Should I Even Consider the EcoDiesel (3rd Gen)?

[J-Cooz]

Wow, ok, 20mpg with that trailer definitely impressive.

I'm not sure, as I said above, that it adds up financially, but it does sound like it is very likely a bit more "relaxed" experience with the ED and towing. Just kinda works, less shifting, less revving. That is a positive for sure.

Yep. It will go up slight hills and stay in 8th gear towing this trailer. My Hemi couldn't even stay in 8th gear empty. They are both 3.92 trucks.

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[WXman]

As far as the Gladiator being "neutered", the truth is that the EcoDiesel engine makes identical power in the Ram and the Jeep. The way Ram was able to claim 480 lb/ft and lead the class when the Gen 3 engine debuted is that in 6th gear ONLY they allow boost to make 480 in certain situations ONLY. So, technically they can claim 480 on paper, but in reality 99.5% of the time both the Jeep and Ram engines are making identical output.

I went from a 2020 Eco to a 2021 Eco to a 2022 Hemi. I would never go back to diesel.

Both of my EcoDiesels leaked oil. It's extremely common and most dealers see it quite a bit. Oil filters are 5 times more expensive. Fuel filter is $45 and needs to be changed every other oil cycle. DEF prices are up almost 75%. Fuel economy? Hand calculated and analyzed with Fuelly, my EcoDiesel saw a 4 MPG advantage. BUT, diesel fuel is $1.50 per gallon more. So there is zero savings. Towing? With my large enclosed trailer in tow, the Hemi sees 10-11 MPG and the EcoDiesel saw 10-12 MPG. No difference.

The bottom line is this: The EcoDiesel has no advantage at the fuel pump, no advantage towing, is more finnicky, and saves no money. It also will be virtually impossible to get parts for in 5 years. Mark my words. Guys who think they'll be able to easily get a VM diesel worked on 10 years from now will be in for a rude awakening. Stellantis is going full bore EV and is distancing themselves from anything that appears "dirty" to the tree huggers.

I grew up a hard core diesel guy. My father has been a heavy equip mechanic for over 45 years and I grew up around diesels of every brand imagineable. But realistically, in a half ton truck there is no justification for it anymore. The EPA has taken away any reason to buy a diesel. 20 years ago before emissions these diesels got twice the MPG of gas and fuel was also less expensive. Those days are gone forever.

 

[J-Cooz]

As far as the Gladiator being "neutered", the truth is that the EcoDiesel engine makes identical power in the Ram and the Jeep. The way Ram was able to claim 480 lb/ft and lead the class when the Gen 3 engine debuted is that in 6th gear ONLY they allow boost to make 480 in certain situations ONLY. So, technically they can claim 480 on paper, but in reality 99.5% of the time both the Jeep and Ram engines are making identical output.

I went from a 2020 Eco to a 2021 Eco to a 2022 Hemi. I would never go back to diesel.

Both of my EcoDiesels leaked oil. It's extremely common and most dealers see it quite a bit. Oil filters are 5 times more expensive. Fuel filter is $45 and needs to be changed every other oil cycle. DEF prices are up almost 75%. Fuel economy? Hand calculated and analyzed with Fuelly, my EcoDiesel saw a 4 MPG advantage. BUT, diesel fuel is $1.50 per gallon more. So there is zero savings. Towing? With my large enclosed trailer in tow, the Hemi sees 10-11 MPG and the EcoDiesel saw 10-12 MPG. No difference.

The bottom line is this: The EcoDiesel has no advantage at the fuel pump, no advantage towing, is more finnicky, and saves no money. It also will be virtually impossible to get parts for in 5 years. Mark my words. Guys who think they'll be able to easily get a VM diesel worked on 10 years from now will be in for a rude awakening. Stellantis is going full bore EV and is distancing themselves from anything that appears "dirty" to the tree huggers.

I grew up a hard core diesel guy. My father has been a heavy equip mechanic for over 45 years and I grew up around diesels of every brand imagineable. But realistically, in a half ton truck there is no justification for it anymore. The EPA has taken away any reason to buy a diesel. 20 years ago before emissions these diesels got twice the MPG of gas and fuel was also less expensive. Those days are gone forever.

I completely disagree with no advantage towing..you yourself have even said the ecodiesel towing experience is much more relaxed.

Before the crazy increase in diesel prices it was the same as gas, even cheaper sometimes in Canada.

Also only a 4mpg advantage is hard to believe. I had identical trucks, one a 2019 Hemi with etorque and a 2020 now with the 3.0 and I'm getting 10+ mpg better with the ecodiesel, all day long. A quick search of fuelly shows the delta to be 6-7mpg on average.

As far as oil changes and fuel filter costs, big deal. If a $45 fuel filter every 20,000 miles is breaking the bank then you probably shouldn't be driving period.

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[Chris3058]

Yep. What he said

 

[c3k]

I don't have a good financial argument for my EcoDiesel.

When I tow (a light trailer, about 3-4,000 lbs MAX, usually more like 2,000-3,000 lbs, but it has a large 6'x4' ramp that creates a LOT of highway drag), the EcoDiesel acts like it's not even there. The low-end torque and the easy gearing makes it easy to forget I've got a trailer. Yes, the mileage drops, but as others have pointed out, the resulting mileage is still very good.

33 gallon tank, towing or not, gives me legs.

 

[J-Cooz]

I don't have a good financial argument for my EcoDiesel.

When I tow (a light trailer, about 3-4,000 lbs MAX, usually more like 2,000-3,000 lbs, but it has a large 6'x4' ramp that creates a LOT of highway drag), the EcoDiesel acts like it's not even there. The low-end torque and the easy gearing makes it easy to forget I've got a trailer. Yes, the mileage drops, but as others have pointed out, the resulting mileage is still very good.

33 gallon tank, towing or not, gives me legs.

There never is. Life is to short. Buy the truck you want and enjoy it.

Hemi is a great engine for most..

Ecodiesel is a great engine for some.

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[J-Cooz]

Just drove 1130km (700 miles) towing my 7x16 enclosed snowmobile trailer. With two snowmobiles it's probably around 2500lbs or so. Cruise control set at 112km/hr (70mph) with tow haul on. Truck stayed in 8th gear and towed like a dream.

Ecodiesel rocks.

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[AdamChandler]

Shadow (Ram 1500) | Fuelly

30K miles and I’m at 23 MPGs. I’ve hauled at or just over the payload limit for 6-7K of those miles. 26K of the miles were in the North and 12K of them were during New Hampshire winter (below freezing + winter mix fuel).

Looking at this, the 5.7L e-Torque (the default engine choice on my Limited) at 16 MPGs 2021 Ram 1500 MPG - Actual MPG from 154 2021 Ram 1500 owners
and this, the diesel overall spec where I’m in the mean (23 MPG) 2021 Ram 1500 MPG - Actual MPG from 101 2021 Ram 1500 owners

I definitely want to compare total cost over 30,000 miles at my MPG against the mean for those that didn’t pay $3200 for a diesel.

My average price per gallon of diesel over 2 years and 30K miles is $4.15 a gallon. Mid-grade is siting around $3.50 at the moment and it has tracked either on par with Diesel or 50-75 cents below it depending on where we were in pandemic hell in fuel prices.

30,000 miles @ 16 MPG @ $3.50 a gallon = $6562 spent on fuel
30,000 miles at 23 MPG @ 4.15 a gallon = $5411 spent on fuel

So I’ve saved $1151 USD in fuel so far at average prices. Fuel is dynamic so I won’t know for a few years what ends up being the 5 year average on both 89 octane and highway diesel but at today’s figures , my $1151 savings took 21 months. To save $3200 (price of the motor upgrade), it would take me 59 months or just under 5 years just to get back what I spent on the ED motor.

As for all of the other diesel costs, my 8 year / 125K mile warranty was around $2250 if I remember correctly and outside of that, I’ve done all of the maintenance myself and will continue to do so. I do oil, oil filter, diesel fuel filter and run EDT through it at every fuel up. The 10K mile maintenance costs about $150 and I’m not shopping around for the best deals but I DIY it and I’m actually doing oil changes at around 7500 miles if I’m being honest. Sometimes I just go out and do it because it feels right.

This is obviously completely removed from the other benefits diesel has allowed which is really comfortable highway riding, a nearly quiet motor but with a fun turbo whine which i like a lot coming from VW vehicles And I love the 33 gallon tank and 23-24 MPG means I can go 800 miles usually between fill ups which, in town, means only having to hit the pumps every 4-5 weeks. That’s pretty awesome. I love the motor, I like the MPG and since that $3200 is already spent when I bought the truck, I honestly haven’t concerned myself with ‘paying off that sunk cost’ but here we are, 5 years into ownership, the ED will break even with the E-Torque Hemi. After that, it’s all money saved out the tailpipe.

 

[Thatjusthappened82]

Love my eco diesel… and anything you read will be either they explode as soon as they leave the lot or they last for 500k miles.

Hemi’s and Etorque’s have their issues too, so if you think you’re avoiding problems by picking one or the other, the reality is you’re just signing up for a potentially different basket of problems.

 

[Mattiusmaximus1216]

I’m all about it ecodiesel. If I had a choice I’d get it again. Such a smooth engine. I have a 2.5” lift on 35s with 3.92s. I’m still getting 21mpg doing 75 mph on the freeway (that’s the sweet spot). Hemi won’t get that.

 

[Paco]

Just wanted to add. My 2014 eco was used for hauling a tandem dump trailer full of landscape rocks etc. I had several loads of over gvw19,000 lbs. Like I said earlier 190,000 miles or 295,000 kms for us Canadian
I didn't trade it on a 2022 eco because I was having problems with it. I feel the motor liked to work and work hard. I had a v_10 and a couple hemi before that. I loved the hemi and raced it,but my truck is a work truck and a gas mixer on the highway when not working. The only reason I sold my 2014 was fuel pump and tranny acting up. Diesel are not good groceries transports.

 

[ShastaRAM]

Been upping my truck knowledge and slowly shopping. I think I know my must haves and my nice to haves (Big Horn Level 2 or Laramie) and all that jazz.

One thing I had not considered AT ALL was the EcoDiesel. I had pretty much decided on the HEMI, preferably with e-Torque. Need to tow about a 5000lb (trailer + contents) 6x12 enclosed tandem-axle cargo trailer (max ever would be 7000lbs). This would be towed basically every business day, mostly suburban driving with possibly 1x a week 30-40 miles on the highway. V8 HEMI is more than enough for my needs. Also a selling point over F150 where finding the V8 is nearly impossible it seems (so I likely would have to go with the 2.7L V6 EcoBoost)

Do I even consider the EcoDiesel (3rd gen only) for my use case? I owned a 6 cylinder BMW diesel when I lived in Germany for 5 years, it was perfect for my needs in commuting but also had enough power for high-speed Autobahn driving, yet got superb fuel economy when desired. I had one failure in my ownership with some sort of cooler if I recall. Was about 1200 EUR to repair, which, while not cheap, also isn't particularly uncommon on any BMW (gas or diesel), so I didn't start cursing at diesel and its problems. I also find diesels intriguing just from the engineering/technology standpoint. There is something kinda cool about them to a geek like me. The MPG is a bonus, though offset by fuel costs somewhat, and possibly maintenance costs. Torque for towing?? I also know the diesel seems to be neutered on the Gladiators, so I'm slightly concerned that the RAM may also do this (it appears it is cooling related on the Jeep so maybe RAM doesn't have this issue?)

With that said, its another 5+ years later after my diesel BMW, and I have no idea even more of the additional garbage they hang off these engines now in an attempt to clean them up. I know I have to deal with DEF. I know, as of today, that I'm gonna pay $4.55 for diesel at my station, whereas regular is $3.20 and premium (may be necessary for towing?) is $3.53. $1 per gallon more is not insignificant. 30% higher fuel cost.

1) should I even consider the EcoDiesel for my use? I do see a fair number new and used (I'm kinda assuming local dealers have ordered a bunch since it is going out of production)... will I see benefits in ease of towing? Will I make up the fuel cost difference towing the trailer daily? Initial purchase price is higher too.... Any financial reason this might make sense?
2) Assuming it might work well for me use-wise, what is the consensus on the 3rd gen diesel reliability? Maintenance requirements? I wouldn't touch the 2nd or 1st gen with a 10 foot pole. The HEMI, while can have issues, is more than proven enough to me to be acceptable.
3) Concerns with mechanics that don't see these engines much? HEMIs are in nearly everything.
4) Parts concerns down the road? I am a guy who likes to buy the right thing then keep it a long time. Again, HEMI will have parts galore for a long time.
5) Does resale matter? One hand, no more diesels, may be desirable. On the other hand if its a piece of junk, nobody is gonna touch it with said 10-foot pole...

If it matters, I live somewhere that I could remove emissions, but I'm also not one to willy-nilly desire more pollution either, so I'd probably just like to leave the truck stock.

Consider it or stay away?

I know this is an old thread, but I’m new here so…

I owned a 2021 ED until May 2023 when I traded it in on a Ram 2500 Cummins. I loved it. It was trouble free iver 50k miles. The fuel economy is spectacular. I live in NorCal and routinely traveled I-5 to WA getting 30+ mog. And that’s over 6 mountain passes.

They only reason I traded it is because the 1500 was a bit overloaded on payload with my TT. The new 2500 isn’t doing to shabby on fuel economy either. I got 23 mpg on the same route last week.

The financial considerations have changed too, at least in CA and OR. Diesel is suddenly significantly cheaper than gasoline. I have no idea why, but it is, and it’s great!