2019 Chevy Silverado 3.0L I-6 diesel

[r90sKirk]

These inline duramax's seem to be working out pretty well.

Any stories to share? Might consider a new pickup with this engine.

My sons truck has about 50k on it right now and it's been doing very good. I've driven it (borrowed it) to pull a steel car hauling trailer and mini excavator or skidsteer multiple times and it pulls that load (about 8k lbs) just fine - seems to get about 16.5 mpg doing that task. On the highway, just the truck alone will touch 30mpg. Besides the engine, I really like that transmission, it puts the power to the wheels when you need it all the time.

 

[r90sKirk]

Just so darn expensive.

Agreed, but not nearly as bad as the full size Duramax!

 

[oilhammer]

You can get in a 2500HD with the 6.6L diesel for under $54k. The cheapest way I could get the 1500 with the 3.0L diesel was right at $50k. So no, not as bad, but almost. The problem is, as is usually the case, they force you into a higher trim and/or specific cab/bed configuration that quickly bloats the price. Ford stopped selling the diesel F150, mainly because (their words) the order rate was so low. The STARTING price at the time, was $46k (when the F150 started at $26K). Forcing someone to spend another TWENTY GRAND just to get what really should be no more than a $3-5k engine option quickly shrinks the order rate. It isn't rocket science. It's math.

 

[kjclow]

With Ram, it was a $3500 engine upgrade plus a $1500 tranny upgrade. I see the new ones no longer have a price on the different tranny, just a $5000 upgrade for the diesel engine.

 

[oilhammer]

I thought by then, all the 1500 trucks were using the same 8sp ZF autobox?

 

[kjclow]

Up until the 2022 model build sheet, there were three trannys listed. First for the Penstar V6, second for either Hemi, and third for the diesel. Now it's the 850RE for the Penstar and 8HP75 shows up as two separate line items but no distinction between them.

 

[oilhammer]

Hmmmm... well I've been under the ECOdiesel, the Pentostar, and the Hemi, and they all *look* like the same 8sp ZF to me, plastic pan with integral filter and all, just like the BMWs, Rovers, Hyundai/Kia RWD sleds, the ghetto favorite Chargers, Challengers, Durango/Grand Cherokee, etc.

But they were all older than 2022s. We don't see much Ram trucks here, Ford still dominates that segment for us, since most full size pickups are fleet vehicles here. Ford probably has a 60+ percent spread on that one, with GM in second. Ram is a very distant third, for some reason. I think we see more Tacomas with company livery on them than Ram trucks. A fair number of those abysmal Promasters, though.

 

[kjclow]

For all I know, they could be all the same unit. Just pick the one that gives the best profit on the build sheet. My SIL had a Tacoma for a company work truck due to its size advantage. easier to run in and out of office refits. They went up a couple of steps and were running 6 cylinders so know that mileage was not that great. Probably could have gotten stripped F150 or C1500 for lower price and better mileage.

 

[oilhammer]

The current F-150 base gas engine (the 3.3L V6) is rated 19/24, while the current Tacoma base engine (a 2.7L 4cyl) is only 20/22. And the Taco costs more to boot. So yeah, aside from its slightly (but barely, especially length, since ALL Tacomas are forced into the extended cab minimum) smaller size, there is no good argument to buy the Toyota from a practical standpoint. Same reason there is no good argument to buy a Ranger. And the sales figures certainly show this.

Ford's 10sp automatic is probably responsible for much of that better fuel economy, but driving them is exhausting. Seriously, never thought anyone could say driving something with an automatic transmission is exhausting, but Ford found a way. And the whole time it is juggling its too many ratios, Ford is all too happy to let you know in the instrument cluster what gear it is in. Which changes constantly. It is quite ridiculous. I actually had a chance to drive one of the last 6sp automatic F150s that for a couple years was what the new base 3.3L got (it was a 2020) and a 2021 truck back to back. The 2020 was superior, and it moved along BETTER because it wasn't going through EIGHT ratios before it hit 35.

 

[kjclow]

My thought when driving one was that it felt like bald tires on wet pavement. Could never make up its mind as to which gear it wanted.

 

[oilhammer]

I thought the 7sp in the Sprinter was going to be too many ratios, but it wasn't... not at all. That transmission worked like magic to make a relatively small (2.1L) engine move a big van along quite nicely, and was never busy or constantly changing gears. I honestly think Ford screwed up on this one.

I've not yet driven one of the new gas 4cyl Sprinters with the 9sp.

 

[akjdouglass]

You can get in a 2500HD with the 6.6L diesel for under $54k. The cheapest way I could get the 1500 with the 3.0L diesel was right at $50k. So no, not as bad, but almost. The problem is, as is usually the case, they force you into a higher trim and/or specific cab/bed configuration that quickly bloats the price. Ford stopped selling the diesel F150, mainly because (their words) the order rate was so low. The STARTING price at the time, was $46k (when the F150 started at $26K). Forcing someone to spend another TWENTY GRAND just to get what really should be no more than a $3-5k engine option quickly shrinks the order rate. It isn't rocket science. It's math.

Back in 2014 I was in the market for a base f-150. Would've gladly paid a $5k premium for a diesel, too. All of the dealers in St. Louis advertised the f-150 "starting at $26k", yet when I called to inquire there wasn't a single dealer that had anything under $36k in stock.
Instead, I ended up leaving town a day later with a 2014 TDI for less than $19k. Luckily for me, I already owned a '94 Chevy 3500 that was still mostly capable of doing the small amount of work I needed done at the time (albeit @ 8-12 mpg).

 

[oilhammer]

Nobody wants to order anything anymore... and that is both the fault of the dealer/manufacture AND the consumer, in my view.

It is so funny, too, that on all these websites for [insert any new vehicle here] they have the "build and price" tab, which leads you through a seemingly endless myriad of configurations, yet nobody wants to let the consumer avail themselves of customizing the vehicle in this manner. It is kind of like, what's the point? You dangle all the things I *could* get (or NOT get) in front of me, and then tell me I cannot get (or NOT get) any of it.

 

[kjclow]

To me the worst has gotten to be Honda and Toyota. You pick your vehicle and then your options are dependent on the specific trim level. You want ABS? You also get the higher level radio and sunroof. I've never ordered a new vehicle. What was on the lot met my needs for that day.

 

[akjdouglass]

It's seems as if the packages are built from the top down rather than the other way around. Kinda makes it obvious that the upper trim levels is where the profit is maximized. Not my cup of tea, but I'm not really the typical consumer that has to have all the bells and whistles.

A f-150 or 250 with an inline 6 would suit my needs just fine. Guess I should've done that a long time ago.

Pretty much lost interest in buying anything new after realizing someone else decides what's best for you, like all vehicles having electric powerplants by 2035.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Most of the vehicles I've purchased over the years are base trim levels with no options. Those are usually the hardest to find at dealers, for obvious reasons.

 

[oilhammer]

Also strange too how some options, that you may really want, don't cost all that much if available a'la carte. Like when my dad ordered his 1994 F150. Would you believe that a tachometer was only $50? And the limited slip rear end was only $260? I'm sure his was one of a VERY few XL trim trucks ordered like that, along with map pockets and lights.

 

[kjclow]

I still find it hard to accept that my 2017 Ram didn't come standard with a rear window defroster. It's a $100 (IIRC) line item add on to the build sheet but would cost almost $500 to have it retrofitted.

 

[benIV]

I went through this just recently with the dealer... dressed itup, got the options exactly as I wanted.. two weeks later: Sorry here is a list of all the things you can't have (at least 50% of them)... round and round we went. Finally said forget it and ended up finding a beautiful 2007 2500 LBZ-Allison.