2003 F250 V10 or 6.0 Diesel

jmkk

Been reading the discussions on the V10 and the diesel and found a lot of good info. Yesterday, the family and I went to our Ford dealer to test the F250 6.0 diesel. Unbelievable truck. I need something to replace my ****** that's struggling pulling my 24' TT (about 6500-7000 pounds) when we're not on flatlands. Anyway, the sales guy suggested we look at the V10 in addition to the diesel given our needs. With the current promotion Ford is offering, I can get the V10 for just about $7K less than the diesel. The HP on the V10 is 310@4250 compared to what I'm driving now at 285@5200. And the torque is 425@3250 compared to my present 325@4000. I'm sure you all know the numbers on the 6.0 diesel. We probably drive 12-15K miles a year, and tow the trailer about 10-15 times a year max, and never more than 300 miles round trip. I just can't seem to justify the extra $7K for the diesel given my situation, but thought that some of you folks with more experience could give me some insight on what I might be overlooking. Thank you.

kg11

You haven't overlooked anything.Low mi/year,only 7000 lb .The V10 gives you 100lb more torque @ 750 lower rpm than your current vehicle and 25 hp @ 1000 lower rpm.The extra $7,000 would take at least 10 years to recover in fuel savings,excluding interest.

kip

mullins87

I'm a diesel owner and have never regretted the purchase. That being said, I agree with Kip on this one. You don't drive enough miles per year or tow enough weight to justify the extra $$$. That $7 would buy a awful lot of extra gas for the V-10.

Also: With the number of miles you drive per year, I'd say your commute is a fairly short one. A diesel needs quite a bit of highway time to reach operating temp. Repeated short 10 mile trips in the winter are murder on a diesel.

wpalkowski

Just wanted chime in here too. I've got an F350 with V10 and I love it - tow about the same as you and have no complaints except for 7-8 mpg while pulling. Wanted to bring up one other important factor. Be careful with payloads on the F250 - it's a heavy truck and will have no problem pulling your trailer, but it doesn't have a lot of excess legal payload capacity. For ~$500 more you can get an F350, and get about 1200 lbs more payload capacity.

   In the dealer's towing guide, they weigh the base F250 "dry" - it's got a 150 lb driver and nothing else in it and it's got about a 2,300 lb payload capacity. When you put on options like 4x4, trailer hitch, etc, upgrade to a supercab or crew cab you eat up a fair percentage of payload capacity. Then you put in your passengers, their gear, a tank of gas, a case of your favorite beverage, kids toys, and Fido, plus the tongue weight of trailer, you find that you're over the legal weight limit of the F250. The F350 can handle 3750 lbs of payload, and gives you a lot more weight capacity to play around with.

  Not trying to spend your money, but I never hear folks complain that they bought too much truck, but I hear them squeal about too little truck lots of times. Now a lot of folks overload their vehicles all the time, and go blissfully down the road. But watch out if you've got to panic stop, or if you're towing and have to make an evasive maneuver. The odds aren't in your favor with the lesser truck. Also note, if you have an accident and it's discovered that you're overweight your insurance company can limit its liability and leave you exposed.

bigfur

From a guy looking to buy a used truck a few years old. Diesels have a HUGE resale advantage over gas. Just a thought for you for down the road a ways.