My best diesel pickup was an '03 Ford F250 4X4. it was the last month of production of the 7.3L diesel. It was totaled two years ago with 120K miles on the clock when a front tire blew on the interstate. My wife and a son were in the truck, and by some miracle it didn't roll, so they were OK. It was a brand new Goodyear Wrangler that blew. Anyway, I looked long and hard at a new truck, but I couldn't do it. My other business is running semis, and I have to say that the emissions trucks are total crap. So I looked around for a nice truck that I could delete all the nonsense.

One of my buddies has two '08 Fords with the much maligned 6.4 Navistar turbo diesel. Both of his have over 200K hard miles (farming) on them and no problems at all. He had deleted all the emissions crap, which is the root cause of all the problems this motor has had. So I bought a used 2008 F250 with about 75K miles, then deleted the DPF and DOC. So far, I am loving this truck. I haul a goose neck equipment trailer weighing 14.5K lb. with it, and it handles it easily. At least after I added a three-spring overload to the rear axle. If you are willing to do a little work, the '08 to '10 Fords are a bargain.

With respect to new diesels, I wouldn't own one out of warranty. I have changed out my semi fleet to brand new Kenworth T680s with a full-service warranty for every single mile we roll.

If I were replacing my pickup today and couldn't find a decent pre-emissions diesel, I would be highly tempted to buy a 1992-1997 F350, build a 460 gasser to around 400 HP and call it good. Note that I rarely drive a pickup without pulling a heavy trailer, so fuel economy is going to be crappy either way.