I'm thinking about picking up a duramax but i'm cheap and having a hard time justifying such a powerful expensive truck. Does everyone who owns one race or tow? I don't tow much, i don't race at all, but I want a good truck that will hold it's value, be reliable and get good mileage.

or should I look for a 1500 with a 5.3L?
Why did you guys get your trucks?

I bought my diesel because I tow a toy hauler, boat and what ever else I can get my hands on and because of the mileage. This truck is my second diesel and I dont think I will ever own a gas powered truck again. If you dont tow and just need a standard pickup truck to put stuff in the bed and dont plan on towing anything heavy then the 1500 with the 5.3l would work fine for you. Even a new 1500 is going to set you back so dough so I dont think your being cheap, and yes I know $40k+ is alot for a truck but it is all worth it in my eyes :D

There are deals out there on duramaxs. I have a 2001 that's in my signature I'm going to sell as well as my 2004. PM me and I will give you details.

If anything if you get a good deal on a used one, They hold thier value extremely well and they are pretty easy to sell since they fall into the "desirable vehicle" catagory.

I guess if you're not sure and wanted to try it out for a while, you could probably do it with minimal risk.

I used a 1500 with the 5.3L (02 GMC) to tow my Jeep around with for 2 summers. If you go that route buy a WD hitch, it makes a world of difference. It was adequate but could definately tell it was back there.

I made the mistake of driving my folk's when pulling an old FJ60 right after pulling it with my 1/2 ton. The difference between the two about made me sick. The GMC was for sale shortly afterwards and I just picked up my folk's 'old' one a month ago.

I just bought my diesel about 4 months ago, and I have only towed a couple small things with it. Before I had a 99 with the 5.3l. They are good trucks and for the power you get for the fuel mileage it's hard to beat them. However the first time I hooked something up behind my 3/4 ton it was like night and day, the truck didn't even act like i had anything behind it. Just knowing that anytime that I need to haul something heavy I can without worrying about the trans, the rear springs, or the engine makes it all worth it for me.:chevy:

If you do not tow alot, you will be served just as well by a 1500 Gasser. Unladen mileage is very similiar. Since the 2500/3500 diesels weigh more, the improved efficiency of the diesel is used up by the bigger trucks weight penalty.

Though mine's an '05 that shouldn't matter here. Never had a diesel before this one. Never even driven one. Take a test drive, if you haven't already and you won't look back. Bought mine as a general all around hauler. I rarely tow, but when I do, it's my 8000 pound boat. Interested in a fifth wheel now too. It can haul about anything with minimal effort and when not towing I get 19-20 mpg (yes, I have mods which have increased my mileage, but just a by product of more power). It's just a darn comfortable truck to drive! :)

I just bought my first diesel about 1 month ago. I owned two 5.3 1500 gassers before and only haul a ATV trailer with three bikes on it from time to time. It still took a toll on the gassers and their was no power.
I love my new diesel. There is a little more maintenance but the power is unreal for a 6000# truck. I have a small chip 65HP in mine and this thing will run and leave my old gasser.
If I baby it around town I get 19 MPG. Hammering it I get around 13-14MPG.
The best thing right now is diesel fuel is about 25-45 cents cheaper then gas.
I think you would appreciate the power, reliability and resellability of a Duramax.
Good luck with whatever you choose

All the above reasons were why I bought mine as well. 2.5 years now with mine and I will NEVER go gas again (unless its a sports car but even then I would love a diesel option) don't forget that if you are ambitous(sp?) you can make bi-diesel for relativley cheap and run that.

Just FYI, after your first power upgrade all you are going to want to do after that is add more and more power. Before I found this site my truck was stock.

Bentley

I am also pretty cost concious (cheap), but I have learned that if you buy quality, and take care of it, it is usually cheaper in the long run. There are lots of different variations of "cheap". If you are the type of person that tends to stretch out maintenance issues such as oil and filter changes, then DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT buy a diesel. Gas engines are much more tolerant of sloppy maintenance. Now if you buy a diesel, you will never regret the power and economy, but that power and economy comes at a price of higher maintenance costs and on-time maintenance requirements. I have found that the maintenance requirements are not unreasonable, but you have to be diligent with them.

Today, as I was driving down I-20 at about 70MPH, I came upon a familiar hill. It is long and moderately steep.......the kind that slows loaded 18 wheelers to about 50MPH. With my old gasser, it was downshift city to get to the top of that hill. With the Duramax, it climbed the hill with ease and never downshifted a single time. Hard to put a price tag on that.

For those who need a work truck that tows there is nothing better than the D/A combo. For recreational/home and personal use it gets harder to justify. Again if you tow, especially heavy and in hilly or mountainous terrain, D/A cant be beat for safety and power. For a commuter and the odd home depot trip they are a luxury, my old 5.7 gas did great in that roll but was a poor tow vehical.

i bought the first diesel in 1984 along with my brother we bought two at the same time. one has 200k and the other around 350k lots of repairs and maintanece but no nickle and dime stuff. I hear friends with gassers always at the shop and i must say the first 100k that i put on my 84 half ton cost me no more than oil, filters and diesel (maybe a set or two of tires) I watch the numbers very closely and I would still drive a diesel if it was $1 a gallon more than a gasser. I change oil every 2500 mile and only used delo 400. both the pickups went 200k before new 6.5 crate engines were installed. can't tell you about 30 year old d-maxes until time goes by. but most diesel are hard to beat. just don't lug them at all times and keep the soot ran out of them.(floor it on occasion its worth the fuel.) enjoy.

I have both.

The 1500 is like a car compared to the HD, but will hold it's weight for what it is designed for. The ride is worlds of difference and to be expected. I think overkill is the key. A good percentage of HD owners could probably use a 1500 with no problem, they just want a bigger truck with a higher 'cool' factor.

As far as the diesel, first one, and love it with a few minor electrical harness issues along the way.

I had to make 6 trips between Ohio and Florida, back when diesel was 30 cents a gallon cheaper, so I saved quite a bit in fuel expenses.

Diesel seems to be "off the radar screen" when there are gas shortages. After the hurricanes, many stations were without gasoline, but they had diesel! Add propane injection and you can really stretch your diesel mileage. (If you can find the propane a decent price.)

I share the sentiments of everyone here who has commented that if you don't tow, live in a flat area, and are using this just for stuff in the bed, you will be best served with the 1/2 ton with the 5.3L engine. I had one for four years (A 2000 GMC 1500 Z71). I loved that truck. It was great, but just wouldn't cut it with my trailer. I did try for 2 years, and I upgraded to the Duramax. There is about a 7k to 15k premium on the Diesels depending on how they are equipped. While diesel is more efiicient, the recent hikes in price negate any real advantage, unless your towing or drive for a living. Gassers eat fuel like it is going out of style when towing, especially the big blocks.

Good Luck,
Bill

My dmax is the second truck I've owned in my whole life. My first was a toyota which I drove for 20yrs. Even tho India & China are making a permanent impact on world fuel prices I don't regret getting a diesel ~ never driven a full size gasser so I don't know what I'm missing. So I don't know any better.

As I'm rapidly approaching full retirement ~ I finally realized I'm not getting out of this alive. Therefore doing what I wanna do. All my life I looked down the road ~ hoping for a better/brighter day. Now, I can see a couple of distant road signs that say 'Not a thru Street' and 'Dead End ~ No turnaround'. As the Soggy Bottom Boys sang: 'In Heaven There is no Beer . . . . ' ~ Its a reasonable assumption there are no diesels there either. I wanted one and got it ~ me be happy. Just a different thought/way of looking at it.

Shummy ~

I own a tower construction company in Colorado, so I drive 60K+ miles a year in the mountains. When you get past 6000 ft anything normally aspirated turns into a dog. My old 6.0L gas on 38s did ok pulling my 3 sleds up the mountain, but now I have an enclosed trailer (extra 2000 lbs) and I can easily accelerate while pulling up the passes.

I haven't hand calc'd my mileage lately, but since I installed the Predator, the computer is showing 24.8 MPG avg.

Oh yeah, and when you put it on some crappy Mustang, ricer or other diesel truck while laying out an entire lane of black smoke, the extra for the D/A is worth it. :D

I have both.

The 1500 is like a car compared to the HD, but will hold it's weight for what it is designed for. The ride is worlds of difference and to be expected. I think overkill is the key. A good percentage of HD owners could probably use a 1500 with no problem, they just want a bigger truck with a higher 'cool' factor.

As far as the diesel, first one, and love it with a few minor electrical harness issues along the way.

Yes, I definitely like the cool factor:cool:

I could get by with a much lesser truck, but there ain't lesser diesel trucks. There many be a time in my life when I own a toy hauler or trailer of any sort, but I'm not even considering it now. I wanted one for the power, mileage, longativity, and resale. I wanted to have a truck that will do anything I could want it to do and this truck will except fit in a compact spot. Cool factor if you say so it’s a truck it has a purpose, cool is a Z06 IMO

snip..

I haven't hand calc'd my mileage lately, but since I installed the Predator, the computer is showing 24.8 MPG avg.

snip.. You need to hand calc. Depending upon what tune you run the computer will read way high.

if you don't tow a lot and aren't into modding I'd say get a 1500 with a 5.3. At my work we have a bunch of 99+ silverados. The 4.8 is a turd no torque. The 5.3 gets mileage in the high teens and has pretty good power although nothing like the d max. The 6.0 is pretty quick although the mileage isn't much better than a 8.1 we dont have any 8.1 trucks but imo if youre going for a hd with an allison make it a duramax.

I don't actually tow anything right now. But, my philosophy is "ya gotta put the horse before the cart." Now my truck's payed off, and I could get a boat or a camper or whatever, and I'll have a good truck to pull it.

You never know what you might decide to buy in the future, so you want to have plenty of truck when the time comes.

That's the way I look at it.

I like being able to use my truck for anything I want, and not feel like I'm overworking it, overloading it, abusing it, going to break it, etc. When I was 650 miles away and came across a deal on a free car, and I bought a car trailer to get it home, and then struggled and sweat bullets towing with a vehicle that might be "Rated" but wasn't really comfortable towing that load through the PA and WV mountains, it motivated me to buy a real truck. There are plenty of little things that aggrevate me about this truck, but when it comes to doing work, towing or hauling, I have all the confidence and comfort I want. Tossing a ton of concrete in the back, or picking up 3 tons of stone on my trailer are without worry or consideration. That is worth something. Perhaps difficult to assign a price tag, but I like having more than I need....in all of life ):h

Well, I don't race or tow much either.. but the economy and power have me hooked!

Just look at the price of gas the diesel will pay for itself. I am getting 300 KM more per tank than I did with my 6.0 gasser I had and the cost of fuel is less than gass.

If I had no heavy trailer to tow, I would have likely bought something different. But my toyhauler is 9600 lb, and this Duramax pulls it much better than the old big-block gasser Suburban I used to have. As you can see from my signature, mine is mostly stock. But this truck still impresses me nearly every time I drive it.

I just like the diesel engine. I don't do really all that much towing. I tow 2 jetskis on 1 trailer in the spring and fall and that is it. It is nice to know tho that if I had to pull something bigger I can. I found my 2001 with 89,000 miles for a reasonable price and it beat out a dodge in the same year with over 110,000 miles for price as the stealer that had the dodge is always high for prices. I'd go with the duramax. I don't regret it. I love my truck and I wont let anyone drive it!

I always had a Chevy 1/2 ton; with a 350 and 3:73 rear end and thought I had a good truck......untill I got my 04 3/4 ton with the D-Max/Ally combo. I cant tell you how much more truck you get by going with the DMax, but the difference is night and day. Cost wise, I dont think you will pay all that much more for the 3/4 ton vs the 1/2 ton loaded with the same options, but I will tell you that the DMax will out haul, out run, out pull, and out perform the 1/2 ton and not break a sweat. I say that "quality remains long after price is forgotten"

I'm relatively new to the "diesel world" and have owned many 1/2 ton chevy's with the 350. I have always towed a lot, car trailers....travel trailers....boats and have always been "alright" with it. Now that I have the Dmax...I will NEVER go back to a gasser. I rarely ever towed over 4 tons but now I know that would not be a problem if the day ever comes. If your not going to be towing, I would probably stick with the gasser just due to not needing the power. my .02

I moved up from a '99 1/2 ton witha 5.3L and would never think about going back, but I bought the DMax for towing. My travel trailer was within spec for the 1/2 ton, but in the mountains it wasn't much fun pulling that trailer and I didn't feel comfortable with it.

If you are concerned about cost, pick up a 1 or 2 year old 1500, the used truck market has really taken a hit and the resale values are down ever since GM did their "Employee Discount" for everyone deal and fuel prices increased.