Diesel fuel penalty

[Redsky]

I knew when I bought my diesel truck that the cost for the truck was going to be $9,000 more and that I would be paying twice as much for maintenance and repairs, but I did not expect to be paying more for diesel than for premium gas.

I have been checking prices and locations for a trip planned through California, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada this year. I was surprised in checking Pilot truck stop prices how much more they are charging for diesel over premium gas.

In California the difference is on average 8 cents.
In Oregon the difference on average is 22 cents.
In Idaho the difference on average is 55 cents.
In Montana the difference on average is 60 cents.
In Nevada the difference on average is 25 cents.

That difference in cost is twice as great when comparing diesel to the regular gas that a truck would be using. In Montana diesel is 90 cents more per gallon than diesel or 29% more expensive. That pretty much wipes out any gain in fuel economy from having a diesel engine.

[RAS43]

RinconVTR wrote:
Everyone is focused on the fuel cost vs all the other points the OP brings up. Interesting.

The OP only brought up the fuel costs. What other points?

[RinconVTR]

Everyone is focused on the fuel cost vs all the other points the OP brings up. Interesting.

[crickeydog]

Nobody buys a turbo diesel for just the MPG. That by itself is a total waste of money and everybody knows it!!! As for the price of diesel fuel??? It is what it is.

You buy a diesel for the mass moving, git the job done, trailer towin, MH pushin, ground poundin, stump jumpin, junk yard dog bitin, a$$ kickin, high altitude thin air suckin, straight razor toten, slap yer mama, head butt yer cousin, shoot yer bro in law, 7% grade climbin, 7% grade descending, gut bustin, mother lovin, over built massive torque & grunt when yer towin a heavy load!!! Meanwhile at 60 mph, yer sipping yer favorite libation and enjoyin the passing scenery at elevations and grades even mountain goats don't frequent, passin the gasers on the shoulder puking parts, gas, and antifreeze!!!:B

Thats why diesel owners buy diesels.

Happy camping!!! See y'all down the road!!!:)

[coolbreeze01]

Price difference here today is .32 between reg and diesel. I don't buy fuel at Pilot unless its the only station around, too expensive and inconvenient.

When I bought my first diesel, 40K miles was the break-even point vs gasoline. Hasn't been that way in years. The power and exhaust braking is why I own one today.

[Tom_in_CT]

Redsky wrote:

In California the difference is on average 8 cents.
In Oregon the difference on average is 22 cents.
In Idaho the difference on average is 55 cents.
In Montana the difference on average is 60 cents.
In Nevada the difference on average is 25 cents.

In CT, the difference is 68 cents over premium, 95 cents more than regular. Doesn't seem so bad out there now, does it. 😉

[GoPackGo]

But you should recoup a lot of that on the back end when you sell or trade.

[2oldman]

krobbe wrote:
Buy a diesel for tow power. Not to save money.

That's about it. It's a $3k-4k premium up front too.

[krobbe]

Buy a diesel for tow power. Not to save money. Diesel around West Mich is 40 to 50 cents more. That's like $18 a tank for me!

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

Also most V-8 diesels will last well past 250k miles or more before you need to start worrying about rebuilding the upper end, 500k on the Cummins. Plus longer oil change intervals. So even if the increased mileage is nigated, your still ahead with a diesel. Unless you trade vehicles every couple years that is.

Don

[WyoTraveler]

In about 2001 when I had my diesel PU and a 5ver I was paying about 99 cents for diesel and about $1.20 for gas. That has changed in recent years because they can. Basically because no more big gas engines and many more diesels on the road.

[GoPackGo]

Many years ago I remember reading that, in general, a diesel engine will get about 33% better fuel mileage when compared to a COMPARABLE gasoline engined vehicle.

It's a little difficult to do an exact comparison, but I do remember way back when VW was selling both a gas and diesel Rabbit. As I recall, the diesel version did get about 33% better fuel economy - my 5-speed diesel version would get an honest 60 mpg at 60 mph. So I figure if diesel fuel is no more then 33% more expensive, then I come out ahead by driving a diesel engined vehicle.

Tim

[BB_TX]

Bought my first diesel truck in 2004. Diesel was cheaper than gas.
Two months after I bought it diesel was higher than regular gas.
A couple years later diesel was higher than premium gas.
Right now diesel runs $0.50 to $0.60 higher than regular gas around here.

[mowermech]

Interesting.
Around here, diesel is usually 50 to 60 cents higher than the advertised price for unleaded regular gasoline. Regular (85.5 octane) is running about $3.199 right now, diesel is about $3.699.

By the way, I just checked gaspricewatch.com, and they are WRONG! Totally, completely, across the board WRONG! They say their prices were updated an hour ago. They also say the price of regular varies from $3.02 to $3.11. THAT is funny! Gas and diesel prices around town rarely vary more than a cent or two, 4 cents at the most, unless they are going up or down. The price for regular just jumped from $3.099 up to the current $3.199 last week.

EDIT: On the way to town tonight, I noticed that the Cenex stations had jumped to $3.259, so I stopped on the way home and filled up at the Holiday station. It was still $3.199 there, $3.229 for mid-grade.
Diesel, IIRC, is a little over $4.

[dodgerthedog]

I bought my truck just for my camper... But I tell you what compared to what I get in my 2500 gas suburban compared to my 2500 HD Truck... I take the truck everytime.... Plus I like the brakes much better in the truck compared to the Suburban....

Mike C.

[fla-gypsy]

In North Florida it is a minimum of $.50 more than regular and higher than premium.