Ford F150 is going Powerstroke Diesel

theoldwizard1 wrote:


You probably need to drive at least 50k/year and hauling/towing a load most of the time for diesel to pay off in ANY PICKUP TRUCK !

I would not say "ANY PICKUP TRUCK".  Then what happens to the $4,000-6,000 that you can sale a diesel HD pickup for at resale over the gas version?  Does that just disappear or does it does it go back into the "pay off".  Then factor in that you get much greater towing performance for those many years and the small amount that you pay up in the long run starts to become worth it. 

Diesel HD truck: better towing performance, but higher up front cost
Purchase price: $50,000
Fuel cost over 100k(diesel being $3.00 and 16 mpg): $20,800
Resale 5 years later:$31,000

Total cost: $39,800


Gas HD Trucks: Lower up front cost, but less towing performance.
Purchase price: $42,000
Fuel cost over 100K(with gas being $2.50 at 12 mpg): $25,000
Resale 5 years later: $26,000

Total cost:$41,000
 

These are just basic numbers and not factoring in preventive maintenance among some other things, but are roughly in the ball park of what to expect of an HD truck in terms of value. So as you can see, with only recouping $5k of the $8k up front cost will put you ahead at 100k when all of the diesel warranties end.  And this is with diesel being $.50 higher which is generally only during the winter and is only about $.25 higher in the summer according to the Department of Energy data. 

All this and you get better towing performance, but this is not the case for the small diesels in half tons where you get lower towing performance than the gas equivalent and the amount saved is generally less.