How many miles for a used diesel truck?
Hello all. Wife and I will be starting from scratch in about one more year. My question is this: Since we will be buying a used tow vehicle, what is a sensible amount of mileage on a diesel truck t...
Forum Discussion
In choosing between a used Ford and a used Ram diesel truck I would go with the Ram for anything built before 2011. I would try to buy an extended warranty for any used diesel pickup. Repairs are more than twice as expensive for a diesel engine than a gas engine (maintenance is more than twice as expensive as well). If the head gasket goes the repair cost can be $8,000 or more. If the injectors fail the cost for repairs is around $800 and injector. Diesel engines also have water pumps and alternators and emissions controls that can and do fail. An air conditioner repair can cost over $1200 in parts and labor. If the prior owner(s) used a tuner to get more horsepower the transmission will have been overstressed and you can pay over $3,000 to have it rebuilt.
For towing more than 12,000 lbs. a diesel engine with its greater torque and exhaust brake is worth the premium cost to buy, maintain, and repair. For less than that a large block V-8 with 4.10 gears is a better choice.
Check out the diesel forums for the Ram trucks and for the Ford trucks and you will get some idea as to the problems with certain model year runs. With the pre 2010 Fords for example the transmissions were trouble free but the engines had excessive problems as did the engine cooling, drive system, fuel system, electrical system.
Consumer Reports surveys all the vehicles of all its members each year and the members provide the make and model and year and note any repairs or problems with their cars and trucks. It provides a good way to compare reliability and cost to own of vehicles overall due to the large number of vehicles involved. With a 1000 trucks there are going to be 200 people with no big problems and 200 people who paid dearly. Forums and individual owners experiences reported on the forums are not going to provide an accurate picture of the reliability of vehicles.
Consumer Reports also has a listing of used cars and trucks to avoid. That list includes the Ram 2500 & 3500 diesel pickup trucks 2007 to 2011, and the Ford diesel pickups F-250 & F-350 for model years 2004 to 2011. These are not 100% reliable in that "problems" are not weighted based on cost or severity but they can raise a red flag that more diligence and research is needed before buying one of these trucks.
Diesel engines are changed more radically and more often than gas engines. Gas engines where changed in the 1970's to run with unleaded gas and later to be able to burn gas with ethanol safely, but that is about it. GM with its Duramax diesel engines introduced 5 new models from 2003 to 2011. Each engine has had its own set of shortcomings.
There are also surveys done of repair shops which provide the very best information but these surveys are difficult to find online. Talking to local independent diesel repair shops is one alternative.
For towing more than 12,000 lbs. a diesel engine with its greater torque and exhaust brake is worth the premium cost to buy, maintain, and repair. For less than that a large block V-8 with 4.10 gears is a better choice.
Check out the diesel forums for the Ram trucks and for the Ford trucks and you will get some idea as to the problems with certain model year runs. With the pre 2010 Fords for example the transmissions were trouble free but the engines had excessive problems as did the engine cooling, drive system, fuel system, electrical system.
Consumer Reports surveys all the vehicles of all its members each year and the members provide the make and model and year and note any repairs or problems with their cars and trucks. It provides a good way to compare reliability and cost to own of vehicles overall due to the large number of vehicles involved. With a 1000 trucks there are going to be 200 people with no big problems and 200 people who paid dearly. Forums and individual owners experiences reported on the forums are not going to provide an accurate picture of the reliability of vehicles.
Consumer Reports also has a listing of used cars and trucks to avoid. That list includes the Ram 2500 & 3500 diesel pickup trucks 2007 to 2011, and the Ford diesel pickups F-250 & F-350 for model years 2004 to 2011. These are not 100% reliable in that "problems" are not weighted based on cost or severity but they can raise a red flag that more diligence and research is needed before buying one of these trucks.
Diesel engines are changed more radically and more often than gas engines. Gas engines where changed in the 1970's to run with unleaded gas and later to be able to burn gas with ethanol safely, but that is about it. GM with its Duramax diesel engines introduced 5 new models from 2003 to 2011. Each engine has had its own set of shortcomings.
There are also surveys done of repair shops which provide the very best information but these surveys are difficult to find online. Talking to local independent diesel repair shops is one alternative.
