Fuelly mileage of the big three diesels

ShinerBock wrote:

32vld wrote:


Spending $5,000 more plus the added interest on the higher overall price for a diesel
to sell a vehicle for $5,000 more minus the added interest leaves one with getting
less than $5,000 back at resale.

spending more so sell for more 10 years later, incurring higher interest charges
is not smart financial planning.

I said more than $5,000 because you generally receive roughly 60-80% of what you paid for an upgrade back in resale. This goes for any option like the $10-11k high trim options, $3k on a 4wd option, $2.5k crew cab option, or even $2.5k going from the base gas engine to a premium gas engine. However, you never fully recoup that money spent on these options at resale and in some cases ,like 4wd and premium gas engine options, you end up spending more over the life of the vehicle due to lower fuel mileage and higher maintenance costs.

With diesels, you not only recoup 60-80% of the upfront costs like all the other options, but you also recoup it in fuel mileage as well. So unlike those premium gas engine options that cost $3-4k over the base engines and even more in the long run, with a diesel you get more power and most if not all of the up front cost will be paid back through fuel mileage if you keep it long enough or through fuel mileage and resale if you don't.

Spending more money so you can resell used for more money is bad financial
planning. Years ago I was on a landscape forum where people pulled trailers
all the time.

Many were pro diesel. They could not see past that diesels had more torque.

They ignored that diesels cost more to repair and do maintenance.
They ignored that that the weight of their trailer, 48", 36", and 21" mowers, a back
back blower, line trimer, stick edger, gas cans weighed 2,000 lbs
They ignored that many of them of drove 5,000 miles a year to do their route.
They ignored that 90% of the driving was local low speed roads, not high speed
highways.

They ignored doing the math. They just recited diesels got better MPG.

Just taking the difference between the high purchase price for a diesel, diesel fuel
costs more than gas, combine these with driving 10,000 miles a year it would take
the diesel with better MPG to reach the break even point 10 years for the diesel
to paid back that higher purchase price.

How many people drive towing a camper, carrying a truck camper 10,000 miles
a year? I bet most people RV on the 500 - 1,000 miles a year.

A 100 year payback to reach the break even point is not worth it. To me a 10 year
payback/break even point is not worth it.