Need some help picking a truck.

OK this is an easy one.

I would look for a diesel ford or GMC with a box on the back and you can find them under 10k too.

I had two GMC <10k from a fleet purchase with 18 foot boxes on the back. I sold one with a bay bridge box to a lady doing bread deliveries and I saw her the other day, she loves it.

She is not hauling a lot of weight (potato chips!!) so the added weight of the diesel won't hurt the capacity.

YOU can find a lot under $25k in local ads and in truck paper and if you search deep enough, low mileage ones are out there.

I would never consider a v10, it is a gas hog. The diesel will offer you something that will not need a lot of fuel to use.

 

step van and ford .... had 2 gas engine 1 ran to 750000 and the other 687000 ...... with the weight your hauling gas a whole lot better than diesel

 

Let me put this another way to sway you toward gas for your application. A set of fuel injectors alone on any of today's diesel engines in the medium to light duty truck market would be equivalent to buying a replacement engine for the gasser. This isn't even the tip of the iceberg of the troubles you could have with emission systems and or neglect when buying a used diesel truck today. You could find a good diesel and get some trouble free miles out of it. Crap shoot really. Gas is a safe bet. You can better calculate and plan fuel mileage expenses vs unexpected emissions repairs from someone else headache.

 

Diesel: 300,000 miles
Gas: 150,000 miles

 

Diesel engine replacement >$ 35,000

Gas engine replacement>$8,000

I have multiple gas engines well exceed 200k with only regular service and tune ups. It all in how you maintain it to get the longevity.

 

In this application, having owned a small diesel vehicle with emissions, I would heed Goodysnap's advice. These new EPA diesels are a money pit when they start failing, the price for parts alone is ridiculous. And then trying to find a shop to repair, that is another crap shoot. I would go with gasoline and drive properly for the best fuel economy. I would never own one of these new diesels in your application. I would bite the bullet on the fuel and service religiously. You will be ahead in the long run.

 

A Duramax is not going to have emission problems like the Ford or Dodge. $35k for a crate longblock? WTF?

 

If going for diesel go pre emission, stay away from duramax and don't get within spitting distance of the ford 6 liters. Gas go for a Chevy with a 5.3 or 6.0 they're pretty hard to kill, the ford 5.4s are ticking time bombs and the v10s are gas hogs, any diesel can get better mileage than those things. I would tend to agree with you on a gasser though, no worries about winter fuel or having to plug it in come January.

 

Isuzu is a very good truck, just buy it new, take good care of it,

 

Lol wut?

Guess no one ever told that to the 5.3 in my Tahoe that is humming along at 314k miles.

In the application the OP is looking for a gas engine is the way to. Long gone are the days of cheap simple diesel engines. Anything used in a box truck is going to be well used and high miles. Going with a gas engine allows them to get a newer vehicle with fewer miles for the same money.