ric
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Considering purchasing a used 3/4 or 1 ton Chevy 4wd crew cab pickup truck. Any thoughts on which is the best engine transmission combination? Thanks. ric
Gas verses Diesel
- Thread starter ric
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New or used truck?, Purchase or lease?, Do you plan on keeping it a long time 10+ years?
What kind of loads will you have on it? How often?
Figure the diesel will cost you $4000-$6000 extra. With fuel cost differances, gas is the way to go with a short term lease and you dont haul/tow a lot.
If you tow a lot and or you plan to keep the truck a long time then the diesel can be a better solution.
Gary.
What kind of loads will you have on it? How often?
Figure the diesel will cost you $4000-$6000 extra. With fuel cost differances, gas is the way to go with a short term lease and you dont haul/tow a lot.
If you tow a lot and or you plan to keep the truck a long time then the diesel can be a better solution.
Gary.
RAllen
Silver Member
Ric
I do not know much about Chevys but I have had two Ford Diesels since 1996. The first, a 4x2 got a little over 20mpg on average. No problems at all. Moved to Montana and needed a 4x4. Bought one in 1999 model 2000 F350. Rides much better than the 4x2 F250 and is a fun truck. Had a few problems with it- Ford seems to be having QC problems again. But all fixed under warranty. I love the power of the Diesel as well as the better mileage.
The Chevy Duramax is in its first year of production and has had teething problems as had the new optional Allison Tranny. The Allison is a great design with a long record in the RV and Medium Truck Industry and should be the strongest trans you can get on a light truck. If you are set on a Chevy, wait and see how the 2002 models do. Hopefully they will have most of the problems fixed.
The pencil pushers will tell you the decision whether to buy diesel or gas depends on the price differential vs. the length of planned service and annual mileage. The more miles and longer term of ownership come down in favor of the diesel but you have to put alot of miles on a truck to justify it. If you plan to tow there is no comparison- the diesel wins hands down.
All that said, I would never buy a gas burner again if I had the choice of a diesel option. But remember some folks do not like the loudness or the smell of a diesel.
Rick
I do not know much about Chevys but I have had two Ford Diesels since 1996. The first, a 4x2 got a little over 20mpg on average. No problems at all. Moved to Montana and needed a 4x4. Bought one in 1999 model 2000 F350. Rides much better than the 4x2 F250 and is a fun truck. Had a few problems with it- Ford seems to be having QC problems again. But all fixed under warranty. I love the power of the Diesel as well as the better mileage.
The Chevy Duramax is in its first year of production and has had teething problems as had the new optional Allison Tranny. The Allison is a great design with a long record in the RV and Medium Truck Industry and should be the strongest trans you can get on a light truck. If you are set on a Chevy, wait and see how the 2002 models do. Hopefully they will have most of the problems fixed.
The pencil pushers will tell you the decision whether to buy diesel or gas depends on the price differential vs. the length of planned service and annual mileage. The more miles and longer term of ownership come down in favor of the diesel but you have to put alot of miles on a truck to justify it. If you plan to tow there is no comparison- the diesel wins hands down.
All that said, I would never buy a gas burner again if I had the choice of a diesel option. But remember some folks do not like the loudness or the smell of a diesel.
Rick
Charlie_Iliff
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Ric:
If you search the old posts, there are a lot of discussions of pickup truck preferences. I have 130,000 or so miles on a 1989 Chev 1500K with the old 350 small block with a TH350. A lot of that has been towing horse trailers. I have also spent a fair amount of time in a 454 Suburban, towing a 25 ft. race car trailer. Given appropriate gearing, a gas engine tows extremely well. It is quieter, smoother and doesn't smell as bad as a diesel. It does require more fuel, but you have to drive a lot of miles to make up the difference. Modern diesels develop more power for their weight than older ones, so differences in repair statistics don't favor diesels as much as they used to. Repairs on a diesel are generally more expensive.
Although I prefer gas, I think you will find that the devotees of diesel are passionate in their preference. I suspect that you won't go far wrong with either, but when you are looking at a particular setup, post again. Someone on the board will probably have some experience with a similar truck.
Charlie Iliff
If you search the old posts, there are a lot of discussions of pickup truck preferences. I have 130,000 or so miles on a 1989 Chev 1500K with the old 350 small block with a TH350. A lot of that has been towing horse trailers. I have also spent a fair amount of time in a 454 Suburban, towing a 25 ft. race car trailer. Given appropriate gearing, a gas engine tows extremely well. It is quieter, smoother and doesn't smell as bad as a diesel. It does require more fuel, but you have to drive a lot of miles to make up the difference. Modern diesels develop more power for their weight than older ones, so differences in repair statistics don't favor diesels as much as they used to. Repairs on a diesel are generally more expensive.
Although I prefer gas, I think you will find that the devotees of diesel are passionate in their preference. I suspect that you won't go far wrong with either, but when you are looking at a particular setup, post again. Someone on the board will probably have some experience with a similar truck.
Charlie Iliff
Jeff396
Veteran Member
Believe it or not, my wife and I bought a '97 F350, Turbo Diesel, crew cab, long bed 2wd pickup....not to tow anything but to carry our kids around. This was before all these nicely sized 4 door pickups hit the market by about a year. As to the selection of a diesel, I had always wanted to try one. Finally during our move from AZ to SC I got the chance to take it on a really long trip pulling a trailer over 2000 miles in 2 days. This was only an 8 foot enclosed trailer but it was packed and so was the truck. The one thing I was most impressed over was that it was able to take any hill I came to while in cruise without downshifting even pulling the trailer. In past gas vehicles, every time I hit a grade and it was getting ready to downshift I felt I should pop it out of cruise and let off on the gas so as not to flail it too much. Definately made for a more relaxing trip....at least as relaxing as can be doing those kind of miles. Also, I am not brand loyal but seem to have had the best luck buying Fords as far as making the deal goes. We've had ours for close to 4 years and 45k miles without a lick of problems. We have also found that our fuel economy is over 20mpg which sorta makes up for the 3.5 gallon oil changes. Also, I think that Fords diesel option is the cheapest of the big three...around 3k when we got ours.
Jeff
p.s. I'd have a Peterbilt for transportation if my wife would let me!!!!/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Jeff396 on 11/29/01 04:26 PM (server time).</FONT></P>
Jeff
p.s. I'd have a Peterbilt for transportation if my wife would let me!!!!/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Jeff396 on 11/29/01 04:26 PM (server time).</FONT></P>
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PTRich
Gold Member
I have a friend that runs a company that requires him to purchase quit a few heavy duty pickups. His rule of thumb is if you do not tow daily buy gas. He says the new gas motors get good mpg with good reliability and with the price difference he can replace the motor twice. He also says for towing daily nothing beats a diesel on the highway. My own personel preference is what ever I can afford at the time/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif. I just look for the best deal and realy don't worry about the brand.
PTRich
PTRich
Jeff396
Veteran Member
Got a private message correcting me on the cost of the Ford Diesel. I'm told that they actually went for about $4200 in 1997. You see, the mind is the first thing to go!/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Actually, I probably used to $3000 figure to try and convince the wife./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Now if I could just get a hold of a car trailer for my old cars, I'd be all set. Thanks for keeping me on my toes!
Jeff
Jeff
cowboydoc
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Ric,
Since you mentioned that you wanted a Chevy I would stay away from the diesel unless you are going to get a new. The older diesels were not reliable and had alot of various problems. The Duramax and Allison have had some problems but I think most of that is because it's a new vehicle and they all have problems in the first year of production. Given that my recommendation would be to buy used gas with either an automatic or a manual shift. If you're towing I like a manual transmission but with gas you are not going to have the torque so an auto isn't the issue it is with a gas.
As far as payback goes I'm not sure on the Chevy's as we've never done the math on them as we are Ford people. With regards to Fords... If you are buying a new one you will pay for it in about 80,000 miles compared to an equal motor, ie V-10. I have numerous people that I know and they only get 8-12 mpg unloaded. Unloaded the diesel will get around 16-22. As far as durability goes yes the gas engines have come a long way but they still don't compare to the longevity of a diesel. If you take care of them they can easily go 400-500k before an overhaul. On the ranch back home we get a couple new ones every year and they are driven until they die and around 500k is where they are shot. A gas motor about half of that. If you going for long run definitely diesel no matter what you're driving. I have never done the math for trading short term but I'm sure it would also be comparable as you always get back extra for a diesel at trade-in as well. Also a diesel will hold it's value better and will be easier to sell.
Since you mentioned that you wanted a Chevy I would stay away from the diesel unless you are going to get a new. The older diesels were not reliable and had alot of various problems. The Duramax and Allison have had some problems but I think most of that is because it's a new vehicle and they all have problems in the first year of production. Given that my recommendation would be to buy used gas with either an automatic or a manual shift. If you're towing I like a manual transmission but with gas you are not going to have the torque so an auto isn't the issue it is with a gas.
As far as payback goes I'm not sure on the Chevy's as we've never done the math on them as we are Ford people. With regards to Fords... If you are buying a new one you will pay for it in about 80,000 miles compared to an equal motor, ie V-10. I have numerous people that I know and they only get 8-12 mpg unloaded. Unloaded the diesel will get around 16-22. As far as durability goes yes the gas engines have come a long way but they still don't compare to the longevity of a diesel. If you take care of them they can easily go 400-500k before an overhaul. On the ranch back home we get a couple new ones every year and they are driven until they die and around 500k is where they are shot. A gas motor about half of that. If you going for long run definitely diesel no matter what you're driving. I have never done the math for trading short term but I'm sure it would also be comparable as you always get back extra for a diesel at trade-in as well. Also a diesel will hold it's value better and will be easier to sell.
Jeff396
Veteran Member
The resale thing is a good point. After we got our '97 diesel, our neighbor went out and got virtually the same truck in the newer body style but in a gas version (460 I think). I know they were hit hard during the gas rise last spring and summer so they decided to sell after only having it a short time. The wife told me that they had many inquiries but that everyone who was looking for this type of truck wanted the diesel as they were intending to do heavy towing with it.
Jeff
Jeff