With rising fuel prices, has anyone considered trading in their 1/2 ton pickup and going to this 3.0 liter diesel in a 1500? The fuel economy is listed as 21 City and 28 highway.

Are there any draw backs? Anyone have any articles or bulletins positive or negative?

I'm considering it seeing as my 21 Rebel has never gotten better than 12.4 mpg.

Thanks,

I don't know if those motors have gotten any better, but they were known for spinning main bearings. Used good cranks go for $1200 or so. Really a site to see when spins every main.

i have said this before i work for a customer who exports trucks to the US from Canada. lots of them. ford dodge and chevy/gmc he does not care what brand as long as they are clean and he can turn a profit. he says there is only ONE truck he will not even look at for any price. eco diesel. i think that says a lot. From a guy who buys 200+ trucks a year thats probably good advice?

One of my friends is a tech at the local dealer and he has, literally, nothing good to say about that engine.

Here's a Google search that you might find interesting:

https://www.google.com/search?q=eco...77j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Mike.

Fuel mileage on a diesel has been greatly reduced due to emissions - when they go into re-gen - the mileage drops like a stone and then you have the cost of the DEF fluid - I would buy the 6.4 with the MDS before I would ever consider the eco diesel nothing but issues - A buddy bought one for his business he is now on his third motor and it has about 150,000 miles on it

ECO = Engine Coming Out

The additional cost spread between diesel fuel / gasoline, additional maintenance, and initial purchase cost of a diesel makes it very difficult to justify unless you need a diesel for serious towing and the eco would not be the best choice.
I have a 6.4 in a '21 PW (2500) and it gets 15ish mpg average some highway, some medium size city driving.

We have 2 chebbie duramax 3.0 diesels .. and they just bought another

1 has 68,000 on it. uses a quart of oil to every 1000 miles already

As long as you’re a long ways from where I work knock yourself out!

Wife wanted a Jeep Wrangler and the only one on the lot without all the high end options was an ecodiesel. DEF is cheaper at a pump, but she doesn't drive it enough to constantly be filling that up. She likes it, but it's also a lease. Figured lease it since I wasn't sure if we would like it or not. Maintenance and sometimes fuel is more expensive than a gas model, but was either diesel or electric hybrid on the lot. Nothing else she liked within 75 miles.

I think I'll stick with the Hemi for awhile.....

Thank You for the REAL reviews. Everything online praises these little engines so the input here really helps.

sticking with the hemi a good choice,had a few customerswith the 3.0 diesel none were happy.

What Gen Eco-diesel are all these comments on?

I purchased a 2020 (latest Eco, Gen 3) Rebel Eco to replace my 1999 Cummins 3/4 ton, manual. In 1999 my 3/4 ton was the towing king and today the Eco has very similar towing capacity, better HP, better torque, better acceleration and crazy fuel mileage. I drove from Phoenix to Salt Lake pulling an enclosed trailer with the Cuda and averaged 14 mpg, lots of mountains and no issues. Did the same trip not pulling and got 26.6 mpg. Around town it’s between 21 and 23 depending how I drive. (Rebel doesn’t have the best fuel mileage due to rear diff 3.92 gearing). Throw in that I have the optional 33 gal tank and my trip range is generally 700-800 miles. I can drive from PHX to Yuma, fill up on AZ price fuel, head into SanDiego/Carlsbad, visit family, and make it back to Yuma easily, avoiding the $5+ fuel rates!!!

Diesels come with a 100k warranty so if anything turns up it’ll be covered for a while and I can make the decision to get ride of it before it costs me any real $$, but for now, this truck is awesome!!! No 2nd hand story, I own one, the reviews on the latest Gen are all good, the forums are filled with glowing reviews and comments. To the point of some, previous versions were known to have issues. I suppose time will tell if history repeats or if issues have been corrected.

Here is a link to the EcoDiesel forum about fuel economy/costs. Bottom line is that for most drivers, the diesel will cost more to operate year in and year out. The fuel usually costs more, there's DEF, the oil changes are much more expensive, fuel filters, and any repairs that the diesel may need are usually much more expensive. And let's not forget that the diesel option is thousands more than the gas engine. Now, if this version of the diesel turns out to be a good engine then at least some of that cost may be recovered at trade time. But if not, then it could cost the owner even more money.

If you do a lot of towing or drive a truck lots of miles, the EcoDiesel could make financial sense, unless of course it doesn't turn out to be any better than it's predecessor in the long run. But for most of us, the EcoDiesel will be more expensive to drive than it's gas counterparts.

As to the Op's original question on reliability, this version is clearly better than the original model. But the original has a very poor reliability record so being better is not saying much. This version has only been out a couple of years, so the jury is still out on it.

The Ram forums are your best resource for all things Ram. Real world discussions on them.

www.ram1500diesel.com/threads/actual-cost-of-ecodiesel.68393

DaveRS23, all good points and certainly I would not recommend buying one as a means to save money. As you can see I tend to hold a vehicle for a long time, last one over 20 years, and my Cummins required no major repairs like a gas motor may see with increased mileage. I paid 32k for that truck and sold it 22 years later for 15k. Diesels tend to hold a greater resale than gas, particularly with increased miles, but again, not a good basis to purchase one, just a potential cost offset at the back end, a percentage of money recouped.

While I have enjoyed the benefit of increased mpg, I got the diesel because of towing and it’s superior performance to gas in these applications. I chose the baby diesel because it’s towing capacity exceeds my needs and is capable for most folks towing applications. Only the most serious of towing really need the crazy capacity a full size Cummins offers. Many that purchase these suffer average mpg and may never tow beyond the baby diesel weight

2015 Ecodiesel Ram here, not a ton of problems but recently the following were replaced under warranty.
Reluctor wheel
High pressure injection pump
6 injectors
DPF
I did have to pay $143 for a fuel filter
Mopar paid the dealer just short of 10k for the repairs.
This truck would have been sold a long time ago if I did not receive an extended warranty as a result of the emissions recall.

You bring an apples to oranges comparison to this when you compare the Cummins straight six diesel to the Italian V-6 Ecodiesel which has already had a less than stellar entrance to the American market. Good diesels have normally done well at resale time. That has not been true for the earlier Ecodiesels. Time will tell on this latest incarnation.

And you bring up that the Ecodiesel exceeds your needs. Then the 5.7 should too. After all, there is only 900 pounds difference in their tow ratings; 11,610lbs vs 12,560bls. www.ramtrucks.com/ram-1500/capability.html

You may like and want a diesel just because you like them. But this one only rarely makes real world economic sense. And as they age, we will see whether they ever make any sense economically or were just another Italian turd like the earlier ones.

Well based on your comments it appears you’re a hater. Come hook up a trailer with your Hemi and crawl from the desert through the mountains getting into SanDiego

So I'm a hater because facts and figures lead to a conclusion that you don't like? And you respond with juvenile name calling rather than with facts and figures that would support your position.

You love your choice of truck and that's fine. But emotions aside, in the cold light of objectivity it is not the best choice for most people. And time may tell that in fact it is a very poor choice. After all, that has happened before, hasn't it?

Surely you are not suggesting that it is only diesels that can do your "crawl from the desert through the mountains getting into San Diego"? I'll just bet that there are more gas engines doing that very job than there are diesels.

And one final question, if the Ecodiesel was so superior to the 5.7 gas for towing, why does the manufacturer only have a 900lb difference in capacity between them? That is less than an 8% difference.

Enjoy your choice in engines and I hope it works out for you.

No name calling, just stated you appear to be a diesel hater based on several of your comments
Diesels are traditionally better pullers when it comes to hill climbs under load.

Numbers work well;
Diesel and gas are currently the same price at my local station, $3.90gal
Eco Rebel 4X4 shows 24 mpg combined and an added $4995 for the EcoD
5.7 Hemi Rebel 4X4 shows 17 mpg combined and an added $2795 for the Hemi
So the diff in price is $2200
$2200 / $3.90 = 564.10 gal to the break even
If both vehicles travel 33k miles the Diesel will use 1375 gal where the Hemi will use 1941, or 566 gal more fuel (the break even to cover the motor)

Now yes there are incidentals like Def fluid and a higher oil change price, but I may be less prone to burn the rubber off tires than if I owned the Hemi.

Bottom line is that based on fuel alone it may take far less to break even than you may imagine.

As stated, dependability is yet to be proven, but with a 5 year/100k mi warranty over the 3 year 36k mi warranty I’ll have some added time/miles to tell.

Not looking to argue but it appears I’ve struck a nerve with you, I’m just offering a different perspective