Dodge 1500 Diesel

[Ashful]

Yawn.

Fuel mileage would have to be spectacular (30+) to make it worth swallowing the likely hefty price premium as those numbers are sub-standard for many of the new half-tons with gas engines. GM's 2014 5.3L V8 is making 385lb ft of torque as well as an additional 145HP over that baby Cummins, and it will be in the vast majority of new Sierrias/Silverados. With the cylinder deactivation and direct injection (new for 2014) it should get north of 20MPG on the street. Seeing is believing of course.

I think a big part of the marketing problem is that diesel has always leveraged high reliability and lower mileage against a much higher initial cost. However, for the most part, those buying NEW 1/2 ton pickups are not the folks putting the high mileage on them. How often do you see a first-owner 1/2 ton with 200k miles on it? More often, it's the second (or third) owner seeing the odometer hit that mark.

Put otherwise, if I'm going to trade my new truck in at 70k miles, why the hell would I dish out an extra $8k for a diesel? It would appear Ford knows this.

 

[MasterMech]

However, for the most part, those buying NEW 1/2 ton pickups are not the folks putting the high mileage on them.

The same folks ain't exactly looking to haul 20,000lbs+ down the highway either. The ones that are looking for high-mileage or high capability are not generally in the market for a half-ton.

Diesel half-ton is still a niche. Who knows though, niche vehicles sometimes work out. The mini-van pretty much stomped the station wagon out of existence.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

The same folks ain't exactly looking to haul 20,000lbs+ down the highway either. The ones that are looking for high-mileage or high capability are not generally in the market for a half-ton.

Diesel half-ton is still a niche. Who knows though, niche vehicles sometimes work out. The mini-van (and Gub'mint CAFE standards) pretty much stomped the station wagon out of existence.

Fixed

 

[jeff_t]

I'm not so sure that I would write it off that easily. I see it as the early years of the catalytic convertor or the rack and pinion steering, the progression from carb to TBI to direct injection, etc. Yes, there will be a learning curve, but there is no reason it can't be a success. Heck, our neighbors to the North and over the pond have been running small diesels for decades.

Problem is, the emissions standards change every couple of years, pretty drastically. From egr, to dpf, to now dpf and def, in six years. For a while, Caterpillar paid fines on each engine it put on the road, rather than re-engineer everything.

 

[lukem]

I think (based on my extensive market research of one or two guys) that the half ton diesel owner wants a full size truck that can comfortably tow 8K when it needs to, and gets close to 30 MPG on the highway empty. They aren't after a torque monster that will pull a house down the road for 500K miles.

But MM raises a good point on the new gas engines. Direct injection. High compression. Turbos (Ford). The new gas engines are become more diesel-ish. I don't care what goes in the tank if the results (power and MPG) are there.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

I make too many short trips to get a diesel. But the market really needs a pickup truck that gets decent MPG. Even my former toyota 4 cy manual got horrible MPG. 12 in town and 16 Hwy. I got rid of it as my giant K2500 8 cy silverado, extended cab, auto trans, got almost as much.