Fuelly mileage of the big three diesels
It appears the new 10 speed in the Fords made a significant impact in catching up with the Cummins fuel mileage in the 2500's. Although it is still too little info in all of the new 2020 models to te...
Forum Discussion
ShinerBock wrote:theoldwizard1 wrote:
The initial cost difference for a diesel engine is huge. Add in the cost of DEF and those 4-5 GALLON oil changes and oil filter that cost TRIPLE a standard oil filter and that is a LOT of $$$.
Unless you drive 50K+/year AND tow/haul heavy loads, anyone shopping for a new truck should consider a Ford Super Duty with the 7.3L gas and 10 speed transmission.
So what are the numbers? Calculate initial cost, total fuel costs, DEF costs, maintenance, taxes, registration, interest rates, and resale trade in after 100k miles. I did, and came out ahead with my Ram 2500 Cummins over the 6.4L 2500 using both 87 octane and the higher 89 octane that was recommended. The total cost on the 5.7L was lower though.
So what are your numbers? I don't know about you, but I would gladly pay for a more powerful engine upgrade if it only cost less than $1,500 over the course of 5 years/100k. Many pay more than that on engine upgrades in half tons.
What your chart is missing is the historical average cost of diesel vs gas which for as long as I can remember diesel has been ~$0.60/gal more than gas and if you keep your truck after the warranty period I would think you should include the average cost of repairs/miles driven in which this data could be difficult to obtain, but should be part of the equation.
My family knows a local oil service company that converted all their 2500 SRW trucks to gas trucks, because they grew tired of the emissions related repairs on their diesel trucks. They've been running their fleet this way for over 5 years now.
