Is It Time To Go Duramax?

[B33tl3]

Okay I have a 06 1500HD 6.0L 4X4 with 285’s. I am getting 12-12.4 mpg around town. I drive 30 miles to work one way so with gas prices it is costing me $17.25 to go to work each day. My brother and a friend both have or had diesels. One friend has an F250 with a 6 inch lift and 35’s, he has used an off the shelf tuner and claims he is getting 19-20 mpg doing the same type of driving I do. My brother had a F250 and claimed similar MPGs in a more rural area without the traffic. My wife’s cousin works for a framing company and drives a 2500HD can he says he is getting around 17 in traffic.

Doing the math even with current gas prices if I am getting 12 mpg @ $3.45 a gallon and a diesel gets even 17 mpg at $4.19 a gallon I would be getting an extra 120 miles a tank for $17.76 instead of the $34.50 it would cost me to drive 120 miles in the 1500HD (24 gallons used my current tank size). That would be a savings of $16.74 per “tank”. Right now I am filling up about 5 times a month.

Talking to a used car manager friend they are turning away diesels right now. He says he Atlanta market is flooded with people trying to trade them in because of high fuel costs. He said just yesterday he had someone trying to trade a 2007 2500HD 4X4 loaded with 33K on it for a 2WD tundra. He said he could find any wholesaler that wanted it even at $24K. He can hook me up for wholesale plus a few hundred for the dealership so the market seems right for the picking.

 

My main question is what MPG are you guys seeing for a 4X4 diesel? Will a tuner make a difference?

[dietz4ibanez]

I am thinking on the same lines even though I get a little better fuel mileage right now that you. But I was thinking about getting a Vortec Max wondering if the higher fuel price for diesel will be worth it.

 

I have been wanting a Duramax ever since they came out but the way fuel prices are it is really scaring me away. Plus it is easier to think about the VMAX cause its a half ton that can handle up to 10,500 lbs.... Even though I would be getting about 13 mpgs...

 

It sucks to have to say this but you have to plan your vehicle purchase on what the projective price of fuel will be not what it is right now...

 

Its really killing us all,.

[Coachmenguy]

i dont know about where u live but here in Michigan diesel is around 50 cents higher than regular, so what mpg's are these duramax's getting...i havent heard much past the low 20's tops! more like 18 i think would be average, so i guess ya really gotta gather up some data and do the math dont forget to add in the initial higher purchase price and higher maintence cost. I would like a duramax but with those things i just listed i talked myself out of it and am sticking with my 6.0, nowadays to make a diesel worth it you'd have to REALLY use it, not just some daily driver to occaisonally haul your travel trailer. just my .02

[Silverado4x4]

If you can justify the extra $8500 for the price of the Diesel and have a use for the Diesel for other then fuel milage then do it. Your going to loose money on your current truck on the trade so you have to factor that in also I had a 2004 D-Max and traded it last year cause I had no use for it anymore and now glad I did. Maintance cost, fuel filter changes and hope you never get bad fuel are things to consider. As said if yor going to work the truck other then fuel milage then do it. If I were you I would put the stock 245s tires back on there and go with that, the 285s is whats eating your milage down some, most likely 3-4 mpgs less with the 285s. Thats what I saw when I had a 2001 HD 4x4 with the 4:11 gears.

[BlackSilver]

Buying a diesel just for fuel mileage is a foolish move. You'll never make up the cost difference in fuel savings.

 

Buying a diesel to get some work out of it is the reason to buy a diesel.

[ak63]

Also I've heard comments that the actual real world fuel mileage on the 2007+ diesels is lower then the pre-2007 diesiels if you are not driving them hard / long because of the regen cycles with the DPFs. I don't have a diesel so can't verify this directly.

[B33tl3]

I am not going to loose money on my truck it's a 2006 that I bought new under GMS pricing and it has 25K on it. KKB is good for this truck.

 

I am not planning to buy a new Duramax I am planning to buy used. Like I said the market here in Atlanta is flooded with them and they are pretty cheap.

 

I have done the math with what mileage I have heard about but I want some more data points. What mpg are you guys getting? What are you getting on a chipped/tunned one?

 

What are the maintenance costs? I know maintenance is higher but I thought the intervals were longer so it almost evened out.

[vranasaurus]

At $3.45 a gallon and 12 MPG it costs you $0.28 per mile to drive your current truck.

 

At $4.19 a gallon and 17 MPG it costs you $0.24 per mile to drive the D-max.

 

At 60 miles per day you would save $2.40 per day.

 

If you drive to work 260 days a year you would save $624 or about $52 a month.

 

Driving that much a day it would probably make more sense for you to get a car to drive to work everyday and leave your truck at home.

 

If you got a car that go 30 MPG it would cost you $0.11 per mile to drive. At 60 miles a day you would save $10.20 per day. If you drive to work 260 days a year you would save $2652 a year.

[B33tl3]

Driving that much a day it would probably make more sense for you to get a car to drive to work everyday and leave your truck at home.

 

If you got a car that go 30 MPG it would cost you $0.11 per mile to drive. At 60 miles a day you would save $10.20 per day. If you drive to work 260 days a year you would save $2652 a year.

 

 

Yes I could buy a car that gets 30mpg but I don't want a car that is why I have a truck. All I am asking for some real world numbers that I can use for my decision.

[Silverado4x4]

Ok here you go, when I had my 2004 lly d-max on the highway I got 19-20 on the highway unloaded and around town 15 mpg. Now if you want to get a tune you may pick up an extra 1-2 mpg if that and it will be a long time to recoupe your money spent for the tune but with a tune you will be opening up yourself to other issues.

[Nice rig]

I wanted a truck to that's why I bought mine. But I also have a 2000 honda civic that get's 32mpg on average too and from work. My 11mpg wonder sit's in the driveway most of the week, but usually using it every weekend, and when the wife doesn't have anywhere to go I sport the gas sipping honda. It's your money, do what you want with it.

[jaaron]

I am considering buying a duramax also. We had a recent hail storm in our town so you can pick up a fully loaded truck with some minor hail damage for really cheap.

[gave20]

Most are getting between 15-17mpg with the older D-max, I don't know how you can justify the switch. Right now gas is climbing in line with diesel but for the last 5 months diesel was $1.20 more per gallon. A diesel was at one time a way to combat high gas prices, not anymore.

[robertbick]

I wanted a truck to that's why I bought mine. But I also have a 2000 honda civic that get's 32mpg on average too and from work. My 11mpg wonder sit's in the driveway most of the week, but usually using it every weekend, and when the wife doesn't have anywhere to go I sport the gas sipping honda. It's your money, do what you want with it.

 

We do the same here, except our gas sipper is a Nissan Sentra. Have the truck when we need it (towing, snow plowing, hauling) and the econo car when we don't want to spend too much in gas. It works well for us.

[wellinghurst]

At $3.45 a gallon and 12 MPG it costs you $0.28 per mile to drive your current truck.

 

At $4.19 a gallon and 17 MPG it costs you $0.24 per mile to drive the D-max.

 

At 60 miles per day you would save $2.40 per day.

 

If you drive to work 260 days a year you would save $624 or about $52 a month.

 

If it was only a gas issue then it would work, but you also have 100.00 oil changes/etc. BlackSilver is a wise man. Never buy a diesel thinking it will be worth it for the gas mileage. It doesn't add up. but...if you can find a steal on a used one, then go for it.

 

A 1/2 ton 5.3 will get you the same mileage as a diesel for 1/2 the cost.

 

Luckily my brother drives a Diesel and anytime he goes fishing with me, we take his truck because when you compare it to my 6.0, it is cheaper for me because I only have to pay for the gas, not the maintenance, payment, etc associated with it.