Another 'whattya think of this truck' thread...

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by osumike33, Jun 12, 2013.

  1. osumike33

    osumike33 Light Load Member

    228
    64
    Jun 10, 2011
    Middletown, OH
    0
    Have found a good driver & company, now ready to get the truck. I think this one has a lot going for it - 1 year/100,000 mile warranty (have not spoken to them, so not sure what it covers yet; just on Truckpaper); '06 Century, 70" sleeper, Detroit series 60, 515 hp, 10 speed ultrashift, 456,000 miles, 3.58, all virgin drive tires, all aluminum wheels, airslide 5th wheel...$37,900; dyno has been done. I'm very much into mpg and economy...so, whattya think? Any issues with this truck or engine I should know about? Also considering Volvo's...but like this price, warranty and fact it's pre DPF and all that.
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. Passin Thru

    Passin Thru Road Train Member

    1,918
    564
    Mar 8, 2007
    VA
    0
    Buy it and don't sue me if it does'nt work out. Why do you think a guy owuld trade in a truck with 456K on it?
     
    speeedy Thanks this.
  4. dannythetrucker

    dannythetrucker Road Train Member

    2,856
    4,032
    May 26, 2011
    everywhere, man
    0
    A Century with a Detroit prolly one of the safest bets there is IMO. Does it have an APU ? besides convenience and savings for you, it's better to buy a truck that hasn't had a lot of idle time on it. If not APU, you should be able to check the idle time on ECM, also check fuel mileage (ECM usually reads about 0.5mpg over actual mpg)

    the only negative is you may have a hard time getting much for it in a few years if you decide to sell or trade. there's gobs of them.
     
  5. buddyvuk

    buddyvuk Medium Load Member

    337
    66
    Jan 6, 2013
    portland oregon
    0
    It seems decent. mileage is to good ... Do ecm check .. make sure nobody was messing with the mileage ..
    ...find out who had it before and ask the dealer to call him to call you... and ask him why did he traded in low mileage truck .. also ask where he did the maintenance and call that shop and ask them what they think about the truck. Get vin numbers for engine and truck. VERIFY mileage with the shops paperwork. ( i called in on really sweet kenworth w900 and the guy gave me milege i called the shop and they had diff mileage hahahah losers) NOBODY TRICKS ME ..
    anyway , if you cant get hold of the owner call shops around with vin# .. it will be worth it , you find out so muchhh..on one truck i called in and they told me it was there 8 times in the last month hahaha and now they are trying to sell it to me so i can keep going to the shop... so many dirtbags in this business OF BUYING SELLING TRUCKS.... thats why its BETTER to buy from private owner
    HAVE 2 different mechanics inspect the truck.
    aSK if you can take it for a long test drive and see if engine chokes ...if it coughs up even just little bit RUN AWAY from it
    You could have non stop EGR crapppp ..
    verify dyno results , call the shop and talk to the people who did it ...
    why not put 10k in a bank and buy 600 k miles truck ... the way I SEE it ..you buy 400k mile truck vs 600 k mile truck its SAME GAMBLE ...
    because you dont know the history on both of them ... ( if u do its diff case) .600 k mile truck maybe not as abused as 400k mile truck ..

    ANYWAY...hope this helps

    PEACE

    oh and good luck!

    ps....I just dont know what driver would like the ultrashift .. yaackk :biggrin_25513:
     
  6. rollin coal

    rollin coal Road Train Member

    12,466
    23,622
    Mar 29, 2008
    TN
    0
    Could be a myriad of reasons good or bad. The only way to know if it's really any good or not is to go over it with a fine tooth comb. 65,000 miles per year doesn't necessarily mean it was a lemon in the shop all the time. Some trucks net as much revenue in that amount of miles as others running twice as many or more in a year's time.
     
  7. Casual Trucker

    Casual Trucker Medium Load Member

    495
    325
    Sep 7, 2012
    0
    You better get that millage checked friend ask the seller for the ECM Miles Not the dash miles
    We bought a 2005 Century Condo 3 Years a go with Auto shift 3:58 10 Spd 480,000 ECM Miles for $36,000 so I think you are paying a little more than the truck is worth
    The bad part about freightliner is soon after you have more miles on the truck you will begin noticing cracks all over the darn cab all the plastic parts will begin to crack and shatter it's like it was made out of cookie doe as soon as the plastic parts dry up from the sun it will start to crumble & That freight liner dealer will charge a fortune when it comes to truck parts we paid $150 for a windshield wiper switch
    Good luck and happy trails
     
  8. starbulk

    starbulk Bobtail Member

    21
    13
    Feb 10, 2013
    Elliottville, KY
    0
    You are going to get cracking in plastic potentially on any truck made in the last decade. I had a 2004 Freightliner Centruy and waxed it by hand twice yearly and washed regularly and never had a crack on the exterior or interior plastic, traded it in pretty good condition with a million miles on it. As far as parts prices go, Freightliner/Detroit is by far cheaper than any other new truck parts out there. Just check your local junk yard too, should be plenty of C-120 class trucks wrecked within an hour or two of your location.

    osumike33, What problems you will have with on this truck is the EGR. It's up to you what you want to do, but your going to get the best fuel mileage out of that 14.0L series 60 by getting the EGR removed and the ECM tuned up. Pittsburgh, PDI, Antrim Diesel, take your pick, these guys all do it, just depends on what part of the country you are in. You can expect it to cost about $10-12k to get it all taken off the right way though and you'll have between a 1-1.5mpg increase in fuel economy. Mine was pretty much same setup as yours, only two years older, with the EGR pulling a pneumatic (horrible drag) I could get between 5.8-6.2mpg running 63-65mph.
     
    osumike33 Thanks this.
  9. Marlin46

    Marlin46 Medium Load Member

    504
    299
    Mar 17, 2010
    Atlanta, GA
    0
    Do a quick search on www.truckpaper.com and check the asking price for that truck vs others of the same model out there. I paid about $32,000 for a similar set up three years ago and just sold it w/ 750k on it for $25,000 last week. Maybe the one you are looking at is in immaculate condition but the price seems high based on what you have said. As buddy said the EGR will give you issues at some point - I know mine did along with the radiator, clutch, clutch fan, etc....
     
  10. osumike33

    osumike33 Light Load Member

    228
    64
    Jun 10, 2011
    Middletown, OH
    0
    I think the 1 year/100,000 warranty is part of it...one, that tells me they 'believe' in it; two, they're probably charging more for it. Definitely not sold on it, but it's in the area of what I want to spend and hopefully will be somewhat economical. Though the one comment of 5.8 - 6.2 mpg did nothing to convince me it's what I want. I realize used trucks are a crap shoot...you can win, you can lose and only owning two trucks, I've done both. A repo bought sight unseen gave me no trouble and I sold it two years later for the same price I bought it; my 'good' truck cost twice as much and I've spent probably half again more on maintenance on it. Maybe I'll rethink and go back to the Volvo idea...have seen a lot of things on here where guys are getting well over 7 or even 8mpg from the Volvo 12 or 13 engines. But, I won't get one with as few miles or for as little money.....here is the link for the truck I was talking about: http://www.truckpaper.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=3887433
     
  11. Blind Driver

    Blind Driver Road Train Member

    3,080
    1,405
    Aug 7, 2006
    New Albany, IN
    0
    I guess you have not read the UltraShift thread.

    The first gen UltraShift is to be avoided at all costs.

    If you buy the truck, make sure you get the transmission warranty and know what it covers. You are going to be due for transmission servos.

    I think the price is too high on the truck. Maybe with a regular 10 speed, but not with the UltraShift.
     
    osumike33 and cetanediesel Thank this.
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.