Has anyone taken the time to come up with a per mile cost to operate a gas truck vs. a diesel truck? I own several of each for work. We are thinking about buying another truck, and am not sure if I want to spend the 7K for 6.4. I am seriously considering a F350 CC LB SRW V10. I have a 6.4 for pulling the heavy trailer. Any opninions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Good debate.
As a former diesel owner I can see both sides of the fence now.
My V10 is cheaper on maintenance but I only average between 12-14 mpg where I use to get 14-17 on the same commute.
But then I paid more for the diesel than the gas and now diesel fuel is more expensive.
So I figured this.
I only tow my RV in the summer, and my car hauler 4 or 5 times a year to events. I only tow 10k at the most. Do I need as diesel?
The answer for me was no. The V10 is just fine for these jobs.
But if I was towning on a weekly basis all year I would probably get another diesel. I do think the diesel better at towing, but since I'm just a part time trailer puller, I can't justify the added expense anymore.

 

If you were to go with a Diesel i would rather go with the 6.0 than the 6.4. The 6.0 gets better mileage than the 6.4 which all i have heard can't get over 12mpg compared to 16 and sometimes 18mpg in our 6.0 stock. i am sure with a few upgrades we would be doing alot better.

 

The variables change depending on the truck and the engine. Since Ford has released the 7.3L, the 6.0L, and the 6.4L.... all with different average mileage. Mileage for the V10 has slowly improved in the past few years as well.

I did a comparison with my truck (7.3L) vs a v10 (one my wife used to drive) to see the difference. Just the cost of ownership (fuel and maintenance costs), my truck was more than $6000 cheaper over 5 years and 100K miles. Now factor in the initial difference in purchase price, and that savings is used up. On the other hand, my truck being a diesel has a much higher resale value as well, so if I did decide to sell the truck, I would recoup most of my original cost difference from the v10. My final figures that I did told me that if I sold my truck today, it would have been close to $5000 cheaper in total ownership than if I had a v10. Again, these numbers are for the 7.3L. It will be different with a 6.0L or a 6.4L. I'm sure if we gathered up enough info, the 6.0L and the 6.4L might still be cheaper in the long run regarding total costs of ownership, but I'm willing to bet the gap would not be as significant.

 

I ran some basic numbers. I took fuel milege, cost of fuel, maintenance, and additional cost up front for the diesel. My numbers showed at 100K miles, the diesel will cost 1 cent per mile less to operate. At 150K the savings with the diesel will increase enought to pay the difference in the diesel. Every mile over 150K was at least 4 to 5 cents per mile less to drive.

My fuel milege was based off real world results, based on two of my current work trucks.

 

I don't know about this.
A V10 at 13mpg will use about 7692 gallons over 100 000 miles.
A 7.3 at 17mpg will use about 5882 gallons over 100 000 miles.
The V10 will obviously have way less maintenance. $20 oil changes compared to $80 if you do it yourself.
The V10 will cost about $26 152 at $3.40 a gallon.
The 7.3 will cost about $25 292 at $4.30 a gallon.
Thats $860 difference. And the maintenance will eat that up no problem.
Now the 7.3 is also $7000 more (in Canada) to begin with. So now your $6k in the hole.
Resale? Back in the 2002-03 the 7.3 enjoyed a higher resale then the 6.0 and 6.4 could ever imagine. Times have changed.
I had a 7.3 and a 6.0. I have done this math over and over. I couldn't dream of the day I would buy a gasser over a diesel.
It is not cheaper to run a diesel today.
Today you buy a diesel because you need it, not want it.

 

And this is why it's so hard to get a consensus. There are major flaws in your numbers though. I'll point out the most obvious first:

First when I averaged my fuel costs, I took into consideration the average cost of fuel spanned over 5 years, not the current cost of fuel on a single day. Of course if you base all your calculations on the price of fuel that you would see if you drove to the pump right now, you're going to find that you won't save much owning a diesel. Fuel fluctuates in price throughout the year, becoming more expensive in the winter, and cheaper in the summer. Over the past five years, diesel has averaged only 8 cents per gallon more than regular unleaded. Now compare that to your numbers that you offered suggesting a 90 cent difference in price, you'll see why your calculations are so far off base.

Of course there are other variances. Yes fuel mileage will vary and this will change from owner to owner, truck to truck, and all because each truck is different, each driver has different habits, and also where you are located on the map. My truck averages about 16.5 mpg mixed city and highway. My wife's truck averaged 11.5 mixed city and highway. Those are the two numbers I based my calculations off of because it was the most concrete numbers I had with me, and they were based off personal experience with the two trucks. If I had more convincing numbers, I would have used them instead.

As for the resale, comparing the resale of a 7.3L to a 6.0L is comparing a diesel to a diesel, which is not what the OP had posted. Now compare the resale of say my truck to the same year V10. Depending on your source (Kelly Blue Book or NADA or others), my truck is worth $4,000-$5,000 more than a V10, with the exact same options, not counting modifications such as lift or engine mods (can't calculate those values anyway). So I can recoup at minimum 65% of the original diesel premium when buying new. Of course, as I stated before, I would only see this benefit if I sold my truck. Good luck, cuz I ain't sellin it!!!!!

In short, make a logical comparison. Know that fuel prices will fluctuate over time, but on average diesel is very close to the same price as unleaded. Know that diesels will always average higher fuel mileage than a comparable gas engine. Know also that diesels on average command a higher resale value than a comparable gasser. Yes diesel's cost more to maintain, but compared to the expense of fuel each and every year, maintenance is a drop in the bucket. In short, yes diesel trucks tend to cost less in total ownership than a gasser. Period. It does take time to see these benefits, usually at least 3 years to break even.

 

My 99 V10 Drw averaged about 11.2mpg verses my 6.4 13.46. Towing Gas was 7.1 my 6.4 8.76mpg. Trade in I got 1,000 over Kelly blue book. Compared to what it would have been for a 7.3 At the time the Diesel would have been only what the difference in the extra 5,000 plus about $500 extra if I could have gotton the extra 1,000 over blue book. So from my experience not a big difference

 

That's a huge hit on mpg on the diesel not towing v. towing. Mine only knocks off about 2 mpg(that is a little better or worse depending on the winds) hauling about 15k worth of horses and associated crapola that goes along with them and my unloaded mpg is about what yours is, sometimes over 14 if I'm careful about it, once it hit 16 on a 10.5 hr drive, but that was only once.

 

This question must be framed in both time and region. Fuel is taxed differently in different states/provinces and this has a big effect. While some say that gas being X cents cheaper than diesel, wipes out the savings from extra MPG of diesel you must consider the cost of the fuel. If the price of diesel doubles and gas stays the exact same X cents less, the extra MPG of the diesel have a more pronounced effect of the cost per mile of operation. Something to consider, do you think the price of fuel is going to go down or up in the future?

 

this thread is going to be like the songthatneverends.

 

I have a feeling that anything that relates to mileage and/or fuel costs nowadays are going to be that way.

 

I appreciate everyones input. I didn't start this post to start anything that would go on forever. I have several work trucks in the fleet, all serve a diferent purpose, but my two pickups are used for a large varity of task. I understand that the price of fuel, and even maintenance will increase, not maybe, it will go continue to increase.

For me, the deciding factor will more than likely be if the upfront cost of the diesel will make or break the deal. I like my 6.4psd for the pulling power, especially up hill with a loaded trailer. Even then, it get better milege than my 5.4L work trcuk empty on the freeway.

I am partial to diesels, but I have been told by several people that the V10 will more than likely do what I want, and save 6 to 7K up front. It is also nice to be able to pull into any gas station for fuel. We still find places that don't have ULSD for the 6.4L.

Again, thank you for all of you input. I will keep monitoring this post.

 

I have 2 F450's one 6.0 one V10 The diesel costs .55 the V10 .64 per mile at the current fuel prices, for fuel only. the V10 gets 6 mpg the Diesel gets 8, these are around town figures. LS

 

If I was not going to haul heavy, plan on upgrading to a 18-19k 5ver. I would go with the V10. It is a very proven motor. My V10 hauled my same trailer 16k for 5 years and I really pushed it hard.