.

 

[3930dave]

They all take maintenance.

Gassers around here are getting high-mileage enough that I'm seeing cam-phasers being changed out down at my buddy's shop. For a mechanic, Simple Enough. Cheap Fix ? No, as the part alone is spendy.

If you have one, or are looking at buying one used, research about Fuel Dilution in Oil, with DI gas motors. It can be an issue, esp. with the way some people stretch out, or just neglect, oil changes. Good quality diesel oil has been designed for a long time to accomodate a certain % of fuel dilution - this is a relatively new issue for modern gas motor oils. Go back far enough (carburator era), and fuel dilution was a big issue - part of the reason FI gas engines lasted longer was getting fuel dilution in the oil under control. And, that was before gasoline became ethanol contaminated.

TDI is the only long life car diesel on the road here (meaning - the newer offerings like Cruze haven't been around long). Once EGR came into play on TDIs, having to decarbon the intake after lots of miles became routine. Possibly, that issue has been mitigated a bit in the latest gen. TDI.

1) Do the research.

2) Buy what you want.

3) Enjoy it.

The Ride Ain't Free, regardless of what you buy.

Rgds, D.

 

[Msamt]

"The Ride Ain't Free, regardless of what you buy."

Amen brother, we keep forgetting if it goes up and down, or round and round, its gonna wear an need fixing.

 

[ManofStihl]

I just hauled 10,000lbs of hay with my Duramax. I got 14 mpg. I use to haul about 8,000lbs of hay with my 3/4 ton gasser. 7mpg. I couldn't afford to haul hay with a gas truck!

 

[3930dave]

With the newer diesels many experts are recommending you add on a coolant filter.

Other than the filtering aspect, the nice thing about having a coolant filter in place is that it is an easy way to treat the system with SCA. Fleetguard for one supplies coolant filters with varying levels of cavitation corrosion additives built-in.

Interestingly, I've seen references to cavitation corrosion occurring in gas engines - apparently it's not just a diesel problem.

Rgds, D.