It is surprising to me that is so much resistance to diesels in this country, mostly by people that have never driven one.
In the a lot of the West diesel costs the same as regular gas. The cost of maintenance is not that different. With diesels you need fuel filters and more quarts of oil. With gas engines you need spark plugs.
A diesel costs more upfront but maintains its value much better, gets better mileage, and lasts much longer with more torque.
With some bolt on parts my 7.3 liter Ford has gotten 23.8 mpg empty on flat ground. It gets 18 pulling a boat, about 15 pulling a trailer and around 13 pulling a heavier trailer. It is going up in value. After 16 years it is still worth over half of what I paid for it new.
The new small diesels are dependable engines with modern gear boxes with plenty of gears. I would love to own one, but will wait until there are some used ones around. There is no reason a small diesel truck can't get more like 28-30 mpg empty. They are plenty strong enough to pull modern trailers.
