I'm intrigued, but haven't heard any opinions and a couple have caught my eye:

This decently equipped one:

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/753346724/overview/

and this 4x4 with more creature comforts:

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/750060179/overview/

I have a craptastic 40-ish mile commute from Mansfield to north Dallas so the MPGs matter somewhat, I'm a pretty big guy so I need the room that just getting a beater commuter wouldn't provide. I use the truck sometimes for work, but pretty often for hunting, fishing, hauling load of mulch around, etc. I don't necessarily need the 4x4, but there have been a few time where I wished I had one.

Current ride is a 2010 GMC Crew Cab, 2WD, 180K with the usual cracked dash, faulty window switches, non-working speakers, power seat stuck in one position, air bag light on, and an intermittent misfire on Cylinder 2. I also just had a lady in an Altima try to park under my rear bumper while I was stopped, so Allstate will be sending a check for that soon. Minor damage, but obvious enough to be annoying.

It's a Chrysler product that was designed when Mercedes owned Chrysler and is built by Fiat. On top of that it's a modern diesel. That's a scary combination.

The powerstroke F150 might be more attractive, but the diesel is borrowed from Land Rover which historically builds some of the least reliable vehicles on the road. On top of that you can only get it in lariat trims or above which combined with the extra money for the diesel make it very expensive.

Honestly a 2.7L boost from Ford or Chevy would make better financial sense for you. I do understand the desire for a diesel though.

It's slooooooooooooooooooow.

I work with someone that has one. Never quite worked out how she thought. It gets better fuel mileage, but diesel is more expensive than gas so you won't see any savings there. Oil changes are also much more expensive with extra filters and whatnot. She was going to use it to move her bumper pull camper, but it struggled so much that she's given up on that. Overall she has regretted buying it. Could have almost gotten a 3/4 ton for what she paid for the eco diesel. I just bought a new f150 and wouldn't give the half ton diesel a second thought. It's too new.

With average driving, the break even point is around 3 years on fuel costs vs increased engine option cost. Increased oil change costs are pretty negligible compared to fuel savings, and might delay break even by a couple months.

Friend has one with around 60K problem free miles and loves it. "Never going back to a gasoline engine again" type of loves it. His is the first year they came out, whatever that was.

Have an neighbor who has one and drives 3 hrs a day to and from work. Dont ask why. He seems to love it and has no issues.

I'd look into the 2019 dodges or the Ford f150 diesel if you are needing the extra room

Great, now I am more confused. I've driven the new Ford and Ram as rentals recently and preferred the Ram overall. What bugs me about the Ford is that no matter how I adjust the seat and steering wheel, I cant see the top of the analog gauges, and that would annoying as hell if I owned one. I preferred the 5.0 over the boost. I'm also a little wary because of some of the major engine failures and other irreparable problems that a few on here have dialogued on this board.

I love the interior the Ram, it's nice and quiet as well, ride is smooth. I preferred the Hemi over the (I think) V6 that one of my rentals had, and of course is the constant worry is always spontaneous combustion.

I haven't driven a GM newer than 2014 so I should go check those out, but not wild about the 2019 restyle, so I would probably check out any 2018s on the lot, would be cheaper anyway.

I have a '15 Ecodiesel, bought in June '15 and just turned over 80K.

So far it's been a champ. The 3.0 purrs like a happy cat and you can barely tell you have a diesel when driving. Only issue is a leak with the EGR cooler that appeared fall of '17 that the dealer took care of. This is a well known issue, not sure if the '18 was corrected. After it was taken care of I had the ECM tuned to keep the EGR closed, I'm hoping that will extend the life of the cooler.

The first truck listed reminds me of mine...white, Lone Star trim. I have leather seats but that one has heated seats. About the same price, too.

I don't think it's slow at all. It's not a boost or a Hemi but for my needs is more than fast enough. I just do occasional light towing with it and it's fine in that application.

That being said, I'm not sure I'll go with it again if I could make the same decision again. Diesel prices are significantly above gasoline now and wipe out what mileage savings I get. Diesel engines supposedly last much longer but the modern versions with the emissions controls and sensors seem more problematic. If mileage is important and towing isn't I'd look to see what deals you can get with the V6.

I've driven the V8 and the V6, wasn't impressed with the V6.

After a little further thought, I do agree that the diesel probably isn't worth the extra expense, maintenance, and fuel cost. I'll figure out what I want one of these days, luckily I'm not really in a hurry at all to buy anything just yet.

The VM Motori 3.0 is actually a pretty good engine. FCA doesn't have a good track record for reliability, true, but that engine isn't the problem, and the ram trucks actually hold up pretty well (as do jeeps). GM had actually co-developed this engine with VM, and then FCA bought that interest, basically.

If you can get a good deal on a ZF transmission-VM 3.0 diesel combo, it would be tempting. It was a Wards auto winner in it's first three years, and among the half ton class is the only 'mature' diesel option, today, imho. But I admit to a bigotry against turbo gas engines in trucks, as I don't think they ever hit real world commute mileage vs. estimates, and the don't trust the turbos long term.

Quote:

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The powerstroke F150 might be more attractive, but the diesel is borrowed from Land Rover which historically builds some of the least reliable vehicles on the road.

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The 3.0L V6 Powerstroke was developed by Ford for JLR.

1agswitchin4lanes said:

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Quote:

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The powerstroke F150 might be more attractive, but the diesel is borrowed from Land Rover which historically builds some of the least reliable vehicles on the road.

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The 3.0L V6 Powerstroke was developed by Ford for JLR.

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Sort of/not really. The incestuous nature of global automakers (and their family product trees) makes it tough to keep straight, but Ford actually makes the Lion series of diesels at their own Dagenham plant (since 2004, when of course they owned J/LR), and it's a pretty middle/elderly engine in the world of modern diesels, but in the US it's newly supported (with 'newish' emission control stuff.)

However, Ford is also moving forward rapidly with a plan/series of plans to gut their Euro operations, even more so than GM, jettisoning many of these products, so I am skeptical if you are Joe US Consumer looking for 10 plus years of support that it makes sense to go this route as it's likely to be an evolutionary dead end.

Ford, like GM, have decided basically that the european market isn't going to become profitable for them, especially given the emphasis on zero emissions/greeny stuff. If Ford had launched or hinted at a diesel option for the new (or next) Ranger or Bronco state-side, I'd probably feel more comfortable with the outlook there.

I'm satisfied with mine. Toes well, great mileage, good interior and i get a part of the upcoming settlement, though i haven't decided if i take the cash now or sign up with a firm and hold out for more money. That alone paid for the engine.
Only problem after almost three years, the heat didn't work for 30 minutes this morning then hit me like a blast furnace when i got to work.