1/2 ton dodge diesel

[jimw]

Looking at there eco diesel in a 2015 with 60 thousand miles, very nice pickup. I do lots of driving so that’s why I’m interested. I’ve read about the bearing failures and other stuff on forums but have to believe that overall there good trucks . What do u guys think

[poor farmer/logger]

Once all the emission crap is off them they seem to run really well. My sister has had 2 of them now. Her old one she sold to her daughter. It’s pushing towards 200,000 kms now I’m sure and seems to be doing alright. They had issues with it to begin with but it seems to be working pretty good now and even better after it was deleted.  She bought a 21 a year ago coming up in dec.  I haven’t heard of any major issues with it yet. 

[Mudfly]

I have one.  My only advise is to buy the bumper to bumper warranty.  I got a brand new engine last summer when the oil pump quit and the engine grenaded at 80k miles.

love the truck, and mileage, not sure did buy another due to the unreliable engine.

 

[Rusty_Farmer]

emissions are the problem. Son bought a 15 new, wife wanted one too . At around 90 k sons had emission issues. Dodge took care of it but the upgrade parts was a waiting game. Wife's was bought 3 and1/2 years ago used. A year ago last fall emissions struck at about 60k. Dodge again stood the up grade and applied an additional extended 5 year warranty. So we shall see what happens.

[jimw]

 this ones at 60 thousand. The extended warranty is $3995. Better mileage would be great but I hate to spend it all on a warranty.  I'm a little afraid of not buying the warranty. But  I've talked myself into buying the truck but also wonder if I should buy a Chevy or ford. They can also have problems but have good to me.

[stronger800]

My good buddy bought one new. At 90k miles, he got a letter telling him to bring his truck in to have an updated exhaust system put on it, and at that time they extended his warranty for three or five years —-And gave him a check for $3k due to some lawsuit Chrysler/ram/fiat whatever, had going on.—-

He had been getting ready to buy a new one, but at that point he figured he might as well keep it. Now he is at 140,000 miles, and he did have some emissions problems, I’m not sure what it was, but I know they fixed everything at no cost to him no questions asked. He says it’s been the best truck he has ever had. 25-30mpg around town, 35-40 on trips.  4 door crew cab fancy model.

[MinnesotaFarmall]

I know of three people with all the same year as you were looking at. Lots and lots of turbo bearing problems, one transmission, and the other needed an engine after the oil seals went out of the turbo. I'd be slightly skeptical on them. My step mom had one and it was a very good milage and easy starter in the winter, she just had a ton of emissions and turbo problems. 

[jimw]

 thanks for the help. had kind of talked myself into it but never have gotten or needed a warrenty on a 1/2 ton truck, they just seem to go and go

[bob01230]

Bil co worker got his bought back. Lemon law. 

[DR.EVIL]

I'd get the 5.7L Hemi.  The little 3.6L V-6 is too gutless for a full sized truck.  My Hemi doesn't get 30 MPG,  but it gets better MPG than either of my 300-6 Ford's ever got by a L-O-N-G ways,  plus makes about THREE times the horsepower.  And the Hemi tows like my 7.3L Powerstroke did.  I get 17+ mpg on short 5 mile trips to/from town.

[New Englander]

Some pretty impressive mileage figures being tossed around. EPA on that truck is 22/32, which is pretty impressive in itself. Internet is full of problems though....

It sounds like a good light duty/commuter but one that you may want a warranty on.

[WESnIL]

My vote would be a Ram 1500 with the 5.7L Hemi engine.  Last year in a trip to NY I averaged over 22 mpg.  It is, by far, the best truck I have ever owned.  If you want/need to hook up to a trailer, use Reese anti-sway bars,  put it in tow/haul mode, lock it out of the top gear, and head down the road.  Like Dr. Evil said the 3.6L V-6 is gutless and the 6.4L is an expensive option IMHO.

[vtfireman85]

9 hours ago, jimw said:

 this ones at 60 thousand. The extended warranty is $3995. Better mileage would be great but I hate to spend it all on a warranty.  I'm a little afraid of not buying the warranty. But  I've talked myself into buying the truck but also wonder if I should buy a Chevy or ford. They can also have problems but have good to me.

I will add the same thing i tell dealers when pushing extended warranties, if this truck is so questionable that i need an extended warranty, shouldn’t i be looking at a different truck? 

I know guys that pass over a brand new gas truck for a used one at the same or more money because it is a diesel, then spend 3-4k extra on their extended warranty because the engine is a known time bomb, then they brag about their fuel economy. Had a call from one such friend who's truck went into limp mode due to DEF system issues. He was on his way to pick up his wife and sister-in-law who had car trouble. Turns out my gas truck that everyone tells me is a gutless pig wasn’t so bad after all as i had to rescue both of them. 

figure diesels are 9-12k more, plus extended warranty, add 3-4K, plus downtime. At the end of 200k miles mine looks just as ragged as theirs, i got 200K miles of relatively trouble free driving. That buys a lot of gas. 

[jass1660]

Remember warranty work is the last thing dealers want to do. They always lose money on it and take their time doing it. 

[vtfireman85]

Another trait of diesel proponents is to talk about diesel vs gas mileage like diesel is free, it costs more than gas, by about 40 cents here, no ne seems to want to calculate that in. 

[hardtail]

Usually the same price here as regular or marginally lower but doesn't fluctuate up and down like gas does, all of the other byproducts from a refinery used to be very economical propane, diesel, etc as they were just part of the process of producing gasoline, they figured out how to market that better and a bigger industry developed to take advantage of those savings which are now gone 

[FarmallFan]

54 minutes ago, WESnIL said:

My vote would be a Ram 1500 with the 5.7L Hemi engine.  Last year in a trip to NY I averaged over 22 mpg.  It is, by far, the best truck I have ever owned.  If you want/need to hook up to a trailer, use Reese anti-sway bars,  put it in tow/haul mode, lock it out of the top gear, and head down the road.  Like Dr. Evil said the 3.6L V-6 is gutless and the 6.4L is an expensive option IMHO.

The 6.4 is not available on the 1500. On the 2019's and newer, the 5.7 is also available with E-Torque. This gives you extra torque to get going. The torque comes from an electric motor. 

[stronger800]

My buddy with the eco diesel drives NY to Florida a few times a year. 40mpg is real.  He has newer VW diesel cars that don’t do any better, so now he drives the truck most of the time.  It’s got a leveling kit and slightly over sized tires too.   It isn’t a powerhouse though.

[just Dave]

I f you want economy trucks aren't the answer, if you want a truck eco isn't the answer.                  60K is a serious fortune.?????  For trucks right now... fix what you got......

.For economy a 2 Litre from the far East is hard to beat. I bought a new one in 2004 for 10K.... drove it every day to work til late 2017 when I retired and its still worth a couple grand.  The sub-compact stuff is kinda crappy, one step up can be luxurious if you don't have to expensive taste

[New Englander]

2 hours ago, vtfireman85 said:

figure diesels are 9-12k more, plus extended warranty, add 3-4K, plus downtime. At the end of 200k miles mine looks just as ragged as theirs, i got 200K miles of relatively trouble free driving. That buys a lot of gas.

That's been my observation as well.

I WANTED a diesel, until I started running the numbers. It doesn't take too long to find that unless you need some outlandish tow capability over long distances and live somewhere they don't use salt to rot the thing up to the window sills diesel just doesn't pencil out.

The convenience of jumping in, turning the key,and having heat a mile down the road, doing the oil change when the truck tells you it's time, never even having a changeable fuel filter, no DEF, no noise, etc., is hard to resist.

EDIT: I've been talking about a heavier truck. This Dodge is really a good commuter that can carry some stuff and tow a light trailer. So it's apples/oranges.

Edited December 1, 2021 by New Englander

[Mudfly]

11 minutes ago, New Englander said:

The convenience of jumping in, turning the key,and having heat a mile down the road, doing the oil change when the truck tells you it's time, never even having a changeable fuel filter, no DEF, no noise, etc., is hard to resist.

 

New Englander, Just a couple of items that are specific to my application, they may not apply to you specifically, but I think some of your points above are not exactly true.

The newer diesels drive very much like gas trucks.  I would argue that the reason you want to warm up and cool down a diesel more than a gas is the turbo.  Well guess what, a lot of gas engines have a turbo now (Ford), so those should get the same treatment. 

I'm not defending the truck, but my Ecodiesel will start easily at 0F without being plugged in and warms up much quicker than the Chevy 8.1L that sits beside it in the driveway.

The oil change on the 8.1L is right around 3k miles, the Ram wants changes at 10k miles, but I change it between 6k and 7k.  Oil changes in the Chevy are about $30 to $35 for oil and filter.  The Ram is about $80 for oil and filter, so that pencils out pretty close to the same.  

It does take DEF, so that is about $10 every 2500 miles.  I have not changed the fuel filter, need to do that in another few thousand miles (every 50k).  I would say that you should change that on a gas at 100k also, so not much difference there.  Noise wise, I don't notice much if any difference to the 5.7L Hemi.

And I get close to 30 mpg empty (actually better mileage than my wife's highlander) The Chevy get 12 mpg empty.  Now I realize that the 8.1L is about as inefficient as you can get, but even at 20 mpg, the diesel still pencils out (FOR ME).  Now I put on close to 35k miles in the last year, so that also make a difference.

The BIG thing for me is I bought the truck used and even with the $4000 warranty purchased, my out the door cost was LESS for this truck than any other comparable 1/2 ton Ford or Chevy that was available at the time and those were base models.  My Ram is a Laramie package with some very nice options.

Now I have had issues, but I got a brand new engine at 80k for $0.  Would I recommend the truck to everyone, heck no.  You need very specific circumstances to want one of these 1/2 ton diesels.  

If I had different circumstances I would have likely purchased a gas engine.

[jass1660]

Ford turbos are liquid cooled now. There is a DEF shortage coming so I would stock up. We are already having issues getting it at work and we get bulk of 500 gallons a week.  The eco diesel won’t stay running when there is no def in the tank, at least a gas still will.  Rumor is Ram is dropping the eco diesel, Ford already has dropped there 1/2 ton diesel option. 

[Mudfly]

34 minutes ago, jass1660 said:

Ford turbos are liquid cooled now. 

That doesn't mean that you don't want to cool them down properly.  And honestly that goes for any engine, they really should have a few minutes to cool down.  

Most of the places I go have a built in 1 to 2 minute cool down since I have to idle/drive very slow to get there.  (i.e. 2 miles at <30 mph)  It doesn't necessarily need to be at full idle for 10 minutes, just not highway speeds or heavy towing to off in less than 30 seconds.

[jimw]

 I apologize, this truck has 60 thousand miles for 29000, comparable ford is 32 33 thousand, I drive 30000 miles a year and run a work car that gets 25, I really like driving a truck and tell myself I deserve this 😉. 

[New Englander]

3 hours ago, Mudfly said:

New Englander, Just a couple of items that are specific to my application, they may not apply to you specifically, but I think some of your points above are not exactly true.

The newer diesels drive very much like gas trucks.  I would argue that the reason you want to warm up and cool down a diesel more than a gas is the turbo.  Well guess what, a lot of gas engines have a turbo now (Ford), so those should get the same treatment. 

I'm not defending the truck, but my Ecodiesel will start easily at 0F without being plugged in and warms up much quicker than the Chevy 8.1L that sits beside it in the driveway.

The oil change on the 8.1L is right around 3k miles, the Ram wants changes at 10k miles, but I change it between 6k and 7k.  Oil changes in the Chevy are about $30 to $35 for oil and filter.  The Ram is about $80 for oil and filter, so that pencils out pretty close to the same.  

It does take DEF, so that is about $10 every 2500 miles.  I have not changed the fuel filter, need to do that in another few thousand miles (every 50k).  I would say that you should change that on a gas at 100k also, so not much difference there.  Noise wise, I don't notice much if any difference to the 5.7L Hemi.

And I get close to 30 mpg empty (actually better mileage than my wife's highlander) The Chevy get 12 mpg empty.  Now I realize that the 8.1L is about as inefficient as you can get, but even at 20 mpg, the diesel still pencils out (FOR ME).  Now I put on close to 35k miles in the last year, so that also make a difference.

The BIG thing for me is I bought the truck used and even with the $4000 warranty purchased, my out the door cost was LESS for this truck than any other comparable 1/2 ton Ford or Chevy that was available at the time and those were base models.  My Ram is a Laramie package with some very nice options.

Now I have had issues, but I got a brand new engine at 80k for $0.  Would I recommend the truck to everyone, heck no.  You need very specific circumstances to want one of these 1/2 ton diesels.  

If I had different circumstances I would have likely purchased a gas engine.

Of course every situation is different. For you, even with the somewhat questionable engine, it pencils out, especially driving 35k a year. Will they give you another engine if you only get 80k out of that one?

My comparison, the numbers I crunched, was closer to apples to apples I.E., a 6.0 gas to a Duramax or an equivalent Super Duty Ford 2500.  The oil and fuel filter numbers for both are considerably different between the diesel and gas. Heck, the K2500 gas doesn't even have a changeable fuel filter, just a big one in the tank. Comparing an 8.1 to a small turbo diesel is apples to bananas.

My buddy's Duramax starts ok after the glow plugs warm and only sounds like a mixer full of rocks for a short time and then is fairly quiet; it warms for heat a few miles down the road. He's also been back to the dealer for a new head, numerous injectors and other issues. A SBC just goes reliably.

I can't justify two vehicles for me so my PU is also my commute to work truck but my commute is drive to the airport, come home a week or two later and drive home. That utilization really slews the numbers towards gas whilst the 35k you do tilts towards the diesel. A half ton just won't cut it for me even though I'm dragging too much truck most of the time, so, with all those factors, a diesel is not even close for me.