MoparNut

Had a 01 Ram 1500 4x4 360 gasser....averaged 11-12mpg city or highway. When gas hit $2.90-$3.00 I sold it for a '05 Dakota 4.7L 4x4. Mileage was better at 14-15 city 17-18 highway. Interior was small, suspension sucked a--, just didn't like it and missed my Ram!! I wanted a truck to pull a 6-7,000 lb trailer easily. Couldn't justify getting a new Ram with a Hemi and go back to lower mpg. Soooooo, Now I'm in a 06 CTD Ram. 15-17 mpg and will do more than I will ever need it to do!! Absolutely will not go back to a gasoline truck.

Yes I took a hit on the Dakota for only owning it 1 year, but I did buy it when they had employee pricing and got it about 7-8k under sticker. It was still a waste of time and money!

bucknasty

LjRoy- Thanks for the head check. You would think a person with an MBA would be able to accurately calculate average cost per mile..however, I digress. I want a refund on all that money I paid for my edukation!

DiEseLjunKy

Don't sell it. Keep the Dodge. Here's a comparison for you. My gasser F150 with a 5.4 V8 got about 16 mpg on a good day. V6 gassers get about the same pi$$ poor mileage as V8s. I'm doing 18.5 or better with the new CTD.

If your diesel costs $2.40 a gallon:
@ 18.5 mpg your "cost per mile" .129
@ 18 mpg cpm .133

If your gas cost $2.00 a gallon:
@ 16 mpg your "cost per mile" .125
@ 17 mpg cpm .117
@ 18 mpg cpm .111

You're about to sell your truck over a cost per mile difference of a penny or two? This time of year up in New England the price of diesel always spikes because of the demand in home heating oil (diesel). Come summer time I bet diesel prices will drop back down. Not to where a gallon of diesel is cheaper than a gallon of gas but at least to where your cost per mile is a wash. If you sell it you'll regret it

TexasCTD

I agree with the others! Don't sell it. If you want to really save yourself some money, then drive it till the wheels literally fall off. Trading vehicles is a sure fire way to LOSE money.

The fuel cost differences, as already covered......are not that significant.


Look at all the advantages of having your truck vs. a smaller gasser vehicle. What else can get 15-20mpg for a daily driver and still pull 14,000lbs when needed? What other vehicle could you comfortably drive a half a million miles?


And, to me. One of the biggest factors is safety. I feel very safe driving the DFW metroplex surrounded by 8140lbs of steel. (just weighed my truck a couple months ago)

Here is member 05MXDiesel's truck after taking a 50 mph t-bone crash from a mid size car. Try taking that same wreck in a Toyota or Nissan. That Dodge HD frame didn't bend, and his elderly mother survived that crash without a scratch while sitting in the pass. seat. Had they taken her Jeep Liberty to run errands that day, she prob. wouldn't have made it home alive.

LJRoy

HA! I'll buy that MBA off you - my employer would be a little happier if I had some more secondary education!

Honestly I only caught it as your .06 per mile was so different from what I know mine is.

Someone else made a comment about how the purchase price makes the fuel cost insignificant? I paid somewhere around 32K for my '03. With 107K miles I've put over $12K of fuel into it.

It's quite possible that before I replace this truck I'll have spent as much in fuel as I did on the truck itself.

spankdog

Hey TexasCTD, this is what it looks like from the other end. Wifes car after being rear ended at 50mph by an 05 CTD. The guy actually drove away.

bucknasty

TexasCTD- Wow, did they total your truck?

I can just picture myself calling my wife, or going to see a client and saying, "yea, I got in a little fender bender so I'm running late". That's crazy.

pybyr

Thanks everyone for the observations and encouragement. Part of the difficulty is that with cold climate and short (7-8 mile each way) daily trips to and from work (extreme downhill on way to town, barely warms up)(extreme uphill on way home, bad for MPG), my winter MPG is nothing like many of you refer to-- hovering in low teens.

Maybe some of that is because the engine has not hit its stride yet.

And, granted, the mileage is not particularly worse than my last truck, a V6 Toyota Tacoma Double cab that acted wheezy getting up that same hill without even having a load or passengers in it. I've just heard so many reports from earlier Dodge owners (including some in this area) of mileage being in the high teens/ low 20s that my experience is seeming disappointing by comparison.

Speaking of the long run costs and pros and cons of keeping etc., how do you all find these rigs to be in terms of costs of repairs (how often needed/ how expensive when repairs are needed)? I had a '99 SuperDuty that became brutally expensive on repairs (on things it should never have needed) soon after it went off warranty, largely due to the apparent cost of the various 3/4 ton parts. I am finding the Dodge to have much better build quality than my Ford did, but am just wondering what the rest of you have found in terms of costs of upkeep and repair on these CTDs?

TexasCTD

That is not my truck. Like I said in my comments, it belongs to member "05MXDiesel". They did not total out his truck. He still drives it today as far I know. https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...er.php?u=33114

Here are his pics...https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...0&ppuser=33114


Spankdog...I hope your wife was ok after that wreck!!!! Maybe you need to put her in a CTD!!!!!!!

DiEseLjunKy

That's not good only seven miles to work one way. Your truck isnt getting up to its proper operating temperature. Once in a while the short cold run jaunts might not hurt but twice a day 5 times a week 50 weeks a year is gonna cause excessive wear and make it burn oil. If you can afford to I'd just park it in the driveway for weekend fun and buy some beater to get me down the road to work.

pet05

PYBYR -

The major cost on these will be the fuel system. I remember reading a post here about a guy who had 300,000+ on his 3rd gen. He said it ran flawless but the fuel system needed to be updated:

You will need a new lift pump, injectors, etc. That will run about $2K. But still not that bad for that many miles.

TexasCTD

I don't disagree about getting a beater to drive, if he wants. But I don't think it is going to hurt his Cummins to run it only 7 miles to work one way. These engines are tough. I agree it would be BETTER for it to run it up to normal operating temp, but it won't hurt it not to. All he needs to do is take that thing out once a week (say on the weekend) and get it up to temp and he would be fine.

Besides, even when it is freezing........if my truck is plugged in....it will almost be to normal operating temp in 7 miles.

The first year I had my truck, I only lived 5 miles from work, one way. It didn't hurt a thing...........but I did get it out and drive some on weekends and sometimes during the week too. Now I commute about 30 miles so it isn't a problem anyway. Truck runs great either way, imo.

DiEseLjunKy

You're probably right. I can make a trip from the house to the nearest store four miles away from me and get the truck up to normal operating temp. Regardless I say again, keep the truck

Marine

Keep the truck. You will be better off in the long run.

DBLR

Here my $0.02 when I went to by my truck last in 2005 when I wanted a 05 CTD. Well I got talked out of it and in to a Dodge 1500 QC Auto 4x4 with 4.7L was told I could tow a small 2000 lb trailer have lots of power and still get better mpg and save me $$$ over the higher priced CTD. Well 14.5 months later I got rid of the 1500 and bought my 2006 and have been very happy that I did even though the price of diesel fuel cost more then gas. I get better MPG then that 4.7L did or every could and it will tow much better and get better mpg to boot. So for me I lost $12,400 (not counting the cost of nerf bars, fender flairs, window shades, bed liner etc.) by getting the 1500 and not the 2500 CTD back in 2005. BTW I'm not the slowest truck on the road any more with a CTD under the hood Anyway I hope things work out so you can keep your truck.