Reminder - Cost of Ownership of Gas vs Diesel

[MossRoad]

$6000 option? I wish. It's double that on a new truck.

Chris

YIKES!!!

I went through this excersice back in the 80's when gas prices spiked. The savings from fuel alone just wasn't there.

 

[Diamondpilot]

In my area the price difference was about $0.53 per gallon. DP, I don't doubt your numbers.

The main point I'm trying to make is people keep throwing around numbers to prove a point, they throw out opinions, but the truth is they don't have a clue what they are talking about. They haven't kept exact records and run the numbers.

DP you said you kept track of every dime you have put in your vehicles. You have hundreds of thousands of miles on these vehicles. Let's ignore the initial cost and the resale value. Just maintance and fuel cost. What is the cost per mile of these. My guess is you can't or won't crunch the numbers, it's a lot of work. I admit I don't have the numbers.

There is a guy on the Cummins forum that has close to 1,000,000 miles on his truck. He is a hot shotter. He has kept track of every expense on his truck, every drop of fuel. He got over 900,000 miles out of his original engine without a rebuild. He averaged well over 200,000 miles on injectors. This guy knows exactly how much his truck has cost per mile.

I actually posted the numbers just a few weeks ago on my current two trucks. It's in the 3/4 vs 1/2 ton thread. I bumped it so you can see.

My F350 is $.295 per mile. This is just fuel, oil, and last set of tires.

My F150 is $.197 per mile. Again, fuel oil and tires.

Brakes, air filters, ect are a wash actually and both have been trouble free for 120,000 and 45,000 miles respectively.

Chris

 

[dodge man]

Sorry, not a fair comparison. One is a 1 ton the other is a 1/2 ton. A better comparison would be your 1/2 ton Eco boost to a Ram Ecodiesel.

 

[Capricious]

I "topped off" with gasoline this morning in Missouri @ $2.619

Same place was selling #2 diesel @ $3.429

"Topped-off' again this morning, same place.

$2.569 for gasoline, still $3.429 for #2

Since this is the end of "driving season" and the beginning of "heating season," this time of year usually has the biggest disparity between the two around these parts.

The biggest difference I have seen is an even dollar, and one time #2 was about 5 cents cheaper than gasoline, but those were both short-term events.

I have said it before, but if I needed to tow heavy loads all the time I would probably go diesel, but for just occasional towing it's gasoline, and if I don't need the capacity of the truck (such as for daily commuting) then the Toyota Corolla gets the miles.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Sorry, not a fair comparison. One is a 1 ton the other is a 1/2 ton. A better comparison would be your 1/2 ton Eco boost to a Ram Ecodiesel.

Boy, can't make you happy! I called your bluff on you calling me out to post numbers, which I had done a few weeks ago, and when the results didn't go your way you change your story or rules of the game.

Not a far comparison there either. The Fiat Ram would get spanked when it came to work or hauling more than 4 people at a time.

Chris

 

[dodge man]

Your right you can't make me happy.

I just put tires on my wife's car, spent $1000. I drove it one mile, the cost is then $1000 per mile. Gas vehicles are expensive aren't they. Yes you posted numbers on cost per mile but based on what?

You compare your one ton to your half ton gasser, I say that isn't fair, compare it to a half ton diesel. You then go on to tell me how much more work you truck can do compared to an Ecodiesel. Should we compare a Priusus to an 18 wheeler?

A university did a study. I read it, they seem to do a good job. I'm sure there are holes on it but there is in any study. I would consider Michigan to be a respected school. Then people start throwing around ideas and numbers based on what?

I believe you have said in the past you don't break your diesel out to tow anything less than 10,000 pounds. You then wonder why I don't buy into your comparison between it and your 1/2 ton.

 

[wawajake]

Some people have their minds made up and their biases will always overwhelm........ Dodge man I applaud your attempt to bring reasoning into the debate, but sometimes a "pilot" is actually a "pylon" .

 

[dodge man]

I rarely get into these arguments, it's like beating your head against the wall.

I'm a land surveyor but my degree is in Civil Engineering. When we design a bridge, we don't say "steel beams rule, concrete beams drool". We sit down and look at the cost difference, short and long term maintance, ease of construction etc. We don't sit around and argue which kind of beam is better.

 

[wawajake]

Although a different career, I have been a Senior Buyer for many years now and we go out of our way to avoid evaluator bias when deciding best value for our money. Unfortunately on TBN bias rules.

 

[zing]

Saudi Arabia just dropped a barrel of crude's value to the lowest price since 2007. Gas and diesel prices are currently on a roller coaster, and not necessarily riding the same peaks and valleys at the same moment in time. Using today's gas vs diesel price to calculate long term cost of ownership is probably not appropriate since it is not a realistic representation of the comparative cost in the long run.