So heres the thing, on the weekend my wife received a text from a friend that they just bought a new Chev fully loaded with Nav so she turns to me and says we should up grade ours. I currantly have a 2009 Dodge ram 1500 SLT I like the truck but always wanted to upgrade to a fully loaded model.

But... here is the tough part. For the past eight years I have been getting free gas from work but now this month they are talking about removing that incentive and with me looking at a 1500 Hemi gas I am not looking forward to the fuel bill, diesel is cheaper in my area and I know its cheaper on fuel. I dont mind upgrading to a 2500 Dodge as I am planning on buying a travel trailer down the road and a 2500 means I can go bigger.

My question is from a maintenance point of view does it make sense to buy a diesel for a daily driver and no second vehicle to trade off with since the wife doesn't drive?

 

How long do you intend to keep the diesel? You are going to take a beating just dumping the 09 Hemi. When you add that to the increased cost of the diesel, you could buy a lot of gas.

 

... decreased cost of diesel...

 

The diesel is not going to get better mileage, it will most likely be worse if your talking about the cummins. IMO it makes no sense using a diesel for a daily driver now with the new emission laws. The only reason I would have one is for pulling massive loads and needed the torque.

 

Being someone who is a daily driver of a Cummins that replaced a 1/2-ton gasser, that's a load. I get around 22MPG mixed driving (city/highway/towing a light trailer) in my Cummins. I never saw above 18 in my 1/2-ton. I'd love to know what makes you think a Cummins would ever get worse fuel mileage than a Hemi.

That said, if you don't plan on keeping it a while, it'd be silly to buy a diesel. A lot of money would go into dropping an '09 truck already, so I'd have to see the cost of doing the upgrades you want vs buying another new truck.

That all said - the addition of a travel trailer would definitely put the new truck on my block. I guess it depends on how soon, how large, and (how often using) the travel trailer would be.

 

I decided to buy a new truck this summer. I looked at both gas and diesel. I considered a few factors when making my decision.

I do pull a travel trailer, but its maximum weight is 6000lbs.
I do a lot of short trips. Only a few times a year to I travel any distances. I don't believe that diesel motors like short trips. They are made to haul long distances and heavy loads. I live in Canada where the winters can be a little cold. I felt that stopping and starting a diesel often in the winter would not be good for it.
Although I am not an expert on this, my understanding is, the basic maintenance for a diesel is higher than gas motors.

So I bought a 2010 SLT 4X4 Hemi with the towing package, 3.92 dif, towing mirrors, brake control etc. The truck is still new, but I'm averaging over 18 MPG. It has more than enough power to pull my trailer and has a decent ride.

There was not a huge difference in cost between the Diesel and the Hemi as Dodge was having a free diesel sale on when I bough my truck. The lot was full of 2500s and 3500s and salesman was anxious to sell me one. I feel that I made the right choice. Someday when I have more free time, I will be doing a lot more traveling and when that happens I will buy a diesel.

 

And I bet you have a 5.9 cummins, which does get better mileage than a hemi. The 6.7 cummins stock gets worse mileage, from what I've read most are getting around 15mpg. Hopefully cummins will jump on the bandwagon in 2012 and start using urea so the trucks will start getting decent mileage again. Not to mention the 6.7 is a dog compared to the new psd and dmax

 

Diesel is cheaper in Calgary?? Wow. Diesel has consistently been 30+ cents higher than regular unleaded (per gallon) for years. Does CA not have the strict diesel emissions requirements (low sulpher) that US does? Rob

 

It depends what province you are in for emissions, Alberta has some of the lowest regulations in Canada. Diesel tends to be 3-5 cent less a litre then gas.

As for how long will I own the truck, I "plan" to keep what ever one I choose for quite some time mind you that is what I said about this truck and the two other new vehicles I had before it. (the dealer's finance team now remembers me by name.)

6.7 cummins worries me being a new motor and I haven't heard to much about it, also waiting in the winter for it to warm up to go anywhere expecially with 1 year old. Thanks for your imput, I will post a pic of whatever I decide and am approved for.

 

The new cummins is great but you will not get good mileage with it. several people around here have them and get at best 16mpg driving 100% highway. Now I know I will get flamed for this big time but in my opinion ford has the best diesel around right now. We just got a 2011 superduty with the new 6.7 from ford and it is the best diesel that ford has ever produced. We are getting 15mpg over the lifetime on it with over 10k miles on it and that is farm use pulling trailers and making short trips. If we go out on the highway we can easily see 20+mpg. All depends on if you are dead set on a dodge.