Educate me on diesel '00 F250s please

[bamnq6]

Hello all-

I'm looking for a couple pointers / tips / and opinions on a vehicle purchase here.

My father is in the market to replace his 160k mile altima (which has been a fabulous car). It’s sounding like he’s finally got his ticket punched to buy a truck, a “real truck!” He commutes 75 miles on 2 lane highways round trip each day roughly 2 hrs outside Chicago in corn country.

NEEDS:
*Four wheel drive – rural area, snowy in winter, etc...
*Reliability - he’s great at gas-station checkups (fluid levels, tire pressure, etc) but not the best about remembering scheduled routine maintenance (Dad!!! You needed an oil change 3500 miles ago!)
*Fuel economy – 75 miles a day
*Priced between $15 and $20k

Here’s a couple option running around locally.
He really liked an ’05 f150 dbl cab 4x4, 5.4 liter, automatic, with about 70k miles at $24k. kinda outta the approved price range, but GORGEOUS.
I really like a 2000 f250 dbl cab 4x4, 7.3 liter diesel, automatic, with 138k miles on it at $14k.

I’m trying to convince him (rather unsuccessfully) that the diesel will be cheaper to run everyday. From my research the f150 with the 5.4 get about 16 mpg while the f250 with the diesel should get 18 mpg. I’ve heard that 7.3’s are pretty dang bulletproof and should run up to roughly 250k before any issues start to rear their heads.

Let me hear thoughts and opinion either way…

 

[IZwack]

75 miles a day - that's a bit more than my daily drive. But there is no way I'd use a diesel truck for a daily driver unless I had to tow something every day. The MPG may be more, but dont forget that diesel fuel costs more than regular gasoline. A Subaru (Forester, Impreza, etc..) would be my choice for daily driving in the snow.

 

[bamnq6]

Additions:

Did i mention his excitement at "I finally get a truck!". Therefore we're talking full-sized trucks here. Not Rangers or Sporttracs, I already brought up that point and it went down in flames...

Fuel Costs:
Regular unleaded = $2.97
E85 = $2.79
Diesel = $3.39

 

[SuRrEaLNJ]

I have to say i agree with IZ, but given the restraints were talkin about the 7.3 is a fairly reliable engine from ford. much less finachy then the 6.0

ive found that regular maintenance makes a big difference on the reliability of the ford diesels

 

[BradR]

What about a newer F150? (I think Ford dropped some 4.6s in them) ( or brand new with the ecoboost engine [ooooooh])