Buying a New Semi Truck!

So only buy new? WOW.
All us guys that have been OO for decades all did it wrong then.....
I know the emissions have made a mockery of good engines, but they are still out there. Your home state is far from helping you here, but it's possible non the less.
As a first time truck owner, I would recommend Freightliner. Dealerships are everywhere and most are open 24/7. Another perfectly logical method is to find a good dealer, then buy what they sell. My local Freightliner shop treats me so well, it was hard to buy a Western Star. I got an excellent deal on a 2009 that never sold, and my local dealer became a WS parts and service dealership for me and another local guy with WS's. You just can't buy that level of service. As soon as I turn up, 90% of the time I am straight into an open bay. They look after me very well, provide phone help when needed, and so on. hell I even have most of the guys cell numbers....
As a first time owner, new isn't the way IMHO. And with good credit, YOU should name the terms not them.

Martin

 

Be careful when they "Factory Lease", the truth is a factory lease does not cover bumper to bumper. You are still responsible for certain parts of the vehicle. The only time a warranty works is if there was a DEFECT with the part when it was made. If you are buying used you really need to find out who did the maint on the truck before you got it. Most O/O do they're own maint as its a lot cheaper than to pay a mech to do it. Again with a factory warranty they shouldn't be doing much. But for the sake of argument lets say they did a brake change wrong and didn't size the new brakes correctly leading to damage to the brake system, chambers, slack adjusters, air lines, connections etc. you are now responsible for the entire brake system even though it was "covered" covered by the factory. Or the last driver put additives in to the fuel system that were not approved by the manufacture. There goes the coverage on the motor. Last driver ground out the trans that is now all on you. You really have to be careful and extremely picky when you are judging cost of truck vs warranties. California is a tricky state to start out in. If you can find a post 2007 emissions truck for a good price you should save a little on your down payment and put that money towards your maint account.

 

Sometimes, as in the case of the city of Lost Wages, the dealership is NOT the place to take your truck for service. There's a private shop here in town named W.W. Williams that has properly trained techs in Eaton Fuller, Cummins, Detroit, Cat...about everything. Their rate is $95 an hour. The dealerships rate at FreightShaker is $135. Wait time for service at Williams is minimum while freightliner may hold a day for a simple oil change. And you get a lollipop while waiting at Williams. Freightliner gives you altogether something else to suck on while you wait.

 

Aftermarket warranties are out there, but as to which is good or bad, do some searching as it's been covered here before.
The days of getting a 100-150k miles truck are all but gone I seem to think. The deals are out there but you have to balance the cost etc vs new.
Another option, and one I went for with this truck, is to hunt out a NOS truck. This is a 2009 Western Star that never sold. I saved @$50k on it when I bought it, and the warranty started that day, not before. Hell they had to get extended warranties on the major stuff, to be able to reinstate the warranty at all! Brand new premium truck, for under $100k? Yep, I went for it.
Another guy I know recently bought a 2012 Coronado SD for @$30k cheaper than when new, again with full factory warranty.
Do a search on truck paper for an older model year, say 2012 for example, but select "new" in the appropriate box.
If you have a GOOD local dealer to you, most will work in a warranty on a truck they have too.
I just think that a brand new truck payment for a first time purchaser is a bad move myself. Yeah stuff goes wrong, but that warranty doesn't pay the $2200+ a month payment does it?
I always used to buy trucks with @150k miles on them, that still had warranty, so maybe search for that too, a maximum mileage of 150k or so.

Martin

 

In today's technology of trucks, when looking at used below 400k miles, one must always ask the question, "Why did the original owner get out of it?"
Was there an underlying condition that it kept breaking down? Is it going to do the same thing to me and bankrupt me in a year? I'm not trying to say that the only reason why people get out of low mileage trucks is because they are lemons. But, that is always on my mind. I would ask for service records from the dealership. I would scrutinize everything on that truck. I just tend to err on the side of caution.

 

Thus why you go to KW, FL, whoever, along with Cat, Detroit, etc, and give them the VIN number so they can tell you everything done to it.
There are still LOTS of folks that trade at low mileage, so it isn't a bad thing per say.
Now auction and repo trucks? Not for me.

 

people think newer is better but is it? absolutely not. sure even if its under full warranty whose gonna pay those bills while truck is in the shop. and believe me the newer trucks stay in the shop. i bought a 2006 and i till you it had 850k miles on it over a million now and haven't had a lick of problems with it and been running it almost 3 years you wont get that out of a new truck