What one of the three motors manufacturers is the best over all?

Mercedes engines get good fuel mileage, pull decent right down to 1000 rpm. They are light, small, and easy to get to under the hood.

BUT, almost every Mercedes engine the rental company we get our trucks from has had a head gasket go bad with less than 200k miles. The EGR pipe at the slip sleeve all leak exhaust, that ends up in the cab when idling. Turbos have been know to go regularly. Mercedes engine parts are never in stock, and are very expensive.

If Freightliner expects to make this their main engine, they need to fix some problems and require their dealers to keep a good stock of parts.

One of our trucks was down for three days waiting on a fan belt. All four of ours has had head gaskets replaced. Three have had turbos, none have over 375k miles.

All head gaskets went before 200k, and the trucks were out of service 4 to 5 weeks each. Time was spent waiting on parts and for the Detroit shop to get to them.

I like driving mine. It pulls great for what I do, and I get great fuel mileage, but I wouldn't own one.

 

if it aint a cat it MUST be a dog
ok seriously i like cat's
hate detriots and am ok with a cummin's
never have had the misfortune of dealing with a mercedes yet

 

my 60 series gets 6.1 mpg avg in my classic. i like the n14 for it's low end. and the cat, is very strong, has expensive parts and loves fuel. just my .02

 

i like the old 2 stroke detroits but i would have to say cummins.