Diesel vs gas for truck campers?

Reddog1 wrote:
Personally, I think people put to much responsibility and trust on sales people, especially in the auto industry. Do we expect a grocery store clerk to tell us how to prepare all of the food products they sell? At a hardware store, do you expect a sale employee to know the details of every product? At a automobile sales lot, have you ever looked in the employees parking lot to see if they all drive the same vehicle they sell? Most of us do not like to hear it, but it is our responsibility to do research on what we want. Unfortunately, we typically will buy on impulse if we like the color.

True, many consumers buy on impulse and respond to a product's flash. So, much of the marketing and salesmanship is geared toward that group and little product knowledge is required - just show them something pretty. This may be fine when selling a sedan, mini van or even a sports car, but specialty vehicles that require certain capabilities, especially where safety comes into play, is a whole different story.

My decision making process tends to involve an information gathering period, where I solicit input from multiple sources - word of mouth, "experts" and written sources. I also follow the philosophy of believing nothing of what I hear and 1/2 of what I read. As information is gathered, I compare notes. This phase usually allows for separation of fact and fiction and can sometimes be a challenging process. Prime example - gas or diesel debate. Often, there's no absolute right or wrong answer, but given a person's needs and available resources, one may be a wiser choice than the other.

Still, to compare the expected knowledge of the grocery store clerk to the auto salesperson is a tad strange. When purchasing $10 worth of produce, most consumers are not reliant, or drastically impacted, by the clerks knowledge level. However, when purchasing a $50,000 or $60,000 truck, it is reasonable for consumers to expect some level of product knowledge, especially when specific capabilities are required. Furthermore, the big 3 are constantly touting the beefiness of the vehicles in their advertisements, so the facts behind those numbers should be available on the lot.

I wouldn't expect the sales staff to fully understand the inner workings of the engine and transmission, but payload and tow capacity should be part of their basic training. Also, although I wouldn't expect them to spout off the actual rating for each truck, it's fair to expect a general understanding of the two measures.

Good rule of thumb is to trust, but verify.