Opinion(s) wanted
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Joined: Dec 2004
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Opinion(s) wanted
Hello, this is my first post so please forgive me if this is in the wrong area. I am currently looking to purchase a 2001 or 2002 F250 4x4 with a diesel engine. The reason I'm looking at diesel is that I have read and talked with others that say they will last for upwards of 500k miles. I want this truck to last, basically, the rest of my life. I do not plan to put a lot of miles on the truck, probably less than 15,000 a year.
From reading the posts it seems like regular maintenance and repairs are quite more expensive than their gasoline counterparts. Given this information, would you buy a diesel?
Thanks for any opinions.
From reading the posts it seems like regular maintenance and repairs are quite more expensive than their gasoline counterparts. Given this information, would you buy a diesel?
Thanks for any opinions.
Tuned
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 250
Likes: 1
From: Mississippi
Tater, welcome to the forum. You are in the right place. You will find several very knowledgeable powerstroke owners here. My 01 is my first diesel, but my dad has had 3 diesel pickups. The towing power these trucks have is phenomonal. With a few mods, these things will really come to life. If you plan on towing anything you would love the diesel. There are several on the road with upwards of 500,000 miles on them. The key is proper maintainance. The expense is a little more than gas but factor the life span against the gassers and the diesel will win hands down. I will probably never own another gas truck. Hope this helps.
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 316
Likes: 0
From: Roaring Branch, PA
I agree with 01stroker, I will probably never buy another gas truck again either, not unless I already had a diesel in the driveway first. And it wouldn't be any old gasser either, It would have to be one of them new Dodge VR10 I think it is, the one with the Viper motor in it. That would be just way to fun!
Posting Guru
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 1,054
Likes: 0
From: The Great Plains
Originally Posted by RickyBR
I agree with 01stroker, I will probably never buy another gas truck again either, not unless I already had a diesel in the driveway first. And it wouldn't be any old gasser either, It would have to be one of them new Dodge VR10 I think it is, the one with the Viper motor in it. That would be just way to fun!
Logistics Pro
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 4,738
Likes: 103
From: FL
hey tater and welcome. As these fine folks have been saying u have come to the right place.... of cource we are all prob a little buyest here... sience this is a diesel form and all... well might as well throw my 2 cents in too.... i started out w/ a 95 F-150 W/ a 302 and loved it.... but the mileage was starting to get up around 150K and i was starting to have some problems with things...and i took very good care of that truck too.... first were small things... like o2 sencors and stuff... then the rear main seal....then some other stuff.... so i decited to go diesel..... I will never go back!! I have had my truck for a little under 2 years now.... (i think) and i live it!! it gets better mileage than the 150.... more than 2times the power.... and the life of these strokers is amazing!! My friend doesn't take the best of care and she has 250K miles on hers and it's still running strong!! hope this helped some!! and if you get it be sure to come back here for all you questions+comments!! good luck buddy!
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 10,600
Likes: 3
From: Carhenge
Originally Posted by Tater0519
Hello, this is my first post so please forgive me if this is in the wrong area. I am currently looking to purchase a 2001 or 2002 F250 4x4 with a diesel engine. The reason I'm looking at diesel is that I have read and talked with others that say they will last for upwards of 500k miles. I want this truck to last, basically, the rest of my life. I do not plan to put a lot of miles on the truck, probably less than 15,000 a year.
From reading the posts it seems like regular maintenance and repairs are quite more expensive than their gasoline counterparts. Given this information, would you buy a diesel?
Thanks for any opinions.
From reading the posts it seems like regular maintenance and repairs are quite more expensive than their gasoline counterparts. Given this information, would you buy a diesel?
Thanks for any opinions.
I don't know how much longer you expect the rest of your life is going to be, But I would personally hate to be the guy trying to keep one of these trucks going say 25 years down the road. They are extremely complex trucks electronically, and I hope I am wrong but having seen the difficulty guys and even Ford techs have diagnosing problems in very new trucks I can imagine the electrical goblins that could be in one of these trucks that far out could be extremely frustrating. These are entirely different creatures than the previous generations of mechanically injected diesel engines that have run for 50 years in some cases. Who is going to be making cam position sensors for these trucks in 30 years and how much will they cost, when the last guy making them knows your engine is completly worthless without one.
Am I being too pessimistic here?
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Posting Guru
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,365
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From: IOWA
In response to clux comments, yes you are being too pessimistic. 
Yes, these engines are extremely complex electronically, and it takes a skilled mechanic to know how to fix them if something is majorly wrong. But there are some fellas on here that are very knowledgable about the engine overall, even the electronics (ie: cookie88, quadzilla, kwik). They know their stuff, but they've been around them and have spend time "playing" with their trucks as well.
I tend to think it will only get easier to work on these engines as the years go by, the techonology to determine and fix problems will only improve making it easier.
The Powerstroke is a great engine, at bare minimum do regular maintenance, and it will last as long as you live, if the rest of the truck can keep up.
Welcome to the forum and good luck with your decision!
Yes, these engines are extremely complex electronically, and it takes a skilled mechanic to know how to fix them if something is majorly wrong. But there are some fellas on here that are very knowledgable about the engine overall, even the electronics (ie: cookie88, quadzilla, kwik). They know their stuff, but they've been around them and have spend time "playing" with their trucks as well.
I tend to think it will only get easier to work on these engines as the years go by, the techonology to determine and fix problems will only improve making it easier.
The Powerstroke is a great engine, at bare minimum do regular maintenance, and it will last as long as you live, if the rest of the truck can keep up.
Welcome to the forum and good luck with your decision!
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Logistics Pro
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 4,738
Likes: 103
From: FL
hey tater... if you go to this website http://pages.prodigy.net/stevebaz/_i...az/index3.html about half way down the page there is a whole thing about what to look for in a used PSD... hope that helps!!
Senior User
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 163
Likes: 0
From: Central Montana
I try to follow one simple policy when making long term decisions about cars and toys. Figure out what you need and want, then double it, then double it again and if possible double it again. That way 5 or 10 years down the road, you won't be wishing you had the extra power, better gas milage, more room, fancy new features etc... because what you have was the best to be had when it was new and theres a certain satisfaction in that. Thats what you get with a psd truck, the best that can be had. I bought my 99 psd for the long term and the maintenance is more expensive and I have had short yernings for the new stuff but one time around the block turning heads or one time passing cars uphill with my 5er and I'm just as happy with it now as I was in 99.