I finally looked up the actual failure rate on used diesel trucks. It's way higher than I thought.

Found a report from a fleet shop in Atlanta that said 40% of used diesel trucks under $15k need a major repair within the first 6 months. Guess I'm sticking with gas for my next beater truck. Anyone else seen numbers like this for their area?

2 comments

2 Comments

clark.iris13d agoMost Upvoted

Man, that number tracks with what I've seen from buddies who tried to go the cheap diesel route. My cousin bought a 2003 Ford F-250 for $12k and had the transmission go out in four months. The repair bill was almost half what he paid for the truck. If you're set on a beater, I'd say look for a gas truck with a solid engine and just plan on some basic maintenance.

finley_bennett2813d ago

The thing nobody talks about is how much of that repair cost is tied to the specific shops in your area. I'm down in the rural southeast and the nearest shop that'll even touch a diesel is 45 minutes away and they charge $150 an hour. If you're in a place with three diesel mechanics on every corner the numbers might look totally different. Plus a lot of those cheap diesels are coming from auctions where they've been sitting for months with bad fuel in the system. That alone can kill injectors quick, which is a $3k repair easy on an older 6.0 Powerstroke. Gas trucks are way more forgiving about that kind of neglect.