I am in the market for a new truck. I can't decide which one to get. It will be my Daily Driver (only drive like 10 miles a day). I am looking at 2001-2003 in the Chevy and 2000-2002 in the Dodge.
Your right, with a 350, 5.3 etc or any small gas motor you are not going to do that.I am not going to buy a Bigblock because I like the idea of being able to sell this truck in a few more years. It is hard enough to move my 98' gasser right now. It's more the market then the fact it is a gasser, I looked a ton of trucks before going with a new one, many are still for sale. I think the resale on Diesels is going to fall soon, espescially with all the fuel, emissions, and regulations crap.
My 98' gets 11mpg around town and about 13mpg on the highway. I only have been averaging about 7-9mpg towning 10 hours away through mountains and rolling hills. The biggest down side is not the mileage but the lack of power to maintain speed. I dont think you will get much better mileage in a diesel, but you will have the power you are looking for.
I am not worried about cost of repairs, cost of maintaning or having to work on it. I am pretty sure I am capable of that.
It's pretty simple, I have weighed the advantages or disadvantages of having a deisel and I have decided to buy a deisel truck. I plan to tow out west, tow for 16-20 hours to do some wheeling and I am not going to do that in a gasser.
If you buy a Dodge, you will want to put stacks on it.