Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Newer diesel which one?

I've got Duramax diesels. The only one to watch out for was the 2001-2004 LB7 engine code Duramax. They have injector issues to the tune of $5k+ every 75k-100k miles. The 06 and 07 LBZ engine code Duramaxes were the best of the pre-DPF emission models. I bought an LBZ new and still drive it almost daily. Mine's tuned, has 1 Ton DRW double spring packs and frame perches, solid front and rear sway bars, etc... It's set up to work— to tow heavy and haul ass. The LMM and LML engines are also very reliable. In 2017 they've upgraded to the L5P. It's my understanding that the L5P is being produced by GM rather than Isuzu. I've also got a 2016 LML. The interiors on the new GM trucks is fantastic. There's tons of integrated storage. The GM diesel equipped trucks ride better than their Dodge and Ford counterparts. I've previously had a Cummins equipped Dodge. I haven't owned any Powerstroke equipped Fords, but have been around plent. They're very popular. I find the Fords sit unnecessarily high and I don't want to climb in and out of one all day. It's also been my experience that the Fords ride like buck boards. If I was looking for a 450 or 550 class truck, Ford would likely get the nod, but at that point there's better value in a 33K GVW single screw with air brakes. That's another topic.

I haven't kept up with all the Powerstroke iterations. The 7.3L is legendary. At least one later version, IIRC the 6.0L, had issues with head studs stretching. A problem for which there are well known and proven fixes. Someone more familiar should speak to the Fords. I loved the Cummins, but the Dodge wrapped around it was a POS. In under 2 years and 39k miles, the front end was shot.

Good luck in your quest. Anymore, they all make a pretty good truck.

Avoid the ford 6.0 diesels like the plague... ford 6.4 diesel was a decent motor but that motor was in production couple yrs.

For $30,000, I'd be looking for a Dodge or Chevy/GMC.

It just boggles my mind how a 5-7 y/o truck with 100k on the odo is 2/3-3/4 the price of a new one. My truck was 10 years old with 150k on it when it got totaled out and insurance appraised it at 56% of what I paid for it.

A car of similar mileage and age is going to be 1/3-1/4 new. My wife's latest car was 2 years old with 11k on the odo, got it for slighly under 2/3 of new cost. Her previous car was ~7 y/o with 62k on the odo and less 1/4 the price of new.

Unless you can find a super clean low mileage truck at a great price, IMHO used trucks just don't pencil out.

I want to know how a new truck pencils out? You have to be able to write it off and make a living with it to afford a new truck. Had a buddy drop over $60K on a 2017 Powerstroke, I can't get creative enough to pencil that one out. Hell even after a substancial down payment he pays more a month on that pickup than my mortgage is.

I don't buy vehicles often, and haven't had vehicle a payment since 2003. I figure any decent diesel truck should last 300K miles if properly maintained, my 1990 Chevy 1500 gasser went 318K before the odometer quit and my Dad drove it for six years after I gave it to him when I bought my Powerstroke. So buying a pickup with 100K on the odometer these days is a lot different than buying a high mileage pickup back 30-40 years ago.