Who Daily Drivers their diesel TV?

We are on our third diesel pickup, all 4x4 RAMs. 1993, 2001.5 and now a 2015. The first tow were driven as second cars and the new 2015 has become our vehicle of choice over our Buick Rainier SUV. We are in Arizona for the winter and I fueled up yesterday at 350 miles and mileage was 18.5 MPG. Not bad for a vehicle that is weighing around 8500 pounds with the 5th wheel hitch and "stuff" in the boxes.

Use of DEF when not towing is very low. It is a dream to drive loaded or bobtail. Chris

Currently doing about 6-8 trips a year. Living in Chicago cuts our season pretty short.

I should note I am not partial to any of the big 3 currently... I am looking to buy new, so it sounds like they all have a headache of emissions ****. All you need to do is google diesel issues and you get presented with a plethora of emissions issues.

The 5.7 in the Tundra seems OK on power, but could use more. If I decide to keep it, I will be putting a TRD supercharger on it, which would bring me close to diesel power without the emissions headaches. I would still have the payload issue though.

Well, I'll jump in. I have a 2014 Chevy diesel, 3500 duly. I use it as a daily driver. We also have a Chevy Equinox (gas) we use as a daily driver. We are a 2 vehicle family, we need 2 vehicles. My wife and I both live about 25 miles from our place of employment. Most times we can drive together, but sometimes we must drive separate.

Because of where we live (in the country, NE of Indianapolis),and we drive country roads, we absolutely needed something to get us through the snow. Our roads, sometimes, just don't get plowed out very well. When that happens, we don't even consider taking the car, its always the truck. For those days, there's no option. The car stays parked.

But the reason for getting the diesel duly was not for the purpose of using it as a daily driver, it was so we would have the towing capability for our camper. As a daily driver, that's secondary. It was MORE important to have the towing capacity than the daily driver. If the truck tows only once a year, it's worth it! I would not want to tow with anything less.

Now that fuel prices have dropped considerably, driving the diesel duly is MUCH more enjoyable as a daily driver. For the most part, the car has remained parked for several weeks now. I actually drove it a couple days ago, just to make sure the battery was still charged (it was).

We (both) love the truck. We have no problems or issues using it as a daily driver.

Now ... here's another thing ... repairs.... I'm on my 2nd diesel dualy now. Other than oil changes and a battery in my previous dualy, I've no repairs ... for what ... over 10 years! Really.

The reason we traded the previous truck was because the body was fiberglass. The fiberglass fat fenders were beginning to get really bad spider cracks in them. I was afraid they would someday just crumble off. So before that happened, and it still had good resale value, we traded for a brand new one (in my signature below). It came with a 2 year 24,000 oil change and maintenance plan (4 oil changes), and bumper to bumper for ... well ... a long, long time.

When I had my last oil change (about 2 weeks ago), I asked my GM service guy what that oil change would have cost if I paid for it. 10 quarts of oil, their labor, all fluids filled up, inspection, ties rotated, = $80.00.

I think you will find that any of the big 3 HD truck manufacturers put out a quality product with diesel power trains. My 2015 GMC Sierra 3500HD Duramax has been flawless for 22k miles now and is also my daily driver. I make sure I use quality fuel.
I don't see myself going back to a gas tow vehicle any time soon. Going to diesel is a personal decision. As long as you are willing to pony up the extra $9k for diesel, you will not regret it.

In my opinion, that notion of not driving diesels under load often is unwarranted for today's trucks. I know of people who drive diesel trucks and they don't tow a thing. They just like having a big truck.

Today's diesels require DEF fluid but that's no big deal. Oil changes are more expensive just because they use more oil. But it isn't required until around 7500 miles.

If you do much camping, the benefits of having it when the load is back there is worth it.