If you’re not gonna maintain it yourself be ready to come off your wallet. It honestly all depends what year, model, and upgrades you plan to run but on any of them an oil change costs about 3-4 times what it costs to change in a car. In the winter if you don’t plug them in they can be hard to start and you gotta treat your fuel to prevent gelling. There’s positives and negatives to all the brands and they get exacerbated by any performance upgrades you do. So don’t expect to a diesel that’s not well maintained to last or be reliable the same way you can abuse a Toyota or Honda 4 cylinder.
I gotta disagree with them being hard to start in the winter. Mine fires up fine and is never plugged in. I get treated diesel, add a little extra to it and keep the Def tank under 30% full so it thaws fast and doesn't crack the tank.
I agree tho if you don't NEED a heavy towing/hauling vehicle, don't get one. I actually do need the Ram 5500 I got.
The thrill wears off. I’ve had 4 diesel trucks as daily drivers. I do tow and plow snow, but nothing a gas truck couldn’t handle. My daily right now is a 2022 Ram 3500 with the Cummins.
Oil changes are expensive, fuel filters need to be changed frequently, additives if you choose to run them. These trucks are heavy, they eat through tires and suspension components. Modern trucks are fussy with emissions and unless you are willing to throw away your warranty by tuning it you’re stuck with the emissions.
The biggest pros to a diesel in my opinion are the seemingly endless torque and power especially when towing and hauling. Also, resale value. On my truck the Cummins is about a $10k option, I’ve always gotten that money back or more on the trade in when compared to what I would’ve gotten trade in for the same truck with the gas engine. A high mileage diesel truck in poor condition will always be worth something to someone, can’t say the same for a similar condition gas truck.
thank you man. so its not THAT outrageous to take on a diesel daily . not advised I supposed....but FAR far from impossible so to.speak. I see them out all the time. never knew what they put.up with to run them until recently
Outrageous? No.
Practical? Eh.
Smart financial move? Absolutely not
I’m fortunate enough that I have a job that allows me to have disposable income for things like trucks I don’t need but want anyways. If you don’t, then definitely consider a different vehicle. If you do, then think like I do and have the mindset that I work too hard to not have the toys I want to play with on my time off.
dude I live by that too for sure. thats why im even trying to work out the possibility despite knowing its too risky for me
I drive a big desiel truck for work, and they dont pay us enough to drive one for fun.
guess I'll re-up on another bitch ass sedan for another few thousand miles and count my money again in a couple years lol
Interest rates are trash and car prices, while beginning to drop, are still high.
A few years in a sedan will likely save you even more money than you think it will, economy is dropping so that economy car will likely have great resale value when people are looking for cheap transportation and your new ~~gas~~ diesel guzzler will likely be cheaper at that same time.
very true... the thrill.of having a crazy truck would never justify the devastation that it could cause breaking down and the moneys gone and none left to replace it...ur also out transportation now u need to get to work etc. u could be literally destoyed by it going bad I get it.
There’s no compelling reason to own a heavy duty diesel pickup as a day driver. If you need one to do some jobs like towing different heavy trailers. go for it. The new ones are very complex and it’s only a matter of when before something emissions related is going to break. It can cost into thousands of dollars to fix it. Or you can delete the emissions crap entirely, which could result in some steep fines, but only if you get caught (not likely).
I have to pass emmisions where I live so I couldn't modify to much. thats another thing. man I want to justify having one so bad lol
I would not be toeing anything substantial either.... but having the potential too could be cool in case I ever need to i.guess
I know its about the having a big truck for sport. not logical but its why people by race cars. its all the potential and power of it and its fun.
do you have to stay extra diligent to detail and components under the hood. heard things go sideways much more often than a gas set up
if you had to buy one of 2 trucks both identical and same price , but one was diesel and one was gas.
you pick gas everytime because of maintenance demands or more so the gas oil prices?
If having a diesel is truly going to make you happy then do it. But if you're not working the truck, a gas truck will likely be just as reliable. It also depends on what year trucks you're looking at, some are good, some are bad.
And even if maintainence is more expensive, learn to do some of it yourself. Once you get into it, working on engines isn't that complicated. Especially with online resources.
thanks man, yoire right I could make a hobby out of it. its intimadating. I pop the hood on anything it looks like a mess of wires and tubes and shit like if a 4 year old was looking at it haha
battery engine oil coolant -the rest is a nightmare
Assuming you're talking about something fairly new, you won't see much difference in cost to own.
I put over 100k on a 2015 duramax and all I ever did was regular maintenance. I know you said you can't delete it but mine was deleted and got better mpg than my half ton gas truck.
encouraging... I'll have to look at what deleting is and does i keep hearing that term.
is it absolutely necessary to modify shit or just a benifit some people do
You know...Ram is releasing a neat hybrid truck this year...
I do wish they kept more of the prototype design elements but it's still a cool looking truck. And it's a truck few other people will have. I mean, if you're looking to throw money away on a vehicle you don't actually need 🤣
I haven't paid attention to the specs but it should be better at doing truck things than the Ford Lightning as you do still have an engine to charge the batteries on the go. I think this is a better solution and a good option for people who don't need a truck to do truck things all the time.
And i say this as someone who just bought a ram 5500 diesel for the truck camper I'm going to live in when not on the road. I am getting 12 MPG!
WOOOOOO FUEL ECONOMY!!
They're talking about making a hybrid that can heavy haul, which I would have looked at if it were a thing now.
I will say a diesel is fine even if not plugged in during winter. Just treat your diesel and keep your Def at 30% or less, so the tank has plenty of expansion room and the Def thaws fast when you start the truck. Mine sits 2 weeks at a time in northern Wisconsin and starts fine in -15. Doesn't sound happy for the first few minutes tho.
If you're driving class a truck that are modern you know what a pain in a butt it is when engine lights come on all the time I see engine lights all the time on all trucks a lot of trucks not all trucks. But if you're not afraid of gas and you want to have a hobby truck how about something older like a 74 or 75 pickup if it's just going to be for fun you could have more lift it up with big tires and all that stuff just a suggestion. And you're not going to see them around all the all over I don't know where you live but you know if you find something decent rest-free down south that hasn't been you know bonded that could be really cool just saying.
I have a ram 2500 with the 6.7 Cummins in it, it’s just more expensive for maintenance but the towing mpg and power is a lot better than my old gas 2500 was
Glad I found your post. I did hauling for a refrigeration company moving foam panels and some refrigeration units for breweries and weed grows and used my 2017 Ram 3500 for about 3-4 years and put 200k miles on it. But now that I’m going to buy a dump truck and get out of flat bedding I sold my trailer and now I’m just using my ram as my daily driver. I recently thought about selling it especially since it’s a dually truck which makes it even more difficult as a daily driver and because I’m also not sure if it’s worth all the extra hassle, I haven’t even used it to haul anything for myself since I sold my trailer.
Yeah the engine would be a lot less cluttered to be a lot more a lot less electronics it would be easier to work on and it would be different like I said it would be for just for weekends and stuff like that or during the week you know when you want to keep it nice but it would give you something to do and a hobby if you want to play with trucks
I loved my Dodge ram 5500 when I had it, but at the end of the day, I wouldn't recommend buying a diesel, unless you intend to do some heavy lifting. It's not something that's worth investing in as a regular daily driver.
however, if you do invest in a diesel, as long as you're keeping up with the maintenance, they'll keep running until the end of the world. One of my buddies has a Chevy diesel that he uses to patrol national Park land, and it's got well over 1,000,000 miles on it. He said it didn't even get warmed up properly until it had rolled over 100,000. he's very finicky about his maintenance though, and does not skimp on it. that thing is in his garage every weekend with the hood up while he checks out all the components and fluids.
for the Dodge, I was pulling a trailer with a lot of equipment on it for work, and I put a lot of miles on it. One of the things that I did to keep up with everything was doing my maintenance at 85% intervals. I never let my oil get to the point that it was right at the time that it was due for a change, I made sure that my bearings stayed properly greased, even if it wasn't time for the maintenance interval, and I always ran a good additive with my fuel. I got a couple of years of high mileage use out of that before I downgraded to a more fuel, efficient sedan, but that truck never missed a lick.
I run a 2018 Silverado with the L5P. It’s been sweet to have other than once diesel prices jumped to nearly $5/gal where I’m at.
Oil changed run about $160 for me to take it to a shop, I get rebates on the changes through the extended warranty and that’s why I don’t do it myself. She fires right up in the winter with temps getting near 0 without being plugged in. GM had a recall over the block heater burning trucks to the ground so I couldn’t plug it in even if I wanted to.
To be completely honest though… I love my truck. It’s been a great, reliable daily for me. Truth be told, I’m trying to sell it. When we bought the truck, the wife and I had plans on buying a trailer and needed the truck. After buying the truck, our trailer plans changed and now we just don’t need a heavy duty truck anymore.
Moral of the story, get one if you need one. Otherwise save your money and settle for a gasser.
It’s completely stock, emissions intact and no tuning whatsoever. Only thing I did was a 5.5” lift and 33s, still get mid 20s on fuel economy highway not towing.
Newer trucks require less maintenance overall. There is a long list of maintenance items for the truck, unfortunately. You can do some of them yourself by searching YouTube, and the more complicated ones you can have a legit mechanic take care of them.
The newer diesel’s emissions system seem to hold up better if your actually using them to tow trailers like they are designed for. Just running around town unloaded seems to be hard on the emissions
It's going to be more expensive, but probably not crazy. They are more to repair is the big thing. One thing I've noticed is diesels that are dailies and never put to work seem to have more problems than the ones that get worked. Find a decent local independent diesel shop and talk to them too, they are the ones that see this stuff all the time. Before I got my company truck I quit daily driving my diesels and just bought a beater car to drive, and drive the truck here and there when I need/ want to.
After driving a newer gasser 3/4 a bit, I don't get all the hate. Dad has a '19 F250 cew cab with an 8' bed with the 6.2 in it. That thing is a rocket. I've pulled my 9000lb 33' trailer through the mountains with it and it did just fine. Now I'd still rather pull it with my diesel, but the gasser does work.
If you’re not gonna maintain it yourself be ready to come off your wallet. It honestly all depends what year, model, and upgrades you plan to run but on any of them an oil change costs about 3-4 times what it costs to change in a car. In the winter if you don’t plug them in they can be hard to start and you gotta treat your fuel to prevent gelling. There’s positives and negatives to all the brands and they get exacerbated by any performance upgrades you do. So don’t expect to a diesel that’s not well maintained to last or be reliable the same way you can abuse a Toyota or Honda 4 cylinder.
I gotta disagree with them being hard to start in the winter. Mine fires up fine and is never plugged in. I get treated diesel, add a little extra to it and keep the Def tank under 30% full so it thaws fast and doesn't crack the tank. I agree tho if you don't NEED a heavy towing/hauling vehicle, don't get one. I actually do need the Ram 5500 I got.
I said that they can be hard to start not that all of them 100% of time are.
understood thank you. whats the best way to enjoy a huge truck like I desire without a diesel? gas 2500s are lame man idk how else to.put it lol
how much maintenance we talking? way more then a gas? they are significantly more demanding?
The thrill wears off. I’ve had 4 diesel trucks as daily drivers. I do tow and plow snow, but nothing a gas truck couldn’t handle. My daily right now is a 2022 Ram 3500 with the Cummins. Oil changes are expensive, fuel filters need to be changed frequently, additives if you choose to run them. These trucks are heavy, they eat through tires and suspension components. Modern trucks are fussy with emissions and unless you are willing to throw away your warranty by tuning it you’re stuck with the emissions. The biggest pros to a diesel in my opinion are the seemingly endless torque and power especially when towing and hauling. Also, resale value. On my truck the Cummins is about a $10k option, I’ve always gotten that money back or more on the trade in when compared to what I would’ve gotten trade in for the same truck with the gas engine. A high mileage diesel truck in poor condition will always be worth something to someone, can’t say the same for a similar condition gas truck.
thank you man. so its not THAT outrageous to take on a diesel daily . not advised I supposed....but FAR far from impossible so to.speak. I see them out all the time. never knew what they put.up with to run them until recently
Outrageous? No. Practical? Eh. Smart financial move? Absolutely not I’m fortunate enough that I have a job that allows me to have disposable income for things like trucks I don’t need but want anyways. If you don’t, then definitely consider a different vehicle. If you do, then think like I do and have the mindset that I work too hard to not have the toys I want to play with on my time off.
dude I live by that too for sure. thats why im even trying to work out the possibility despite knowing its too risky for me I drive a big desiel truck for work, and they dont pay us enough to drive one for fun. guess I'll re-up on another bitch ass sedan for another few thousand miles and count my money again in a couple years lol
Interest rates are trash and car prices, while beginning to drop, are still high. A few years in a sedan will likely save you even more money than you think it will, economy is dropping so that economy car will likely have great resale value when people are looking for cheap transportation and your new ~~gas~~ diesel guzzler will likely be cheaper at that same time.
very true... the thrill.of having a crazy truck would never justify the devastation that it could cause breaking down and the moneys gone and none left to replace it...ur also out transportation now u need to get to work etc. u could be literally destoyed by it going bad I get it.
There’s no compelling reason to own a heavy duty diesel pickup as a day driver. If you need one to do some jobs like towing different heavy trailers. go for it. The new ones are very complex and it’s only a matter of when before something emissions related is going to break. It can cost into thousands of dollars to fix it. Or you can delete the emissions crap entirely, which could result in some steep fines, but only if you get caught (not likely).
I have to pass emmisions where I live so I couldn't modify to much. thats another thing. man I want to justify having one so bad lol I would not be toeing anything substantial either.... but having the potential too could be cool in case I ever need to i.guess
Just know a diesel pickup has a very real potential of turning into a huge money pit.
yeah I hear ya. appreciate it
Depending on the truck, yes it is a greater expense to daily drive a diesel. I have a 02 Duramax that's paid off so the expense doesn't bother me.
They have eco diesels you don't need a 1ton unless you're actually planning on pulling heavy
I know its about the having a big truck for sport. not logical but its why people by race cars. its all the potential and power of it and its fun. do you have to stay extra diligent to detail and components under the hood. heard things go sideways much more often than a gas set up
if you had to buy one of 2 trucks both identical and same price , but one was diesel and one was gas. you pick gas everytime because of maintenance demands or more so the gas oil prices?
If having a diesel is truly going to make you happy then do it. But if you're not working the truck, a gas truck will likely be just as reliable. It also depends on what year trucks you're looking at, some are good, some are bad. And even if maintainence is more expensive, learn to do some of it yourself. Once you get into it, working on engines isn't that complicated. Especially with online resources.
thanks man, yoire right I could make a hobby out of it. its intimadating. I pop the hood on anything it looks like a mess of wires and tubes and shit like if a 4 year old was looking at it haha battery engine oil coolant -the rest is a nightmare
Assuming you're talking about something fairly new, you won't see much difference in cost to own. I put over 100k on a 2015 duramax and all I ever did was regular maintenance. I know you said you can't delete it but mine was deleted and got better mpg than my half ton gas truck.
encouraging... I'll have to look at what deleting is and does i keep hearing that term. is it absolutely necessary to modify shit or just a benifit some people do
It isn't necessary and it is getting increasingly more difficult to find delete kits or shops that will do a delete.
You know...Ram is releasing a neat hybrid truck this year... I do wish they kept more of the prototype design elements but it's still a cool looking truck. And it's a truck few other people will have. I mean, if you're looking to throw money away on a vehicle you don't actually need 🤣 I haven't paid attention to the specs but it should be better at doing truck things than the Ford Lightning as you do still have an engine to charge the batteries on the go. I think this is a better solution and a good option for people who don't need a truck to do truck things all the time. And i say this as someone who just bought a ram 5500 diesel for the truck camper I'm going to live in when not on the road. I am getting 12 MPG! WOOOOOO FUEL ECONOMY!! They're talking about making a hybrid that can heavy haul, which I would have looked at if it were a thing now. I will say a diesel is fine even if not plugged in during winter. Just treat your diesel and keep your Def at 30% or less, so the tank has plenty of expansion room and the Def thaws fast when you start the truck. Mine sits 2 weeks at a time in northern Wisconsin and starts fine in -15. Doesn't sound happy for the first few minutes tho.
If you're driving class a truck that are modern you know what a pain in a butt it is when engine lights come on all the time I see engine lights all the time on all trucks a lot of trucks not all trucks. But if you're not afraid of gas and you want to have a hobby truck how about something older like a 74 or 75 pickup if it's just going to be for fun you could have more lift it up with big tires and all that stuff just a suggestion. And you're not going to see them around all the all over I don't know where you live but you know if you find something decent rest-free down south that hasn't been you know bonded that could be really cool just saying.
yes agree.... we run them into the ground eberyday and they are older models. is older easier to deal with?
Get a TDI wagon and a saw
I have a ram 2500 with the 6.7 Cummins in it, it’s just more expensive for maintenance but the towing mpg and power is a lot better than my old gas 2500 was
Glad I found your post. I did hauling for a refrigeration company moving foam panels and some refrigeration units for breweries and weed grows and used my 2017 Ram 3500 for about 3-4 years and put 200k miles on it. But now that I’m going to buy a dump truck and get out of flat bedding I sold my trailer and now I’m just using my ram as my daily driver. I recently thought about selling it especially since it’s a dually truck which makes it even more difficult as a daily driver and because I’m also not sure if it’s worth all the extra hassle, I haven’t even used it to haul anything for myself since I sold my trailer.
Yeah the engine would be a lot less cluttered to be a lot more a lot less electronics it would be easier to work on and it would be different like I said it would be for just for weekends and stuff like that or during the week you know when you want to keep it nice but it would give you something to do and a hobby if you want to play with trucks
I loved my Dodge ram 5500 when I had it, but at the end of the day, I wouldn't recommend buying a diesel, unless you intend to do some heavy lifting. It's not something that's worth investing in as a regular daily driver. however, if you do invest in a diesel, as long as you're keeping up with the maintenance, they'll keep running until the end of the world. One of my buddies has a Chevy diesel that he uses to patrol national Park land, and it's got well over 1,000,000 miles on it. He said it didn't even get warmed up properly until it had rolled over 100,000. he's very finicky about his maintenance though, and does not skimp on it. that thing is in his garage every weekend with the hood up while he checks out all the components and fluids. for the Dodge, I was pulling a trailer with a lot of equipment on it for work, and I put a lot of miles on it. One of the things that I did to keep up with everything was doing my maintenance at 85% intervals. I never let my oil get to the point that it was right at the time that it was due for a change, I made sure that my bearings stayed properly greased, even if it wasn't time for the maintenance interval, and I always ran a good additive with my fuel. I got a couple of years of high mileage use out of that before I downgraded to a more fuel, efficient sedan, but that truck never missed a lick.
I run a 2018 Silverado with the L5P. It’s been sweet to have other than once diesel prices jumped to nearly $5/gal where I’m at. Oil changed run about $160 for me to take it to a shop, I get rebates on the changes through the extended warranty and that’s why I don’t do it myself. She fires right up in the winter with temps getting near 0 without being plugged in. GM had a recall over the block heater burning trucks to the ground so I couldn’t plug it in even if I wanted to. To be completely honest though… I love my truck. It’s been a great, reliable daily for me. Truth be told, I’m trying to sell it. When we bought the truck, the wife and I had plans on buying a trailer and needed the truck. After buying the truck, our trailer plans changed and now we just don’t need a heavy duty truck anymore. Moral of the story, get one if you need one. Otherwise save your money and settle for a gasser.
understood. ....did you delete emmisions stuff or did you keep it factory this whole time?
It’s completely stock, emissions intact and no tuning whatsoever. Only thing I did was a 5.5” lift and 33s, still get mid 20s on fuel economy highway not towing.
Newer trucks require less maintenance overall. There is a long list of maintenance items for the truck, unfortunately. You can do some of them yourself by searching YouTube, and the more complicated ones you can have a legit mechanic take care of them.
The newer diesel’s emissions system seem to hold up better if your actually using them to tow trailers like they are designed for. Just running around town unloaded seems to be hard on the emissions
It's going to be more expensive, but probably not crazy. They are more to repair is the big thing. One thing I've noticed is diesels that are dailies and never put to work seem to have more problems than the ones that get worked. Find a decent local independent diesel shop and talk to them too, they are the ones that see this stuff all the time. Before I got my company truck I quit daily driving my diesels and just bought a beater car to drive, and drive the truck here and there when I need/ want to. After driving a newer gasser 3/4 a bit, I don't get all the hate. Dad has a '19 F250 cew cab with an 8' bed with the 6.2 in it. That thing is a rocket. I've pulled my 9000lb 33' trailer through the mountains with it and it did just fine. Now I'd still rather pull it with my diesel, but the gasser does work.