dodge ecodeisel or ford f150 ecoboost

rd_macgregor · Mar 16, 2016

My wife got a Ram ecodiesel truck last summer when our old Sierra crapped out. I was lobbying for the Ecoboost, but she never even got around to a test drive, after trying the Ram. With only about 8000 km, she is getting just over 10 l/100km (roughly 23mpg); this drops to about 13 l/100km (18 mpg) when we tow the 2-horse trailer. Although the Ram is quite comfortable and does fine for our uses, I think the ecoboost would have been a much more competent towing vehicle, overall.
The smaller Ecoboost might be a better comparison to the Ecodiesel...what do others think?
The torque of the ecodiesel is impressive, but it falls short on HP...the ecodiesel is 240hp/420fp vs. 325hp/375fp for the 2.7l ecoboost and 365hp/420fp for the 3.5l ecoboost. The horsepower difference is significant in acceleration, passing, maintaining speed on a grade, etc.

check · Mar 16, 2016

Great thread. Will be watching it closely, because I may have to decide whether or not to get the 3.5 L eco-boost in the Ford F150 soon.

tcartwri · Mar 16, 2016

I had high hopes for the ecodiesel, and even test drove one with serious consideration of trading my 14 Hemi for it. Unfortunately the up-charge is even worse in Canada, $5700 over the v-6 gasser and $4500 over the Hemi... which prompted me to write a cheery letter to Fiat Canada consumer affairs. Their reply was along the lines of " we can charge it, so we will ".

Then there have been some real horror stories of catastrophic failures with a large enough number of trucks to make you wary.. No parts, no replacement engines and sometimes months of waiting for your brand new truck to be fixed...

I'm still considering it for next fall maybe. Hopefully they have sorted out the bugs and supply problems by then.

Btw, they will touch 30 mpg in steady highway driving.... which is all I do.

bdog · Mar 16, 2016

The Nissan is very interesting but the reviews are only showing 17-18mpg. My duramax dually is getting 16. Not much improvement. I have read some stuff on the ram eco diesel in the30mpg range.

wawajake · Mar 16, 2016

Farmboy00. ...It looks like you are basing your bias against GM on older vehicles. I hope you realize that GM had new design start in 2014 , they ride great (better than my last two Dodges) and the 5.3 litre V8 gets better overall gas mileage than the Ford 6 cylinder. I too wanted the Dodge Ecodiesel , but the dealers around here were given one each (all the rest were the typical hemis) and the Ecodiesel was a shorter box than I wanted and dressed up too much. So be prepared that they might not have in stock a lower base model. Whereas at the Chev or Ram or Ford dealer in gas models you will have way more choices. I like the simplicity of a reliable good gas mileage V8 . and a double cab with 6ft box. so I went with 2014 GMC Sierra (one model up from base model) 18 months ago, zero problems so far.

Fordman1981 · Mar 16, 2016

wawajake said:
Farmboy00. ...It looks like you are basing your bias against GM on older vehicles. I hope you realize that GM had new design start in 2014 , they ride great (better than my last two Dodges) and the 5.3 litre V8 gets better overall gas mileage than the Ford 6 cylinder. I too wanted the Dodge Ecodiesel , but the dealers around here were given one each (all the rest were the typical hemis) and the Ecodiesel was a shorter box than I wanted and dressed up too much. So be prepared that they might not have in stock a lower base model. Whereas at the Chev or Ram or Ford dealer in gas models you will have way more choices. I like the simplicity of a reliable good gas mileage V8 . and a double cab with 6ft box. so I went with 2014 GMC Sierra (one model up from base model) 18 months ago, zero problems so far.

I don't understand people settling for what they can find in the lot. Order a vehicle the way you want it. If you want a base model order a base if you want top of the line order that. If you settle for less than what you want when buying it's more common for people to trade early because they were never truly happy with the vehicle.

wawajake · Mar 16, 2016

I didn't settle, there was enough choice around that I got what I wanted , at time when I needed the vehicle. I needed to trade in the other one because it was due for big expenditures, if I would of had to wait two or three months for ordered truck I would of been hit with repairs I wanted to avoid, many others feel the same, or maybe lease ends and you need to make decision etc etc. Besides I think you get better deal off the lot in many cases. I wanted the one up from base model, so I got the 4 x4 lever on the floor (not switch knob on dash) and not as many gadgets I don't need to learn how to use.

farm boy00 · Mar 16, 2016

wawajake said:
I didn't settle, there was enough choice around that I got what I wanted , at time when I needed the vehicle. I needed to trade in the other one because it was due for big expenditures, if I would of had to wait two or three months for ordered truck I would of been hit with repairs I wanted to avoid, many others feel the same, or maybe lease ends and you need to make decision etc etc. Besides I think you get better deal off the lot in many cases. I wanted the one up from base model, so I got the 4 x4 lever on the floor (not switch knob on dash) and not as many gadgets I don't need to learn how to use.

Honestly that's what he wants. Base line really.

But for the gmc and Chevy. We haven't look at newer then 2014 cause they are out of his price range. Haven't even looked at that new of ford's. Only looked at new dodge cause you can get little to no interest from dodge. They are the only ones that have advertised it. And mostly gmc and Chevy was ruled out because of comfort. If they have changed they way they ride since 2012 we haven't heard. He really needs comfort spending multiple hours a day driving.

Anything besides dodge he looking at is used so he is willing to settle. Just needs to have 4x4, at least a 6ft box, good gas milage, needs to be ext. Cab or bigger and on budget

dodge man · Mar 16, 2016

With a name like Dodge Man, I'm going to say the Eco-diesel is the way to go. Its a good choice if you aren't hauling heavy loads or towing heavy. On the other hand, it sounds like you are throwing out the Chevys and GMC's based on some kind of past experience. I have been exposed to all of the big three from my job and personal use and can't say there is a big difference between the comfort of any of them. I also can't believe they would be out of your price range, the Eco-diesel seems to by on the high end of cost for a 1/2 ton pickup.