Deisel/Flexfuel/Gas for tow vehicle

I'll be in the market for a tow vehicle sometime soon (soon to me is typically a year away) and I'm considering diesel and flexfuel. I know there are a number of SUV's and pickups that will run on flexfuel, and there are some interesting diesel options. This has to be a daily driver as well.
My question is has anyone had experience with either of these options or done some calculating considering the difference in fuel prices and the difference in mpg?
Does the cheaper cost of flexfuel overcome the reduced fuel mileage and performance? (I've read that mpg is reduced with flexfuel and performance may not be as good.)
Does the improved fuel mileage with diesel compensate for the additional cost? (In our area diesel is over $4 and gas is around $3.40 - $3.50.)
One vehicle I'm considering is a Jeep Grand Cherokee with the CRD diesel option - it is supposed to be certified for all 50 states in 2009 and has a towing capacity of about 7500 lbs. A smaller version has been in the Jeep Liberty and I've seen that TV with a pretty good sized Chalet behind it.
I need AWD or at least 4WD so that limits the choices a little. Another possibility is a pickup - I'm wondering if Toyota will have a diesel version soon?
I know this is a diverse and knowledgeable group, so I know I should get some good info. And probably a few opinions - all welcome!
Thanks
Alan

I would love to get a Grand Cherokee diesel and put a "grease car" (google it) kit on it and run it on straight vegetable oil, if you don't want to get dirty it is available in all major metro areas for approx. 1.40 a gallon already filtered and ready to run on. It's a 2 tank system that will allow you to run on Diesel or Vegetable oil. I also heard that next year should have f150 with a smaller diesel (looking at about 30mpg) as well as the 1500 series from GM (I'm really excited to give that a few years to pan out and work out the kinks then get one). Guess that was more info than opinion but take it for what it's worth.

I was just at my local Toyota dealership and the parts guy told me that he saw a diesel Tundra at a dealer show. Not yet available in the US but it has been available elsewhere. He expected it next year though he said there were no promises.

All the manufacturers are said to have small diesels coming next year.

Maybe someone can answer this question in regards to whether a diesel is practical or not. In my area diesel is $4.63 a gallon and gas is $3.99, at least at this writing. If you have to pay extra (hundreds, thousands?) for a diesel and then and extra 60 plus cents a gallon for fuel, is the diesel a viable alternative in the long run?
And does a diesel REALLY deliver the fuel economy it is touted? Two of my neighbors have diesel trucks and they have not been impressed with their mileage. They say that their trucks get MAYBE 5 miles more per gallon than the gas trucks they had before, and (to them) it has not been worth it.

Mike Anderson

The conclusion that I have reached is that diesel is better for towing big heavy trailers and gas is better for towing light trailers. Heavy trailers need a TV with more torque. Diesel is also better at high altitude due to power loss.

I believe that for a properly designed car or truck the engine and transmission should die at the same time that the body rots out. If the body rots out at 200k miles, what good is it to have an engine that will last 300k or more miles. This issue depends on how much you will drive. The more miles per year that you spend towing a heavy trailer the more sense it makes to go diesel.

Diesel is harder to find. Getting in and out of gas stations towing a big trailer is difficult. This is why I think you see more diesel owners adding extra fuel tanks so that they do not stop for fuel as often. With my Chevy 1500 HD towing my TM I have never yet encountered a gas station that I could not get in and out of. My brother has the 2500 HD towing a 32 foot Montana. He added a bigger fuel tank because he got frustrated with the difficulty of getting fuel. He prefers to purchase fuel only when not towing.

[countrygirl]

When we bought our Chev 2500 HD Duramax...diesel was cheaper then gas. We also planned on hauling a heavy TT or fiver. We did have a much larger Outback Sydney 30RLS TT for a little more then a year but sold it for more then we paid for it and bought the tm. Now the truck is almost paid off. My dh also wanted a vehicle that he felt would last a long time since he was retiring.

I have read that Jeep is coming out again with a truck in the near future and I think it will be diesel.

In Jacksonville some years ago they voted to take out all the tolls for the bridges and there were also a lot of toll roads. The increased the fuel tax to make up the difference. I wish they would lower the fuel tax and put the tolls back since we seldom used them anyway.

Our household is all diesel with a VW Jetta and Golf TDI for commuting (47+ mpg) and a 2005 Jeep Liberty CRD to tow the camper with (21 mpg, even while towing our 2720SL in the mountains).

A modern diesel engine should get approximately 20% or more better mileage than an equivalent gas engine. So far the price differential at the pump has not overcome that.
It's also nice to have the longer range per tank.

At the moment if you want new and you don't want a heavy duty truck (which IMHO is overkill to tow a TM, much less for a daily commuter), the Grand Cherokee CRD is your only diesel option. The Liberty CRDs were only produced in 2005-2006. Believe me, you aren't the only one who thinks a light duty diesel truck would be the perfect solution (30+ mpg AND towing capacity 5k+ AND a bed to throw stuff in), but no manufacturers are planning to offer one until next year. If you don't want a Mahindra, add a year or two onto that.
http://www.autoblog.com/2008/02/11/m...ext-year-dies/

So my question still stands. Is it cheaper in the long run to purchase a diesel? Even with a 20% mileage gain it seems to me the total costs of purchasing the truck, maintaining it, and purchasing much more expensive diesel fuel do not outweigh that mileage gain. I do understand the need/desire of a diesel for a large trailer or motorhome, but for something like a TM? Now maybe these upcoming smaller diesel vehicles will get much better mileage and overcome the cost of diesel fuel, but will they be able to pull our TM's?

Mike Anderson

Mike - I still have the same question as well (noted in the original post)! The cost benefit is the key. Has anyone out there run the numbers?

I did look at the towing specs for the Grand Cherokee - and it is rated at 7500 lbs with the 6 cylinder CRD. And I'll have to look again, but seems like it will run on flexfuel and biodiesel as well. That could help the ROI.
Alan