He said
"i have a 1500 4x4 with a 360.  at 285,000 miles on the
clock it gets an average of 12 mpg."

"service is the key to vehicle longevity. i have five trucks.  one with
~290k, one with ~280k, one with 277k, one with ~220k and the "new" one
has ~150k."
http://groups.google.co.in/group/alt.autos.dodge.trucks/msg/981a21075ddfff39

<snip>

  i have a 97 4x4 1500 with a 360 that has ~285,000 miles on the odo.  the
only major component that has been replaced is the transmission at 215k.  i
believe that i killed the tranny by towing a 28 ft camper and a dual axle
trailer with my tractor on a regualar basis without locking out the
overdrive.  it is still a daily driver.

  i have a 91 dakota with ~277,000 miles on the odo and it has had no major
service.  oil changes and brakes are all its ever had.  i have a 93 dakota
with ~225,000 miles on the clock and it has had one clutch and nothing but
normal service other than that.  my dad has a 98 dakota with ~330,000 miles
and nothing but brakes and oil changes.

don't tell me that you can't get a quarter million reliable miles out of a
gas burning truck.  all these trucks are fleet trucks that work and haul
loads for a living.  with some semblance of regular service a truck will
last for a long time.  the dak's get an oil change every 5k with castrol
20/50 conventional oil.  the 1500 only gets the oil changed every 10k with
royal purple 20/50 synthetic.  every one of these trucks are on their
original ball joints and other suspension parts except for shocks.  we take
the time to actually grease the fittings when we service them.

  i burn premium gas in all of these trucks and clean the fuel system with
a 3M fuel injector kit every 50k.  i use nothing but bosh platinum plugs
that get replaced every 50k.  all the trucks use k&n air and oil filters.
they all use synthetic gear oil in the differentials.  a little decent
service and quality materials goes a long way toward durability.

  my 3/4 ton 4x4 with a cummins has ~170,000 miles on it and is on its
third lift pump.  the price of doing a brake job on it is about 60% more
than my 1500 gas burner.  the proper load rated tires cost more, the price
of servicing it costs double that of the gas burners and the fuel cost
another 50 cents a gallon.  i know that it costs more per mile to own and
operate the diesel.

  if you wanna see cost of ownership you should keep up with the service
costs on my gm topkick with a 3116 caterpillar.  just changing the fluids
and filters on the cat and the allison auto requires a vist to the bank.  of
course this truck would eat your lunch if you tried to operate it with a big
gas burning engine.

 the bottom line is that at the rate most people trade their trucks
compared to the mileage on the clock when they trade them a gas burner is
cheaper to own in the long run.  the only caveat to this is if your trucks
are regularly pulling a goose neck trailer with 10,000 plus pound loads.
for this heavy duty service a diesel is the only way to go.
michael

But you are forgetting a key issue as well and that is time.  Sure, the
Cummins can run for a long time before it needs any real work but how about
the rest of the truck?  My truck is now 11 years old and still only has
118,000 miles on it and for a while, I was driving it 80 miles a day just to
get to work.  Now if it gets 10,000 a year, that is a lot.  To get it to
250,000 would probably take me another 15 years and Cummins or not, what
shape do you really think that truck will be in at 26 years old?