Research results on Gas vs Diesel mpg costs...surprised!!
I have a 2011 6.0 gas hd2500 that gets pathetic mileage and I had been thinking about going to a diesel. I recently drove by myself from St Louis to Baltimore....16 hours. Being board, i started keeping track of the difference in cost between gas and diesel fuel as I passed the truck stops on the hiway. I noted the difference in price at 104 truck stops from Indiana to Maryland. At a few, there was no price difference, and the worst was $1.04 difference, gas always being cheaper. The overall average for 104 stations was $.55/gallon, diesel being higher than gasoline.
Having several friends that have diesel trucks (mostly Fords and some GMs and one Cummins), I took a poll of 12 people to get their real world mpg numbers.
My 6.0 gas engine gets 14 mpg average and 7 towing. The average for 12 diesel trucks was 17 mpg average and 11 towing.
I used an assumed cost of $4.00/gallon for gas and $4.55/gallon for dieslel and ran a spreadsheet for both.
Using 20,000 miles as a base for average mpg, a gas motor at 14 mpg the total cost at $4.00 is $5714.29. A diesel at 17 mpg the total cost at $4.55 is $5352.94. Advantage diesel for $361.34 after 20,000 miles......supprising??
Using 4,000 miles as a base for towing mpg for a summer season, a gas motot at 7 mpg at $4.00 is $2285.71. A diesel at 11 mpg the total cost is $1654.55. Again, advantage diesel for $631.17......another surprise?!?
Given the maintenance costs of a diesel (oil filter for my 6.0 at Oreilly is $4.29, a oil filter for a Ford diesle is $23.00 as one example) plus the $6000-$8000 extra initial cost for a diesel motor, I absolutely do not see any financial advantage for owning a diesel over 20,000 miles. Even extrapolating the average mpg five time for a total of 100,000 miles, the diesel advantage is less than $2000.....so, it would take 400,000 miles to offset the cost of a dieslel engine's original cost, again not comensating for increased maintenance costs.
Having noted all of this, I know a diesel pulls better, less shifting, etc., etc., etc. But, i keep seeing and hearing how much cheaper diesels are to run. I am not so sure.
I understand that some folks get better diesel mileage, and some get worse. The info I used came from folks that pull 7000-9000 pound trailers.
After this research, I think I will be keeping my gas truck. I tow 8000+ pounds at 60-65 mph and it does fine.....
Having several friends that have diesel trucks (mostly Fords and some GMs and one Cummins), I took a poll of 12 people to get their real world mpg numbers.
My 6.0 gas engine gets 14 mpg average and 7 towing. The average for 12 diesel trucks was 17 mpg average and 11 towing.
I used an assumed cost of $4.00/gallon for gas and $4.55/gallon for dieslel and ran a spreadsheet for both.
Using 20,000 miles as a base for average mpg, a gas motor at 14 mpg the total cost at $4.00 is $5714.29. A diesel at 17 mpg the total cost at $4.55 is $5352.94. Advantage diesel for $361.34 after 20,000 miles......supprising??
Using 4,000 miles as a base for towing mpg for a summer season, a gas motot at 7 mpg at $4.00 is $2285.71. A diesel at 11 mpg the total cost is $1654.55. Again, advantage diesel for $631.17......another surprise?!?
Given the maintenance costs of a diesel (oil filter for my 6.0 at Oreilly is $4.29, a oil filter for a Ford diesle is $23.00 as one example) plus the $6000-$8000 extra initial cost for a diesel motor, I absolutely do not see any financial advantage for owning a diesel over 20,000 miles. Even extrapolating the average mpg five time for a total of 100,000 miles, the diesel advantage is less than $2000.....so, it would take 400,000 miles to offset the cost of a dieslel engine's original cost, again not comensating for increased maintenance costs.
Having noted all of this, I know a diesel pulls better, less shifting, etc., etc., etc. But, i keep seeing and hearing how much cheaper diesels are to run. I am not so sure.
I understand that some folks get better diesel mileage, and some get worse. The info I used came from folks that pull 7000-9000 pound trailers.
After this research, I think I will be keeping my gas truck. I tow 8000+ pounds at 60-65 mph and it does fine.....
