3/4 ton mpg empty?

[KiotiKowboy]

A little off topic....

JJZ - Looking at your avatar. You've just got to love a Golden They are wonderful additions to the family.

 

[roadhunter]

Laffin. The meltdown continues.

 

[roadhunter]

A little off topic, but this is what I'm doing now. Got a 2007 Crown Vic police interceptor to save miles on my new F250, as I plan on keeping for several years.

Nice. Have you seen "lets be cops"?

 

[JJZ 109]

A little off topic....

JJZ - Looking at your avatar. You've just got to love a Golden They are wonderful additions to the family.

I had 2 of them for a total of 14 years. The girl pictured passed 12/31/12. Had 13 wonderful years with her. But sorta on topic, she rode a million miles in my pickup trucks!

Nice. Have you seen "lets be cops"?

Nope. But I did park it in the driveway of the empty lot that I own next door to my home. Had a good time sitting in the garage drinking beer and watching the brake lights come on all evening.

 

[TX0303]

The OP was inquiring about "newer" diesel trucks, so I assume he meant 5 yrs old or less. A lot of the MPG posts have been from guys having trucks from the 90s or early 2000s. A "newer" truck is never going to get the same mileage as those because of all the emissions stuff they have to have and all the extra fuel needed to keep the EGTs up so the cat and dpf operate correctly. I am sure technology will catch up some day, but not yet.
That said, I have a 2004 Dodge 2500, built in 2003 so no cat, automatic, 4wd, 4.10 axles. I average 21mpg on the hiway unloaded all the time. Best things I did to improve mileage was: cold air intake with high flow filter +1mpg, tonneau cover +1mpg. Currently have about 260k miles on it.

 

[motownbrowne]

The OP was inquiring about "newer" diesel trucks, so I assume he meant 5 yrs old or less. A lot of the MPG posts have been from guys having trucks from the 90s or early 2000s. A "newer" truck is never going to get the same mileage as those because of all the emissions stuff they have to have and all the extra fuel needed to keep the EGTs up so the cat and dpf operate correctly. I am sure technology will catch up some day, but not yet.
That said, I have a 2004 Dodge 2500, built in 2003 so no cat, automatic, 4wd, 4.10 axles. I average 21mpg on the hiway unloaded all the time. Best things I did to improve mileage was: cold air intake with high flow filter +1mpg, tonneau cover +1mpg. Currently have about 260k miles on it.

Actually, he never said anything about it being a diesel. In 1995-2003ish buying diesel trucks made lots of sense. Fuel was cheaper, mileage was better. Nowadays, mileage is almost comparable, and the fuel is more expensive. Reliability used to be a big feature too, but that seems to have gone out the window. If I was buying a newer truck, it'd be a gasser, unless I was towing big loads very frequently.

 

[JJZ 109]

In 1995-2003ish buying diesel trucks made lots of sense. Fuel was cheaper, mileage was better. Nowadays, mileage is almost comparable, and the fuel is more expensive. Reliability used to be a big feature too, but that seems to have gone out the window. If I was buying a newer truck, it'd be a gasser, unless I was towing big loads very frequently.

Yup. In my area diesel is approximately 40 to 50 cents more per gallon. Then figure $8k or better for the diesel option. Mileage would have to be some fantastic number to recoup that 8 large.
Just browsing online it does appear that reliability is not what folks think of in the past. Couple that with the much higher cost of diesel repairs and it's the reason that I didn't even consider diesel when I recently got a new F250. That and I only tow heavy loads infrequently.

 

[rd_macgregor]

I'm not sure about this, but I suspect it isn't so much a matter of diesels having become less durable/reliable, but of gasoline engines having become more so. When I was a kid, reaching 100k in a gas-powered car or truck was a big deal; now, wracking up 150k or 200k without major issues isn't too surprising.

 

[JJZ 109]

I'm not sure about this, but I suspect it isn't so much a matter of diesels having become less durable/reliable, but of gasoline engines having become more so. When I was a kid, reaching 100k in a gas-powered car or truck was a big deal; now, wracking up 150k or 200k without major issues isn't too surprising.

I think you may have hit upon a good point there. Heck, as noted in an earlier post I recently bought a 2007 Crown Vic police interceptor to save miles on my new truck. Bought it with 109,000 on the clock. Didn't think twice about it. Runs like a champ and shifts smoothly.

 

[terryknight]

the new diesels are also being plagued by more complex emissions controls that (i feel) reduce reliability. i would never own one without a warranty and when that was up the truck would be gone