Are diesels worth it, for costs per mile?
Was at a car dealer out of town, and the dealer (name with-held to protect the guilty) was trying to warn me away from a diesel on the 3500 models he was selling, unless I had at least $15,000 a year ...
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If the dealership is throwing out numbers like $15,000 a year, they are trying to get you into another vehicle, like the ones they ordered and can not sell.
My guess is they ran out of diesel trucks, and now only have gas ones for sale. For years, Ford has sold 2 diesels for each gas truck they produce in the 250 - 550 series of trucks. What is surprising is that many municipalities are now buying gas F-450 and F-550 trucks for use with very low cost compressed Natural Gas! Cost is about $3 per gallon (120,000 Btu's of fuel).
Some cities are replacing heavier dump trucks with ones built on the much lighter F-550 chassis. It carries about 4 tons less, but the truck curb weight is about 5 tons less, so overall they are saving a lot of money by getting much better fuel mileage.
Diesels will cost more per year, not nearly as much as that dealer quoted you. They do have a huge horsepower advantage. The smaller 6.2L gas engines will make a lot more power than a 1990 diesel truck, but modern diesels now have transmissions strong enough to allow much more power being put to the wheels.
Fred.
My guess is they ran out of diesel trucks, and now only have gas ones for sale. For years, Ford has sold 2 diesels for each gas truck they produce in the 250 - 550 series of trucks. What is surprising is that many municipalities are now buying gas F-450 and F-550 trucks for use with very low cost compressed Natural Gas! Cost is about $3 per gallon (120,000 Btu's of fuel).
Some cities are replacing heavier dump trucks with ones built on the much lighter F-550 chassis. It carries about 4 tons less, but the truck curb weight is about 5 tons less, so overall they are saving a lot of money by getting much better fuel mileage.
Diesels will cost more per year, not nearly as much as that dealer quoted you. They do have a huge horsepower advantage. The smaller 6.2L gas engines will make a lot more power than a 1990 diesel truck, but modern diesels now have transmissions strong enough to allow much more power being put to the wheels.
Fred.
