Should I get the Diesel out of my head?

[myles]

I like MPG...yes you don't buy a truck for fuel mileage...I've heard it before. But the MPG these diesel trucks are getting is outstanding.

I test drove a Laramie with an etorque Hemi today and a '20 Limited with 3.92 gearing and the Ecodiesel. My intentions I couldn't believe it was a diesel. Quiet, smooth, plenty of pep for me.

I drive about 12k miles a year. Mix of highway and backroads. We take my truck on road trips, I haul some atvs on a trailer or dirtbike. My "normal" commute is only 5 miles from my house. So some days, it's out of the garage to work and then home. I do live in the northeast where it gets cold, the truck would sleep in a garage and I could plug the block in. Do I need a diesel? no. Heck do I need a hemi? no. I just don't want to prematurely kill an engine because it doesn't always get up to temp.

I wouldn't recommend the diesel to save money, especially if you pay a dealer to do the oil and fuel filter changes. $180 for an oil change w/ filter and $390 for a fuel filter which is ridiculous. But if you want the range with the 33 gallon tank then its awesome, my truck is about 8 months old and i already have 21k miles on it and I love the truck, I can drive from lake elsinore to LA and back on a 1/4 tank of gas, which is awesome. Went from filling up every 3 days or so with my 2015 gmc to filling up once a week. I'm a pretty aggressive driver so i only get about 22-23mpg in the diesel, but i also only got 14mpg in my gmc. When i take it easy on the go pedal and cruise at around 65 i get 29mpg

 

[My1stHemi]

That’s incredible mileage.

 

[Aseras]

Yeah getting near 800 miles to a tank is great with the 33 gallon tank. If you can keep it in the sweet spot of 45-65 mpg the truck will get 40 mpg+ easy, which is frankly amazing.

I've had loaner Silverados with the v8 and at <55 mph they could come to high 30's by deactivating cylinders and going to v4 mode. Forget towing though. The ecodiesel is still capable of towing my boat and getting 40 mpg which is absolutely bonkers, but great.

my hesitations were questionable long term reliability ( FCA and the ecodiesel both ), but it has a 100K powertrain warranty. and a mopar factory extended warranty is a no brainer with all the tech in the truck. Maintenance is more, but less frequent. But you get an easy oil filter removal, not the mess the 5.7s get with their oil filter. Toss on a fumoto valve and you are set. You can run a gen 4 cap and filters, but it negates the bypass in the stock gen 5 filters. you shouldn't ever need a oil filter bypass, but its FYI. doing that will save you a fortune on oil changes.

the pros are better resale and better mileage.

 

[Boston]

Five mile daily drive will kill a diesel so bad it’s not worth it. Plus it’s mpg on deep winter five mikes drives will be in the teens. It will live in constant emissions clean up mode

Think of the Hemi dollar wise as getting free gas versus the added diesel cost.

Last but not least, I’m convinced that Northeast dealers have no clue how to service and support diesel owners because they do not see enough of them to gain experience.

 

[aedhasdad]

Yeah those were the good ol' days. Now, the American EPA has made it so hard to even sell a diesel engine in this country that automakers have strapped thousands of dollars worth of add-on parts to them solely to make them legal. Those add-ons, in turn, destroy reliability and longevity, eat up fuel efficiency, and make them expensive and hard to work on.

Just looked up the regulations and differences, Europe has had and still does have tougher regulations and our cars are still cheaper...
ICCT Comparison Europe vs EPA

So again, why so expensive here? the technology to make European Diesels is A) Cleaner and B) Cheaper

 

[sdog]

Should I get the Diesel out of my head?

Kylie Minogue?

#fmlimsoold

 

[recon15]

I had a 2019 Hemi and traded it for a 2020 EcoDiesel and love it. 19mpg to 30pmg.
Life is too short to not drive what you really want.

I agree with this. Outside of trying to make perfect financial and usage sense of it, just drive what you want and the hell with it.

 

[Trevor89]

I had a 2015 outdoorsman ecodiesel that I put 124000 trouble free kms on and I loved the truck, I traded it in last month on a 2020 rebel ecodiesel and this one is even better. And I was a Ford guy so this isn't blind brand loyalty.

I have a short work commute but average driving 230kms highway round trip usually at least once a week. The frequent regens in the winter were a pain with the 2015 but I never experienced an issue in 5 years. I never tuned or deleted anything either. Of course in Canada in my area of BC diesel is about 15% cheaper than gas so that made it more of a no brainer for me.