I dont know if they will ever fix the egr cooler design. The sticking turbo vanes doesnt seem to be a big deal as they can be cleaned and after the first cleaning we have not had any do it again. The new low sulfer fuel is destryoing our injectors and all the seals in the fuel system. The are coating many of the wear areas of the new injectors with silicon carbide to help combat the issue. We have had a few new engines replaced while at the dealer getting the Uptime recall package installed because of chipping camshaft . Ive been working with IH and Ford diesels engines for 20 years now. In my opinion IH gets the bugs worked out of their engines at about the 4th or 5th year. Ford seems to deal with thier issues much faster because they have a reputation and have the engine built to higher standards in many areas than the IH even though its the same engine built in the same plant . The old 7.3 was actually not to bad of a motor in the basic engine . Its the fuel system and electronics package that keeps me busy. This one in the pic is actually a treat for me as it the first head gasket failure Ive ever had with one. Funny thing is we have several powerstrokes in vans and they all have made it 100,000 miles without major failures except for trannies and the minor stuff like belt tensioners,glow plugs,alternators. The IH version will have had at least one turbo,injectors,gobs of sensors, some crank shafts 100% fan clutch failure ,idler bearings.
Personally if I could afford a new truck for occasional towing it would have a big gas guzzling gas engine in it. I could replace the entire 502 big block engine for the cost of a new set of injectors for a 6.0. If I was towing all the time for a business or something then the diesel might pay for itself in fuel savings.
There is one thing everyone should know about v8 diesels vrs straight 6's . If you have a bad injector that runs for a while and wipes out a cyllinder in a v8 you need to replace the block for huge $. In a straight 6 the sleeves are just like a cannondale and can be replaced individually very easily for very little money.
I have no opinion on the duramax or the Cummins as I never get to work on those. But Im sure they have issues as well. But we all know the general rule is NEVER BUY A FIRST YEAR .
The fuel injection shop in the pics has doubled in size in the last few years to keep up with the repair demand . Diesels are a cash cow for the aftermarket as well. There is a dizzying array of goodies to make these new trucks tranny snapping monsters. I should post thier dyno chart hall of fame. Its insane the amount of power and torque you can get with 25+pounds of boost.