Boo on the Chrysler thing. I know of quite a few guys that have Dodge Cummings that have a ton a
Of miles and still run awesome. The maintenance on a diesel is less too.
We have GM vehicles at work. GM is a corporate sponsor. The only time they get non GM is if they don't build a vehicle in that segment. The GM cars are ok. The GM trucks have interiors that are cheap and garbage. I've driven quite a few with about 60,000 miles and the seats are all torn up and the dashes too. The paint doesn't hold up either. Starts peeling of after about three years. We have some trucks on property that are 10-15 years old that look like they were built in the 50's as far as the body is concerned. I will admit the sun here in Florida is brutal and the vehicles don't see a coat of wax in the entire time they are in service and that can be as long as 20 years but is usually closer to ten. Door hinges and hinge mount points are also weak. I don't know of any significant powertrain issues.

I still stand by what I say. Gas prices vs. diesel prices... diesel nearly 1/4th more. So even if you get 1/4th better fuel mileage, you're coming out even at best.

Plus, look at teh trends... 10 years ago, diesel and gas were teh same, now diesel is .75 higher. Trends don't go forever, but if this one keeps up, it's going to mean that diesel could be $1.00 or more per gallon higher than gasoline prices..... which means you have a monstrosity of a truck that isn't getting you any better fuel receipts. I still say if you don't need one, don't get one.

i'd like to have a diesel truck someday, eather a 7.3 ford powerstroke, or an older IDI ( N/A) ford, preferably a 7.3. my one close friend has a '91 F350 4x4 with the 7.3 IDI engine that has 425,000 miles, still pulls like a train and gets about 18 MPG. another friend has a '97 F250 4x4 with the 7.3 powerstroke and a 5 speed stick, with 41,000 miles. i'd kill for that truck!

Gas and diesel have held about the same gap for years now. The thing that caused them to jump were the sulfur regs. The gap hasn't really changed since then, except for the fact that diesel prices tend to change less frequently than gas prices.

Mousehouse, I learned that lesson the hard way with vehicles my family had. My Suburban looks pretty good considering it's almost 20 years old and 250,000 miles. I'm just now replacing the transmission. It ain't meant to be a luxury truck. As long as the powertrain is dependable (which it has been on every GM truck I've had) I could care less how it looks. Course trucks for me are used to work, hunt, and fish out of. I'm not like a lot of people who get a truck or SUV just for the hell of it and keep it in immaculate condition. My trucks are gonna see mud, dirt, water and a lot of wear. Once I have a farm, that'll be even worse I'm sure.

I just don't care much for the dirtymax engines, when I worked for Dans Diesels he was always a powerstroke fan and I have to admit I liked them but there were actually quiet a few powerstroke drivers who had the ford look with the cummins power, after Dans went out of biz I didnt get hired anywhere else without a degree but Chris Snyder from dorchester iowa owns Ram Boyz and builds custom cummins that are amazing, I know the tranny thing, my deal with that is factory trans are junk when they go out you build the trans up run synthetic and put a better oil cooler in the truck, the guy I got from mine had the tranny redone right and when I got it the tranny was a month older and I had the local garage beef it up and the shifts and shift points are much better than that of my stock 99 Ram, anyways it wont be for awhile I did drive one thats in my current price range a 2001 Dodge Cummins 2500 ext cab short bed not dually with 251k and it ran great and as always sounded amazing but for sure needs a new drivers door n tires and even for a diesel those miles scare me.

I am going to make a statement that I can't prove and it could be a bunch of bunk that I heard and will pass along. I was told that diesel fuel is produced as a byproduct of producing gasoline. I don't know anything about the process of refineing fossil fuels. I do remember that until the last ten. To twenty years that diesel was always cheaper to buy than gasoline which leads me to believe what I have passed on. I think the high price of diesel is a result of the oil companies raping the truckers and in effect the rest of America. There is something about the oil companies that I think is corrupt.

Mousehouse, you are correct about diesel being a byproduct of refining gasoline. Keep in mind that diesel was always far cheaper than gasoline until the federal gov't implemented new regulations reducing the amount of sulfur in diesel fuel to ridiculously low levels. The cost of reducing sulfur levels that low is pretty high. If the feds hadn't screwed with it it would still be cheaper than gasoline. And the powers behind all that is mainly the corn/ethanol lobby. They knew if we switched to more diesel vehicles like Europe has that the ethanol industry (which is heavily subsidized by the gov't as it is) would be in a world of hurt. That's also why the oil industry was forced to mix in 10% ethanol with their gasoline. The corn lobby has way too much power in Washington. The Ford Fusion is sold in diesel form throughout the rest of the world, as is the Nissan Altima and several other cars that are only sold with gas engines here in the states. The hybrids would also take a huge hit as well if diesel ever became popular here. Especially now that they are trying to find a way to mass produce synthetic diesel.