MPG Diesel vs HEMI

[erobb]

I know this is a diesel column but I'm looking to trade in my 98. 5 with 205000 miles as it has been nickel and diming me to death lately. A local dealer has an '03 2500 quad cab 4x4 longbox, auto, 3. 73 gears and 120,000 miles for $21995, the same dealer also has basically the same truck with a HEMI and 60,000 miles for $18,995. I've always been a diesel guy but 60,000 less miles and $3000 less money makes me scratch my head and think. The salesman said he could actually give me a better deal on the HEMI. I only tow occasionally and do mostly highway miles.

Any advice would be appriciated.



erobb

 

[JARichard]

I can't believe they have that truck listed at $21995. I have an 03 with 130,000 and they won't give me $13k for it.

2003 SLT QC 4x4 4" exhaust Afe Centerline wheels 285 BFG's

 

[TWork]

Those prices look pretty out of line to me. I recently picked up an '06 3500 4x4 Megacab to replace my '04. 5 QC 4x4 w/ 30k miles. Conservative book on my '04 was $30k. So, the $21k number on the '03 just doesn't make sense. The dealer loaned me a '04 1500 4x4 while they're adding some upgrades to the new truck. It has 110k miles and the asking price is about $12k, though it doesn't have the Hemi. Gas mileage on the gas truck appears to be about 4 mpg less than my '04. 5 diesel truck.



Hope that helps,



T.

 

[Cowpunk]

Does the Hemi have a turbo? no. End of argument. :-laf

 

[BimmerAgent]

A good friend of mine has a Hemi, and laments daily that he didn't get a Cummins instead. Bruce

 

[jwilliams3]

Same with a guy at work we give him hell daily for buying a Hemi.

He also says he should have bought a Cummins.

 

[NDanecker]

Friend at work as an 03 hemi quad cab auto with short box. He says average MPG is right around 14mpg mostly highway driving (towing his PWCs it drops down to 11 or 12).



You could probably get a few dozen different mileages for the diesel around here as options such as gears, short/long box, 4x4/2x4, etc. will effect it. Just do a search.



My TRUE average since new over 60k miles is right around 17 mpg (need to check spreadsheet). This includes it all --- towing, warm ups, long highways trips, local trips to get beer, etc.



Personally... ... . GET THE CUMMINS!!! But don't let anyone here push you either way! Its your decision!

 

[TowPro]

My brother had a First Year Hemi, His MPG empty was the same as mine towing 10K lbs! When he hooked up his trailer you could see the gas gauge move as you went down the highway. Also the fact you have 200K on your truck now indicates to me you keep them for a while, I would expect the Hemi to have needed much more $ invested into the engine to keep it running to the 200K mark then you had to invest in the diesel.



Not sure where you live, but the used prices you posted seem pretty high. use KBB to come up with values on used trucks in your area. Also keep in mine at those prices, you might be able to get into a new truck for near the same payments. Intrest rates are higher on used trucks, plus there is a ton of incentives if you buy a new truck.



Dealers these days are making there money on used stuff. I have heard them talking about new cars at "trade bait", where they move the new car for low profit while offering you low trade in values, then make up for it in profit on the used car sale.

 

[KennethS]

Had hemi did not like at all pulling trailer

It was very hard on gas pulling or empty. Went back to diesel and happy now.

 

[MKenison]

Swift Dodge in CA has new slt quad cab, 4x4, ctd, for 30,600. I would buy new and not pay 21k for used.

Mike

 

[JCrockett]

Had an 03 HEMI, traded for my 05 CTD. I love this new truck! Better on fuel and way more stable on the snowy roads pulling snowmachines. Still gets better milage towing then the HEMI empty. Put a small box on and you can blow the doors off a HEMI with the CTD.

 

[RaymondSmith]

My brother in law had an 05 Hemi for a few months. The transmission puked some oil backing his boat up his driveway and it caught on fire. He is now in an 06 with a Cummins.

 

[Matt400]

Any advice would be appriciated.

Figure the Hemi gets 12-14 mpg, figure the CTD at 18-20 (thats what I get) and then do the math on how much it cost to drive 100 miles.

 

[erobb]

diesel vs hemi

Thanks for the advice guys, I drove thru another dealer lot on the way home from work tonight, all of thier trucks had tags in the windows showing sticker price and price with all of the rebates and incentives, looks like they are knocking around $9000-$10000 off of the sticker. They had a couple of quad cab diesel 4x4's in the $31,000-$33000 range. The factory must be discounting the diesels like crazy right now, because the HEMI's they had marked were only about $2000-3000- less than the cummins, even though the sticker price was almost $7000-8000 less to start with. Anyhow I realized it'd be crazy to pay 21,900 for and '03 with 120000 miles. When it's all said I'll probably just keep my '98 at least it's paid for and hasn't given me any problems up until the last 6 months or so. That being said the VP44 will probably blow up 1st thing Monday morning.

 

[Mark1si]

figure the CTD at 18-20 (thats what I get) and then do the math on how much it cost to drive 100 miles.

Man I wanna know how the he** you guys get that MPG. .

 

[Cummins Cowboy]

IMO it just doesn't make sense to buy a used diesel that only is 1-5yrs old, The depreciation just isn't enough to make it worth it. you can buy a brand new 4x4 SLT without many options for 30-31k, finance it for 6 yrs, vs only likely 4 on the used truck and you payments will be the same, You will have a new truck, with a warranty, when you get over 120kmiles, other parts of the truck will start to have issues, ie your nickel and dimeing to death. If you wanna save money you can also get an ST model, for likely 28k or so, my 02 is worth around 22k, its 4yrs old and has 90k miles, to me it doesn't make sense to buy a truck like mine for that much money, when you could buy a brand new one for 9k more

 

[Gifford]

Here's how:

Man I wanna know how the he** you guys get that MPG. .

I drive smoothly and at the speed limits.

I do not mash the throttle from every stop.

I gradually slow down at stop signs (unlike most people who speed right up them and slam on the brakes at the last minute).

The more you use the brakes, the more fuel you waste heating up the rotors.

I make sure the tires are aired up.

I do not carry around unesessary weight in the bed- according to the latest TDR every 100lbs. in the truck costs you 1/10 MPG (I think thats what they said. . )



My new truck is a 100% stock 2006 Laramie qc 3500 4X4 with 48re and 3. 73 gearing. After 2400 miles I'm getting 18MPG average on highway. My old truck was a 97 12V 4X4 CC 47re with 4. 10 gearing, I got 16-17MPG on average.



It's only a matter of time before your bad habits will become too expensive to support. Why not change them now and save some money? Fuel prices are never going back down. Heck, you might even save yourself or someone else from an accident!

 

[bmoeller]

A good friend of mine has a Hemi, and laments daily that he didn't get a Cummins instead.

The shop foreman at the local Deere dealer doesn't like his Hemi either. Said it never gets over 11mpg, EMPTY. Wishes he had a diesel too.

 

[prestonmck]

I know this is a diesel column but I'm looking to trade in my 98. 5 with 205000 miles as it has been nickel and diming me to death lately. A local dealer has an '03 2500 quad cab 4x4 longbox, auto, 3. 73 gears and 120,000 miles for $21995, the same dealer also has basically the same truck with a HEMI and 60,000 miles for $18,995. I've always been a diesel guy but 60,000 less miles and $3000 less money makes me scratch my head and think. The salesman said he could actually give me a better deal on the HEMI. I only tow occasionally and do mostly highway miles.

Any advice would be appriciated.



erobb

I had an '03 Hemi 2500 short box quad cab 4x4 for 2years before I traded it in on my '05 diesel. It had 83,000 miles on it and dealer gave me $15,000 for the trade in. I had a few minor problems with it but all in all it was a good truck. It was under powered for towing anything over 7,000 lbs. especially up any kind of grade. The ease of drivability is alot better with the diesel. The hemi would shift in and out of over drive alot to keep up to speed. They both had 34 gallon fuel tanks and would average maybye 3oo miles with the hemi and i'll get 500-600 miles to the tank on the cummins.

 

[Matt400]

Man I wanna know how the he** you guys get that MPG. .

Keep your rev's under 2K, keep the converter locked, your TST on the mpg setting, give it just enough throttle to get the beast going and you too can do it!



I know. . what fun is that? well I confess that I do about 10% of the time mash it down just to check if its all still there