OhhWell wrote:

The EPA and power wars have taken their toll on the good 'ole reliable fuel efficient diesel.

rhagfo wrote:

One good use for a gas engine is to start a diesel!! I recall when I was a kid, there was a construction shop behind a friends house. I remember seeing a large Cat with a large diesel engine, that had a smaller gas engine as a starter engine!

waynec1957 wrote:

My guess is if we come back to this thread in 10 years we'll be having the same debate. For most of us, I think, a truck isn't just transportation...it's a tool and we all expect different things from our tools.

A lot of it is preference. Except for one Dodge Ram 360 in 94 because I liked the body style and the dealer treated me right (but the tranny went out on this one in less that 10K miles), I've always been a GM guy. The old GM big blocks and this "new" 6L are workhorses. I've got as buddy who has 300k miles on an old 350. Not a thing in the world wrong with them.

At the same time, nobody I've ever talked to that has or has had a Duramax/Allison (in any incarnation) ever told me they absolutely hated it, it was underpowered, couldn't handle a very big load, and they would never have another one.


I don't need a diesel to pull my 5k lb (dry weight) StarCraft...that's kinda like driving nails with a sledge hammer. But when we move up into the 8k lb (or more) dry weight (which we're planning to do) that diesel will start looking pretty good. For most people, it seems to me, the biggest thing between gas and diesel is the upfront cost...maintenance and everything else seems to come second.

The reason I'm a GM guy is because I retired from GM. And like I said in another post when I combined my GM retiree discount with the available rebates I was looking at over $12 k off the sticker price. Combine that with the fact I bought a 2 wheel drive, CC, LS (work truck)as opposed to a 4x4 LTZ (or something like that) and that initial cost factor of a diesel fades away....since I was in the market for a bigger TV anyway. In fact, my discount and the rebates MORE than paid for the D/A AND a 10 year extended bumper to bumper warranty. not only that, but I get 2 years of free oil changes. As long as I do my part, that eliminates a lot of worries about future repair costs.

This LS is plenty comfortable for long trips, has adequate bells and whistles...for me, and out of 7 trucks I've owned only had 2-4x4 which didn't need. Plus, what I really WANTED was the Duramax/Allison to pull with. I, personally, really don't care if a truck has leather seats, genuine imitation wood on the dash, and can talk to my cell phone. All that stuff is nice and I don't begrudge anybody who needs or wants it (the other half's car has all that), it's just not important to me. I'm more concerned about power, towing (which is what I bought it for), and longevity.



Since I just made this decision (gas vs. diesel) I thought I'd give a little of my own thought process. My circumstances (and what I really wanted) worked out to where the diesel was feasible and a good choice. It may not work out that way for the next guy.