In actual practice the maintenance cost of my 2002 duramax pickup ( bought new ) has been maybe 5 % higher than my previous 6 pickups .
The 2002 does not have a jake brake but the 17.5 compression and the versatile allison transmission work great for serious compression braking down hills .
The brake shoes have never been replaced nor have the fuel injectors .
Humungous disk brakes just are not taxed to their limits like the half ton can be .
I have paid for my 10 quarts of oil at each change at my local dealer instead of the 5 in a gasser .
I have changed the tranny fluid and filters , flushed the radiator , changed the differential fluids by the book at the dealer .
The extra expense is the $90 fuel filter change every couple of years .
Diesel fuel costs more but i get 19 on the road instead of 12 that I got with my 454 vortec 7400 in a similar truck .
The diesel is quieter than my gasser on the road because the rpm is about 60 % of the gasser .
I was buying a new big block gasser every 5 years until i got this duramax .
It has been cheaper because I have little motivation to just get a new one .
520 ft lbs torque in a 12 year old diesel is still more than a brand new gasser .
