Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives '10-'14 Used Tundra or Dodge Diesel?

My diesel has 110k on it. Engine maintenance has been 0 but I've had some front end work and a new clutch.

I've got a 2010 Tundra Crewmax with the 5.7 V8 now and pull my 45 hp tractor on a 24' gooseneck fairly often on 120 mile round trip. I've had a 10-12K load behind it several times and pulling it 60 mph for short trips is no problem. If you want to go faster, it will do it, but will start to gear hunt non stop. If I had to pull more than 100 miles one way on the Interstate, I'd get another diesel. But the Tundra gets my jobs done with no issues and I can't complain. The room in the cab of the crewmax is great for my kids. I've done nothing but oil changes and air filters and it has 83,000 miles on it.

In the past, I've owned a 2002 3/4 ton dodge with a 6 speed manual and a 2003 3/4 ton dodge automatic. For pulling, there is no comparison, the diesel is in a league of its own. The 2002 6 speed was very strong. I had to replace fuel pumps, injector pumps, front end components, ac problems, water pumps, and other little things starting around 125,000 miles. To me it was a love/hate relationship, for example, when you hit a hill running 70 with a 8-12K load in tow and all you hear is a little turbo noise and it holds speed, you love it. But when you get stuck 12 hours from home and have to pay for an injector pump and fuel pump failure, you hate it or I did anyway. Oil changes and fuel filter changes were easy, but injector pumps were above my skill level at that time and especially 12 hours from home. I imagine the newer diesels pull better than the old ones and may be more reliable than the ones I had.

If money was no object, I'd still drive a diesel. But, I don't work away from home anymore and would rather drive the Tundra and buy more stuff for my kids and occasionally something for my wife. I don't know how my current Tundra will hold up in the long run, but I had an '04 Tundra that I drove until February of this year when it was totaled out with 319,000 miles. It was a much smaller truck and I routinely towed 8K loads and never did any maintenance except for oil changes and a timing belt/water pump and I feel like I could have drove it at least another 100,000 miles or more. I hope my 2010 is as good as my 2004.

Good luck in you search for a truck.

Every Dodge needs front end work sooner or later, mostly sooner. When they had the mechanical lift pump, mine went out often. When it did the Injector pump usually trashed. Now I guess that pump is electric.

I have 145 K on mine.So far 3 sets of front brake pads, 1 clutch ,one hydraulic clutch actuator, one alternator, two lift pumps, three injector pumps ( one was rebuild), I replaced the lift pump with a FASS system. Had the valves adjusted. Replaced the serpentine belt. Oil changes alone run $69 DYI and that is with Rotella.Heck a lot more with synthetic

All that was about $10K. My buddy has an 03 and his injectors cost him about $6K. Unless you pull hard more than 50%of the time, there is no way to justify a diesel..

I do tend to work my truck hard most of the time

Just drove the dodge....manual windows and door locks, but had cruise...strange combo, but it drove really good

Hard to find those plain vanilla ones.Same as mine

I haven't really kept up on the Dodge since the engine electronics went to Chrysler in 2003 or so.
Obviously a good engine, EGR system will probably need to be dealt with one way or another.
What really decided me was a friends 2012 that has 40K on the odometer, and it rattled and wandered and the passenger floorboard had my feet cramped for space.

Of all the people that should have a Cummins engine in their truck, I don't, I bought a Tundra. I figure overall cost of ownership over 10 years the Tndra will be better, and I don't haul over 8K or so. Besides... I don't need a variable geometry turbo under my hood....
(Not sure what Year dodge/Ram went to VG)

Tundra is a completely stock Long bed double cab 4x4 with 38 gallon tank. I average 15.8 over the last 44,000 with @ 5% towing and the days to day I'm about 17,5 on a relatively flat hwy with a posted speed of 55 for 90 miles a day.

I did take a trip to ND last fall and only averaged 14.5 on the 70-80 MPH Hwys. Speed bucking wind and snow kills.

It does have a 4:30 rear end, but the tranny has a double overdrive in the top 2 gears.

Towed 2 loads of cows today, probably @ 7K of trailer, there is no lack of power at that weight.

I would have bought a Tundra instead of the Dodge diesel if they made a 3/4 ton. They don't so I didn't.

While I can't say I'll use the extra towing of the Cummins all the time, once in a while, I have a need to tow some pretty big stuff. I'm also seeing both trucks priced (for year and miles) with the dodge a little less. I get build quality, and I'm a Toyota guy by nature/history....but something is pushing me to the dodge right now, if I can stomach the extra fuel/maintenance cost....the drivetrain should last longer than even the Tundra, I'd suspect.

The vanilla truck sold before I could make up my mind, but have found an '08 Mega cab, w/good miles that I'm gonna look at Monday. Tundra pickings are slim...and leaning to as much can space as I can get.

Thanks for the continued help.

I had my 06 with the 5.9 Cummins / 6 speed for 200,000 miles. Replaced front pads at 100K and the rear pads at 175K. I did put a new clutch in the truck at 150K since it would slip pulling my 40 ft Toyhauler when I really jumped into it, but other than that, a couple UV joints and that is about it. Front end was perfect and drove tight the day I traded it for my current 14 3500 Cummins. The 14 has 102K miles on it now and it's been flawless. I don't "like" the extra emissions stuff, but so far, they have had no real affect on me or what I use my truck to do.

I don't see regular maintenance as real expensive. It isn't cheap, but I change the oil/fuel filters every 15K miles and the air filter about every 30K. Again, it isn't cheap, but it certainly isn't 1000's of dollars a year. I loved the 06 Ram, it was a bullet proof rig that hauled my 40 ft RV all over the country, hunted Idaho, Wyoming and Oregon yearly with not a single problem. The 14 has been excellent and hope it is reliable as the 06 was. It is another manual tranny and just gets it done for me. Also, my front end is still tight as it was with 5 miles on it and wears tires evenly (third set coming up).

I could get by with a gasser until I hook up to my toy hauler, then, that is when the diesel is at its best. The new ones wanna work or at least run on the freeway. If you are just piddling around town, I think the DPF and other pieces would have to clean itself regularly. If you have the ability to run the truck and will work it, you'll love it.

The out the door price of a new 2500 tradesman with the cummins is $40k. A 10 y/o used 2500 with 150k miles is +/- $20k, with the potential for some pretty spendy repairs.

IMHO it's a no brainer to buy a new truck with the ridiculous price of used trucks and the likeliness of expensive repairs around the corner.

Actually, it seems at least as smart to buy the half priced truck w/only 1/4 or less of its mileage life on the odo, and i can't justify a $40k truck these days. Just different approaches.

I would be just fine with a good Dodge with a 100K if it has been cared for. TONS of life left in the truck if it hasn't been beaten to death by its previous owner.

That's assuming you could find a truck of that vintage with only 100k on the odo, more likely 150k so 1/3 the trucks life and also assuming you wouldn't have any expensive repairs for the remainging ~300k which is highly unlikely. Figure 2 front end rebuilds for $7k, transmission or clutch work $1-2k, misc $1k. Suddenly that $20k used truck with $10k in repairs isn't such a great deal. If you could get the truck for $10k, it would be a no brainer.

The smart move is buy the new truck for $40k, put 150k on the odo and sell it for $25k, then repeat.

This has been my approach and it has worked well. I like the idea of knowing the maintenance was done right and hopefully limiting the big repairs while I own it. The used market is always looking for well maintained diesel trucks and will pay a premium for them. The fist one off the lot stings, but it's nice when you sell and get 50% of a new one in cash.

Andy

LOL....$40K is just not in my realm for another vehicle right now.

Also, if a diesel Cummins dodge only has a well-maintained life expectancy of 450k, then the gas burner with a 500k life expectancy is the longer lasting motor (potentially)? My guess is that the Cummins will last at least as long as the 500k QC'd commercial Toyota motor in my FJ, wouldn't it?

If I buy a $25k truck, I can likely buy a cheap commuter car if a couple of years, and save miles/wear on my big truck.

Another question: '08+ Dodges should require less front end attention, shouldn't they?

My issue is adding vehicles/college/etc for kids, wife wanting to retire, etc....I don't get to go top shelf/new. LOL

The engine will have no problems to 500k, it's the accessories and truck around it that will incur repairs that add up. Of the 1/2 dozen plus high mileage vehicles I've owned, including an 06 ram 2500 4X4 diesel purchased new (for $32k and insurance paid $18k when totaled out after 10 years and 150k), every one has required a cash infusion of $2-7k when the odo hit 100-150k, sometimes two such infusions. Now if I bought the vehicle used for $5-10k I can stomach the cash infusion and putting many more miles on the vehicle. If I have to pay $20k for a used vehicle that goes for $40k new, and will realistically have to dish out $5-10k in the next 100k miles it doesn't pencil out when I could buy the new truck for $40k, drive it for 100k trouble free miles and sell it used for $25k. The new truck will cost you at least as much as the new one for those 100k miles, but the used one could cost you much more and could leave you stranded at a very in opportune time or location.

That cheap commuter car is going to need insurance and repairs, so factor that into your cost comparison.

I understand the economic considerations, I have 2 kids in college and haven't replaced the totaled 06 ram yet as I'm going to give the oil industry another year to settle out before having to deal with a car payment for a new truck. But unless a very clean truck in the $10-12k range falls into my lap, I'm going new.

So, my last two gas burners that I 'wore out', did not cost me much $ in maintenance to at least 250k miles. Are you telling me that any dodge diesel is gonna cost me $5-10k over the same miles? I get what you're saying, but was just under a very different impression.

My last few haven't required that kind of maintenance during the time I have owned them. I haven't had the same front end troubles others have had either so maybe that is where my low money input into them was. I do think finding a 20K dollar under 100,000 mile truck in great condition would be tough. Probably more along the lines of 25-30K. Also, I am not sure I could get into a brand new 40K truck with a Cummin's right now, even bare bones. All of the ones I saw when looking and dealing through Lou Fusz whole sold them at 3% under invoice were still in the 42-45K range.

If you have a history of purchasing used vehicles with 150k on the odo and driving them to 300k with nothing more than tires, fluid changes and brake pads then you should buy a lottery ticket. I'm saying any used vehicle in that mileage range factor in $5k for repairs, or factor in repairs exceeding the value of the car. Of various repairs I've had done that were either intensive in parts or labor in that mileage range and in the $2-5 k range: front end (on the dodge), catalytic converts, clutch (awd car), transmission controller, valve job (toyota 3.0 V6), and stuff I'm forgetting.

Pretty sure I only stated I had gotten 250k+ miles out of a couple of my latest gas burning vehicles with no major mechanical repairs/expenditures. The other stuff about mileage/purchase you allude to, I neither said nor implied.