Used Diesel Truck Recommendations

[Colin]

Looking to upgrade my 1/2 ton pickup in the next year. Budget is around 30k. Have been looking for 2011 or newer less than 100k miles. I've never had a diesel so any and all information is welcome. Plans to eventually be pulling a trailer.

Seems like prices tend to be Chevy high, Dodge middle and Ford lower.

Availability seems like Dodge high, Ford high and Chevy low.

Have a friend of a friend that's a diesel mechanic and plan to kick him a couple hundred bucks to give me his inspection prior to buying but since I'm so inexperienced hard to know what to look for. I have some time so just looking to get a little more educated. Trying to stay away from vehicles with 5th wheel package already and I think I'm basically looking for a stock truck with reasonable miles. Probably a lot of guys looking for the same tho...

[Woodchuck]

Can I ask why you want a diesel?

[coachcw]

I love the way the gm's drive with under a 100k id have no worries , as far as a pure work horse id lean towards the dodges

[Dhoey07]

05-06 Chevy/GMC.  Hold out for one with lower miles.

[Stein]

Can I ask why you want a diesel?

   The first rule of diesels is to only buy one if that is the only option unless you really want one and are willing to pay the cost up front and ongoing which is substantial to say the least.

Advances in gas engines has significantly closed the gap.

[Colin]

Can I ask why you want a diesel?

   The first rule of diesels is to only buy one if that is the only option unless you really want one and are willing to pay the cost up front and ongoing which is substantial to say the least.

Advances in gas engines has significantly closed the gap.

Looking to pull a dog trailer in the future and hard to look at expanding and getting a trailer without a truck to pull it. Ultimate goal is to pull a dbl axle car hauler with a ~1200 lb dog box and a ATV across the country (this is 5-10 years out) but smaller trailers building up to that. Seems unreasonable to ask that of a gas truck even if its built in a 3/4 ton truck.

I should mention that I'm not against waiting till the need absolutely drives me to upgrade. My 1/2 ton just rolled over 210K and I'm concerned about longevity as well as reliability for future cross country trips, towing or not. I guess the question of going diesel really comes down to if I spend $$$ in the next year to replace a 1/2 ton with another 1/2 ton that may only meet my needs for (2-3 years) or do I pay more up front but have a truck that will meet my needs for 3-7 years?

[Woodchuck]

Can I ask why you want a diesel?

   The first rule of diesels is to only buy one if that is the only option unless you really want one and are willing to pay the cost up front and ongoing which is substantial to say the least.

Advances in gas engines has significantly closed the gap.

Looking to pull a dog trailer in the future and hard to look at expanding and getting a trailer without a truck to pull it. Ultimate goal is to pull a dbl axle car hauler with a ~1200 lb dog box and a ATV across the country (this is 5-10 years out) but smaller trailers building up to that. Seems unreasonable to ask that of a gas truck even if its built in a 3/4 ton truck.

I would suggest doing some research on some gassers first. That Ford Eco Boost puts down some impressive numbers. 
A diesel is probably close to 3 times as expensive just for regular maintenance. The only way to make one pay is if you are working the snot out of it day in and day out for lots of miles and hours.

[Dhoey07]

Can I ask why you want a diesel?

   The first rule of diesels is to only buy one if that is the only option unless you really want one and are willing to pay the cost up front and ongoing which is substantial to say the least.

Advances in gas engines has significantly closed the gap.

Looking to pull a dog trailer in the future and hard to look at expanding and getting a trailer without a truck to pull it. Ultimate goal is to pull a dbl axle car hauler with a ~1200 lb dog box and a ATV across the country (this is 5-10 years out) but smaller trailers building up to that. Seems unreasonable to ask that of a gas truck even if its built in a 3/4 ton truck.

I would suggest doing some research on some gassers first. That Ford Eco Boost puts down some impressive numbers. 
A diesel is probably close to 3 times as expensive just for regular maintenance. The only way to make one pay is if you are working the snot out of it day in and day out for lots of miles and hours.

Yearly maintenance on my diesel is about $150 per year.

[Stein]

That's not a bunch of weight to tow:

1300  side by side atv
1200  dog box
1500  trailer
500  misc extra junk

4500 pounds which is less than half the tow capacity of an ecoboost 1/2 ton before you even jump to 3/4.  You would have to watch tongue weight, but 4,500 is a very manageable load.

$150 a year maintenance is a pretty rosy prediction even if under warranty.  Everything with a diesel is more expensive, both the engine as well as the heavy duty suspension.  Brake rotors alone are what $500?  The suspension, steering, etc seems to require much more frequent replacement.  Essentially, the cost to maintain an F350 is nowhere near that on an F150 or even 250. 

Great rigs that can pull the world, but at a cost that goes well beyond initial sticker shock.

[CAMPMEAT]

Duramax.

 When we moved to AZ, I have a 2013 4wd, crewcab. We had a full sized camper, 20 ft cargo trailer loaded with our quads and other stuff and I could drive it 80-90 mph at 9mpg. That truck didn't skip a beat and it was a stock motor. I did put 285/70/17 tires I put on it.

[Colin]

Can I ask why you want a diesel?

   The first rule of diesels is to only buy one if that is the only option unless you really want one and are willing to pay the cost up front and ongoing which is substantial to say the least.

Advances in gas engines has significantly closed the gap.

Looking to pull a dog trailer in the future and hard to look at expanding and getting a trailer without a truck to pull it. Ultimate goal is to pull a dbl axle car hauler with a ~1200 lb dog box and a ATV across the country (this is 5-10 years out) but smaller trailers building up to that. Seems unreasonable to ask that of a gas truck even if its built in a 3/4 ton truck.

I would suggest doing some research on some gassers first. That Ford Eco Boost puts down some impressive numbers. 
A diesel is probably close to 3 times as expensive just for regular maintenance. The only way to make one pay is if you are working the snot out of it day in and day out for lots of miles and hours.

I see your point! So I guess if I break it down super simple I have two routes to go.

1. I Spend around 30K to get into a nice used diesel that will cost me more for maintenance/parts/labor. Would probably not need a new truck for 5-10 years as far as capacity goes, if ever.

2. Replace my 1/2 ton with another 1/2 at half the cost of the diesel. Sell it for maybe half of what I bought it for in 3-5 years and then upgrade to diesel as hopefully the need justifies it a little more direly at that time.

[Colin]

That's not a bunch of weight to tow:

1300  side by side atv
1200  dog box
1500  trailer
500  misc extra junk

4500 pounds which is less than half the tow capacity of an ecoboost 1/2 ton before you even jump to 3/4.  You would have to watch tongue weight, but 4,500 is a very manageable load.

$150 a year maintenance is a pretty rosy prediction even if under warranty.  Everything with a diesel is more expensive, both the engine as well as the heavy duty suspension.  Brake rotors alone are what $500?  The suspension seems to require much more frequent replacement.

Great rigs that can pull the world, but at a cost that goes well beyond initial sticker shock.

My primary concern is the tongue weight as I want the dog box close to the hitch and depending on the trailer that could be reasonably distributed but pulling that amount of across country I'd think would burn up a 1/2 pretty quickly. No?

[Dhoey07]

That's not a bunch of weight to tow:

1300  side by side atv
1200  dog box
1500  trailer
500  misc extra junk

4500 pounds which is less than half the tow capacity of an ecoboost 1/2 ton before you even jump to 3/4.  You would have to watch tongue weight, but 4,500 is a very manageable load.

$150 a year maintenance is a pretty rosy prediction even if under warranty.  Everything with a diesel is more expensive, both the engine as well as the heavy duty suspension.  Brake rotors alone are what $500?  The suspension, steering, etc seems to require much more frequent replacement.  Essentially, the cost to maintain an F350 is nowhere near that on an F150 or even 250. 

Great rigs that can pull the world, but at a cost that goes well beyond initial sticker shock.

Oil change twice a year, fuel filter once a year.  I have 130k and have done the rear brakes once, rotors cost $75 per side, I don't recall what the pads cost because I bought them when Napa had the Seahawks super bowl discount.  I've done a wheel hub assembly and that ran me about $150.  Front brakes are still factory and they have life left.

In the future I will have to do ball joints and maybe tie rod ends but I did those in my '98 dakota as well. 

I would suggest staying pre DEF and you will save a bit there.  Ive bought 3 sets of tires that were more expensive than my Dakota tires so I guess there is that. 

[fishngamereaper]

Don't overlook a gasser GM Hd...my '12 Gmc Hd with the 6.0 ltr pulls my 6k lb boat without issue and gets good mileage doing it..

[baker5150]

That's not a bunch of weight to tow:

1300  side by side atv
1200  dog box
1500  trailer
500  misc extra junk

4500 pounds which is less than half the tow capacity of an ecoboost 1/2 ton before you even jump to 3/4.  You would have to watch tongue weight, but 4,500 is a very manageable load.

$150 a year maintenance is a pretty rosy prediction even if under warranty.  Everything with a diesel is more expensive, both the engine as well as the heavy duty suspension.  Brake rotors alone are what $500?  The suspension, steering, etc seems to require much more frequent replacement.  Essentially, the cost to maintain an F350 is nowhere near that on an F150 or even 250. 

Great rigs that can pull the world, but at a cost that goes well beyond initial sticker shock.

Whats the difference between an F250 gas and an F250 diesel besides the engine/trans?  Do they have different braking systems, running gear, etc?   

I know our Dodge/Ram trucks are pretty much identical regardless of gas or diesel.  Same truck, different motor/trans.

We see about a 25 to 30 percent increase in maintenance costs on our gas vs diesel fleet.  But we also get WAY more life out of our diesel trucks/vans than we do the gassers.  We also have less issues with the diesels. 
The biggest issue we have,  is how cheap our GM interiors are.   Absolute junk. Granted, we are hard on them, but they don't compare at all to our Fords or Rams.