Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Mechanic
I am not anti diesel, but with a 50 cent per gallon cost penalty, not even considering any other costs, diesel mileage needs to beat gas by about 25% just to cover the higher fuel cost. Here gas is as low as $2.159, while diesel is
$2.759 right now. The price spread has been significantly higher before.
At $2 per gal for gas and $3 for diesel, the diesel vehicle needs to get 60 mpg versus the gas vehicle at 40 mpg to have the same fuel cost per mile.
regards
mech
regards
mech
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Agreed on all you said above. However, there are a lot of other things to consider in the equation as well (longevity, higher maintenance prices, resale, towing capacity, etc, etc). For right now I think my brother is doing much better in the gasser than he was in the diesel, but only time will tell.
Personally, I will always own a diesel 3/4 or 1 ton because I almost never drive one of the beasts unless I'm towing with it...which weighs HEAVILY in the favor of the diesel. The OP stated that he wasn't planning on towing, so his cost analysis is going to favor the fuel efficient gasser, even if the diesel gets more mpg's (initial cost of the diesel, premium cost of fuel, routine maintenance on a vehicle not being driven to 350k miles...).
Every situation is going to be different, but few people seem to take all the variables into account. Most think that they just NEED the diesel, when in reality they would be much further ahead financially to get a v6 gas truck.