Ram EcoDiesel or 2500 Cummins or Chevy 2500 Duramax? Ask TFL What Truck Should I buy?

We need your advice. Actually Chris needs your advice. He just send us this email and we’d love to get your take on which new truck he should buy after his car was destroyed by Hurricane Irma.

 Gentlemen,
Thank you for taking my question:

My family and I are stationed in Key West, and our one car was destroyed by Hurricane Irma.  One thing the storm taught me, is that gas runs out in a crisis, but diesel is always available.  That being said, I am looking at 3 vehicles to get within the next few days as a replacement:

1.  Ram 1500 Eco-Diesel

2.  Ram 2500 Cummins

3.  Silverado 2500 Duramax

I am looking at the base models for all of these with the following specs (4×4, crew, longbox).

I am leaning towards the Eco-Diesel due to the huge MPG advantage.  I don’t tow huge loads; I have a heavy boat, but it would max out with trailer at 6000lbs.  While the Eco-Diesel meets all my requirements, and comes in much cheaper, I am concerned about engine/transmission reliability and longevity.  I know if I treat a Duramax or Cummins well, that those trucks can get me 500,000+ miles easily.  What do you know about the durability and reliability of the Eco-diesel?  I have done a ton of research, watched all your videos, etc, but I would like to hear directly from you if you think that this vehicle is die hard reliable.

Thank you so much.

Best,

LT Chris

I wrote back to Chris,

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the email and sorry about your car and the keys. My mom has a place on Marco Island and it was hit head on as well. This I fear was after I told her the chances of a 5 by 7 mile island getting hit by Irma were about zero. She still hasn’t forgiven me. But luckily she’s only in Florida during the winter.

 To answer your question we don’t do reliability testing as we only get the truck for a week.  So I can’t speak to your concerns about the Ram’s longevity. However we just had a viewer on our show who loves the truck and has had zero issues with it.
I hope this helps.
As far as the HD trucks are concerned the Cummins is pretty bullet proof as is the Duramax. Good luck and thanks for watching. Let me know what truck you decide to buy and send me a pic please.

Roman

But what’s your best advice and what personal experience have you had with Ram’s EcoDiesel. Is it reliable?