Another thing, these trucks are not grocery getters. The diesel trucks that last with the new emissions systems are the ones that are used for long commutes regularly. They gotta get warmed up good at highway speeds to burn all the soot out of them. A lot of people get stage 1 tunes on the ecodiesels to turn the EGR system off so its not blowing soot back into the engine. Some of those with the EGR turned off get 200 to 300,000 miles on them. The stage 1 tune is illegal and becoming harder to get in the USA and may void your warranty and may not pass emissions in your state...Lot of things to think over before buying a diesel nowadays with the EPA trying their best to regulate them until they are gone.
This is what we have seen with the engines in semi trucks, as well. The first two or three generations with the emissions stuff you couldn't hardly keep running. Trucks that were doing light duty or idled a lot had to be overhauled at one third or less of their pre-emissions life spans. EGR coolers sooted up, carbon packed rings, sludged up top ends, it was a mess (aside from all the failures in the aftertreatment systems themselves).
What we've learned over the last 13 years is that these engines need to work. We are now speccing SMALLER motors in trucks in order to get the average demand on the engines UP, to increase operating temps. Idling is strictly VERBOTEN, and a couple of companies are now doing preventative engine flushes that clean the soot deposits out of the engines (
http://www.diesel-force.com/dieselforce). As a result of changed operating practices and continued improvement in design, at least at the semi-truck level, we're back to running at very high levels of reliability and significantly reduced maintenance costs.
I'll not own a modern diesel unless there's a need for a hard working vehicle. Towing, long distance driving, heavy PTO loads, all fine. 10 minute commutes are a disaster waiting to happen.
