OH48Lt wrote:
Been buying 0W-40 oil for years. The wife's 2003 Polaris 500HO ATV requires it. Always thought that was a little strange, but that's what the manufacturer wants.
As far as diesels being cheaper to run than gas engines, that's pure hockey. No way does the little bit of fuel mileage make up for the 20% premium you get to pay for diesel fuel. Maintenance is 3 times more expensive, at least, and is required at about the same intervals as a gas engine. Couldn't go over 7K miles on my last diesel without getting a bad report from Blackstone Labs, and the oil and filter cost me over $100 each time and I was doing the work. Now I don't pay over $32 out the door for oil and filter changes at a Ford dealer, and that includes a tire rotation. Factor in the two fuel filters, and diesels are much more expensive to run.
Lets show a little math and see how hockey it is for "me" and the "brand of truck I have.":
Oil filter every 10K miles= 5 to 7 bucks.
My manufacture spec's dino oil so, oil 10 qts every 10K miles= 30 bucks (Rotella 15/40)
Fuel filter every 15K= 30 bucks
Air filter. I think it's like 80 bucks but I don't know because mine has never been changed because the filter minder shows no restriction yet at 80K.
The tranny fluid and rear end lube has to be changed just like a gas engine truck so that is a wash.
Now lets talk about fuel economy.
Around here diesel is about 10 to 20 cents cheaper than regular right now. This is an anomaly. For years and years diesel has averaged about 25 to 30 cents higher in my area. Sometimes higher, sometimes lower but with an average of about 25 cents higher is a good guess.
Because of it's higher BTU content and no pumping losses my diesel gets 30% better economy than my gas trucks towing the exact same load.
Even using your figures of 20% more cost in fuel, I have netted over the years a 10% cost savings for every mile driven. So in 80,000 miles I have saved over $2,000 dollars in fuel expenses alone.
This is why it's so important to get a certain brand of truck (and even model engine model of the same brand)for the lowest maintenance cost.
Your truck was a pig on maintenance. (I bet I can guess what engine you had by the figures you have thrown out) I get that because certain brands and models are. But rest assured, they are not all that way by no means. :)