Are diesels good anymore?

I started getting into diesels just as the first emission standards were taking effect. At that point, diesels were known for their bulletproof reliability, excellent fuel economy, and power. Well, the winds are changing in my opinion.

I'll start with ford. The 7.3L was the motor of motors. Ford had such a great reputation with this motor because of its durability, fuel economy, and awesome power. I would say this motor made the superduty Fords the truck of choice for many fleet owners. Emission standards kicked in and the 6.0L was the replacement. Ford might have stuck with the 7.3L if it wasn't for these new standards. The new motor was rushed through production without enough testing which resulted in widespread failure for the first couple of years. Just a few years later the 6.4L replaced the troubled 6.0L, and most of the bugs were worked out... well, except for fuel economy. Most people only get in the lower teens, compared to almost 20mpg's with the old 7.3. While the engine may be more 'green' I think any environmental advantage is lost when you compare the amount of fuel that is burned... Nevertheless, government people don't really have any reasoning skills so we the consumer have to pay the price at the pump. The newest 6.7 that will be debuting in a few months will hopefully regain some of Ford's lost ground. I have my fingers crossed. The new motor will have plenty of power and supposedly the fuel economy will be back up to 7.3L levels... However, one thing concerns me... and that is reliability. The motor has aluminum heads which might work or it might prove to be a weak link... and they are squeezing 390HP and 700+Ft.Lbs. of torque out of the motor. I think they are over powering the motor just a little... Another reason I'm nervous is because this motor was rushed through production extremely fast. Being Ford's first in house powerstroke, I can foresee there being some issues with the motor down the road... Only time will tell.

Cummins... many many people complain about the latest 6.7L. From the vast amount of time I've spent reading about all these problems, I conclude that the motor itself is great, in fact it might even have more potential than the previous 5.9L just because of the larger displacement. However, once again the stock setup with all the EPA equipment make the motor very temperamental and less fuel efficient. Someday I will probably own a 6.7L and the first thing I will do is remove all the EPA junk. The 6.7 is essentially an over-bored 5.9... from my understanding they needed to make it bigger in order to deliver the same power as the 5.9 since the EPA junk is so restrictive. For a personal hobby vehicle the 6.7L is great, because with a few deletes and mods it just as good as the 5.9, however if I was to buy a fleet of vehicle I would shy away from it.

Duramax... I've heard from several people that the duramax might just be the most reliable newer diesel out there. The first duramax engines were plagued with problems, similar to the newer Ford's and Cummins'. However, they have had a long time to work out these issues, and having started with a motor that is more EPA friendly, they haven't had to make quite as many drastic changes, giving them more time for refinement. Granted the new motors still suffer because of EPA equipment, but since the motor itself has essentially remained unchanged, they haven't had to go through all the new motor traumas that the others have had.

All this being said I have to ask myself a question. If I was buying a fleet of vehicles for a business, what would I buy? Well, I would sit down and determine what would be the most cost effective in the long run... Right now I would have to say I would probably not buy diesel trucks. The EPA has made it so a diesel is no longer the most reliable, cost effective option. First of all, the extra cost of a diesel is between $5K-10K, and this is probably reasonable considering the amount of research and development that is required to make these new motors that no one wants. Secondly, diesels are no longer significantly more fuel efficient than a gasser. Thirdly, and probably most importantly, I've heard several fleet owners say that the new gas motors stay out of the shop a lot more than the new diesels. The forth and last reason is maintenance costs. A diesel is going to cost a lot more to maintain than a gas motor. Now that a lot of the new diesels are requiring Urea, maintenance costs are going to be even more.

Don't get me wrong, I love diesels, and its very sad to watch them fade from their glory. However, aside from a hobby, it just doesn't seem like it would be efficient to own a diesel anymore, and all this can be blamed on the EPA standards. Perhaps someday the automakers can catch up to the standards, but for now its all so shaky. If I had to choose a fleet of trucks I would probably go with either Chevy or Ford Gassers. I know that either of these trucks would be good for a couple hundred thousand trouble free miles. I can't say the same for the new diesels.