Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Are diesels losing customers?

Not talking about the guys who tow over 10,000 pounds on a weekly basis. These folks will always benefit with a diesel. But what about the other 90% of drivers? I priced a diesel option in a Super Duty, it was $9,200. And here in Tennessee diesel averages about $1 more a gallon than 87. Then you have the increase maintenance costs. And pray you never have a repair bill out of warranty. All of this to get maybe a 15% improvement in mpgs?

I wonder what will happen to the price of diesel fuel in 2020 when the mandate goes into law all ships must use low sulphur diesel fuel?

My previous Super Duty was a 7.3. It treated me great as I towed heavy boats often when we lived in Alaska. Over 100K miles without a repair. But this time around I opted for the 6.2 gasser with 4:30 gears. Rumor is Ford is also bringing out a new 7 or 7.3 gas motor in 2020.

Do you think diesel will lose customers in the next 5 years in the HD pickup line? Did you switch from diesel to gas? Or gas to diesel?

I looked at the same size engines.Problem being they all required hi test gas.Some are running 87 octane in them but get better performance on the hi test. Here at higher elevations the 87 octane won't cut it. Kind of shoots the saving gas money idea down.Then the 4:10 runs about 13 MPG.

I thought about it real hard , but then found a 2019 Chevy Duramx and I save enough on it that the diesel option zeroed out.I got it for about the same advertised price as a comparable loaded gasser with the 6-6.4 L engines.However , there weren't any gassers around for at least 900 miles..None on lots.The first few tank fulls, I averaged 15mpg empty.

I probably won't be pulling as much as I use to, but when I do it will be in the 16,000 pound range GCWR. (truck, camper horse trailer)

I figure at 75 years old, I won't need a big truck in 4-5 years and I can sell this one as a low mileage truck and get a better than average price for it with it still having a partial warranty on it.

I don't think diesel will lose that many customers. I think when more start running those 4:10' s they won't be happy when they need to do some heavy pulling on occasions.

I thought the higher the elevation the lower the octane gas that was required? At least thats what I was told the 2.5 years we lived in Colorado Springs. 85 was the "normal" regular. Running 87 at 5-7,000 feet would be like running 89 at sea level. My Super Duty requires 87. But the manual does state 91 might give better performance when towing heavy loads in hot weather if the engine starts to ping.

Higher cost of purchase, higher cost of maintenance, higher repair costs, and higher fuel costs.

Where do I sign up?

Modern gas engines in trucks (5.7,6.0,6.2,6.4) will all go 250-300k miles if taken care of properly. I went from a 3500 cummins 6.7 to a 5.7 Tundra because I only tow 6-7 times a year and its 7-8000 pounds....Don't have one regret.

Next HD I get will be a gas one. I have a duramax, a 6.0 GM. Tired of the endless emissions bs out of the diesel and the $0.80 per gallon premium on diesel.

I live in an oilfield town, and work in the oilfield. Historically the Industry has utilized diesel pickups extensively. I’ve seen a shift away from that in the last two years. My company has followed suit and we are conducting a study with a brand new dodge with the 6.4 liter hemi that we put into service January first. We have the yearly cost on a new dodge Cummins that we deployed January first 2018. So it will be interesting to see the results.

Yes they’ve been losing customers for at least 8-10 years. It all started around the time of the recession. Municipalities and utility companies really put the kabosh on that kind of spending. The big super turd Ford 6. uh oh had a lot to do with it also.

At one time I believe Navistar was in the works of a new medium duty gas burner line of trucks. Medium duty gassers were pretty much the norm anyway up until the late 80’s for your average bucket truck, small dump, or heck even 1 ton farmer guy. I’ve done the diesel thing and got it all out of my system. After the death of the 5.9 Cummins, there’s not a diesel engine in a new pickup I’d want to have to own.

Old perceptions of diesel and hard starting still scare people and mainly the EPA who has [bleep] diesels over here so bad with all the emissions bs they force manufactures to comply with. How much of the US typically sees below 0 temps for several months out of the year and you force manufactures to use UREA basically which freezes around 10-12 degrees. There are a lot of issues with various emissions equipment on diesels these days and it's mostly in colder climates.

Add all that up with what they've done to the price of diesel and it's amazing we even have any options.

The Problem with diesel truck. They put crap parts on the rest of the truck. Drive Shafts with crap U-joints, 600ftlb torque motor, Bolt a 400ftlb capable transmission on it. Put a diesel in a half ton, Make the block out of Powdered metal casting that fails. The 6L Ford with terrible resale value. Front drive axles designed for aluminum block gas v8 motors, drop a big cast iron Diesel motor on it.

Don't know about there, but here diesel is definitely on the ascendence...particularly with regards to cars, a lot more cars are diesel here now and gaining in popularity.

I love my GMC Duramax pickup. My next one will be a 1/2 ton GMC or Ford.

I'll have a diesel as long as my 2006 5.9 lasts, after that, I'll switch. Too much of a premium on fuel, too high entry costs, and too high mx cost for my uses, but I mine is our 3rd vehicle/tow vehicle. Actually, I suspect the 5.9 will last a lot longer than the Dodge around it.

I’ve got a 1998 dodge diesel. It’s got 385k on it & still pulls my gooseneck, empty it’ll get 22 mpg. It’s relatively cheap to work on if it breaks but it rarely does. When I bought it diesel was $1.20 a gallon and gas was $1.40.

Today diesel fuel is almost a buck more than gas and the trucks get 14 mpg. If the high pressure pump goes you can be in for a $10k repair bill. Diesel pickups have gone from the cheapest to operate to the most expensive.

I can’t see myself buying another unless I decided to buy something really big to pull. They’ve gotten too expensive to purchase, too expensive to repair, and too expensive to operate. Thank the EPA. By all rights diesel should be cheaper than gas and the trucks should get 25-30 mpg.

Around here diesel fuel prices posted are at the price of 92 octane or not much more.

140K on my '11 6.7L Ford and it's probably my last diesel. I intend to run it another 5-6yrs to 250K at least assuming nothing catastrophic happens to it between now and then. Evaluate again @ 250K. If things are still dependable then Ill continue to run it, if not I believe I'll be looking for a gasser. I've said it many times and will continue to say it. If I had to use this as my daily driver living in town as I do, there's no way in heck I'd have a 3/4T or a diesel. As is, my pickup is a 3rd vehicle for us that I use for pulling (though nothing really heavy), hunting, or long family trips when we want more room than momma's car or my Murano.

-19F ambient here right now and I must say that I don't look forward to those days and running a diesel.

I have a Dodge 2004 -2500, buying another. Then I will have two.

Just bought a 3500HD, compared the diesel to a gas and I'm thankful I can afford the torque.

Now that there are some very nice large gas engines with torque, folks around here are running away from diesel pickups as farm trucks. Too cold too often, and with diesel emissions requirements the engines don't seem to be worth the hassle anymore.

I’ve seen the same thing here DakotaDeer. Gone are the days of the 12 valve and the Ford IDIs that got great mileage and lasted seemingly forever with minimal maintenance. Also gone is diesel for 2/3 the price of gas and weak sister gasoline engines. Even the 454s and 460s were gutless by modern standards, heaven forbid you were stuck with a 351 or 360 even with EFI. The new 6.0, 6.2, and 6.4 gassers from the big three produce the same or better numbers than the old time diesels and burn cheaper fuel, albeit more of it.

I’m working for a utility computer now and they got completely away from diesel in the 1 ton and lighter trucks about 10 years ago. They have recently bought some F550 and Ram 5500 diesels but more or less on a trail basis to see how they’ll hold up. They idle a lot but also pull 20k or thereabouts on a regular basis, so I guess we’ll see how they shake out. Seems like they get both extremes of what they’re best at and what’s worst for them on a regular basis.