Been doing a little posting about tow vehicles and have a question along with asking for suggestions. First, I'm looking at used and budget is around $25k. I'm looking for something around 100k and prefer Dodge or Chevy. Leaning towards Chevy because I've owned enough Dodge and tried of rebuilding transmissions. However if someone knows anything about the Dodge transmission that can prevent it from going bad then I wouldn't mind getting a Dodge. So my question is if I get a Chevy 2008 or newer with 100k should I expect to change injectors sooner than later or are they lasting longer? Another question, how hard is it to rebuild an injector and when you buy a rebuild kit for injectors will it rebuild all injectors or only one? Now with just these questions I'm sure I'm missing something so I also ask for suggestions on what to look for besides blow by however with that I'm still learning how to look for it so any pointers on how to find that would be nice also. This will be my first purchase of diesel and I would like a good experience I'm super excited about this but also very nervous.Thanks Chad

Any of the 6.7L Rams with the 68RFE automatics are nearly bulletproof as long as a PO did not add a tuner and run it to death. The 68RFE is as strong or stronger as the Allison with fewer warrenty problems. But since its your money, go buy what YOU like best.

For chevy-Try the forums at www.dieselplace.com look for the medium duty forum. Most of the folks who post on this forum use their trucks to tow heavy loads, many are transporters so they put lots of miles on their trucks. You'll get the answers you are looking for regarding the Duramax and Allison.

When I was shopping used trucks the issue I ran into was the Cummins and Duramax both held their value too well to be worth buying used. Basically I'd be trading $8-10k for 80k+ miles and several years of use, which wasn't worth it to me compared to buying new with a full warranty. My hope is that I keep this truck a long time.One option I considered but ultimately opted against was buying a used 6.0/6.4 Powerstroke and then spending a few thousand to bulletproof it. From what I found the Powerstrokes, especially pre-6.7, really depreciated a lot faster so the prices were lower. There's a reason for that of course but it's an option to consider.I guess one other thing to consider is the emissions stuff. On the earlier generation diesels they didn't seem to have things sorted out too well compared to the new ones, so there could be issues to deal with there unless you live in an area where have the option of deleting. Check out cumminsforum.com for some feedback from Ram owners.

IdaD wrote:When I was shopping used trucks the issue I ran into was the Cummins and Duramax both held their value too well to be worth buying used. Basically I'd be trading $8-10k for 80k+ miles and several years of use, which wasn't worth it to me compared to buying new with a full warranty. My hope is that I keep this truck a long time.One option I considered but ultimately opted against was buying a used 6.0/6.4 Powerstroke and then spending a few thousand to bulletproof it. From what I found the Powerstrokes, especially pre-6.7, really depreciated a lot faster so the prices were lower. There's a reason for that of course but it's an option to consider.I guess one other thing to consider is the emissions stuff. On the earlier generation diesels they didn't seem to have things sorted out too well compared to the new ones, so there could be issues to deal with there unless you live in an area where have the option of deleting. Check out cumminsforum.com for some feedback from Ram owners.I agree my son just bought a new 2015 Ram, traded in his 2008 Dodge Cummins that he paid 37K for , and they gave him 31K on trade in . He could of sold it outright for even more, but it worked out nearly as good on the sales tax .I too was looking at a year or two used truck, soon found out its well worth buying new, not enough deprecation to make it worth it.

When I was hunting for a used diesel, my mechanics mentioned that the vast majority of their diesel repair was focused on the emission stuff..so I went pre '07 ..no DEF either...so far, so good...

Guide To Buying a Diesel | Good Sam Community

13 Replies

IdaD
Explorer
Aug 18, 2015
When I was shopping used trucks the issue I ran into was the Cummins and Duramax both held their value too well to be worth buying used. Basically I'd be trading $8-10k for 80k+ miles and several years of use, which wasn't worth it to me compared to buying new with a full warranty. My hope is that I keep this truck a long time.

One option I considered but ultimately opted against was buying a used 6.0/6.4 Powerstroke and then spending a few thousand to bulletproof it. From what I found the Powerstrokes, especially pre-6.7, really depreciated a lot faster so the prices were lower. There's a reason for that of course but it's an option to consider.

I guess one other thing to consider is the emissions stuff. On the earlier generation diesels they didn't seem to have things sorted out too well compared to the new ones, so there could be issues to deal with there unless you live in an area where have the option of deleting.

Check out cumminsforum.com for some feedback from Ram owners.
the_bear_II
Explorer
Aug 18, 2015
For chevy-

Try the forums at www.dieselplace.com look for the medium duty forum. Most of the folks who post on this forum use their trucks to tow heavy loads, many are transporters so they put lots of miles on their trucks. You'll get the answers you are looking for regarding the Duramax and Allison.
donn0128
Explorer II
Aug 18, 2015
Any of the 6.7L Rams with the 68RFE automatics are nearly bulletproof as long as a PO did not add a tuner and run it to death. The 68RFE is as strong or stronger as the Allison with fewer warrenty problems. But since its your money, go buy what YOU like best.

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Guide To Buying a Diesel

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