Is buying used the best Option?

I have spoken to a number of new or newer truck owners who tell me that they are spending a lot of time in the shop. You are not making money when you are sitting in the dealership. What most don't realize is that you will have expenses with any truck, new or used. Just because you have a warranty does not necessarily mean that your expenses will be covered under the warranty. Plus, you will not be making money while you are dealing with the dealership. Some will buy a new truck so that they can say that they have a new truck. The basic idea of owning a truck is to make more money than you can as a company driver. Another is flexibility. If I need to go home and own the truck, I can go anytime I wish. If you are a company driver you may or may not be able to get home when you want. It is important to check your motivation for buying a truck. Not every driver should be a truck owner. You may be an outstanding company driver but make a bad owner.

 

There really isn't much difference. Instead of timing chains you have gears, and no spark plugs or distributor, it fires from compression alone. To be perfectly honest if you can rebuild a small block Chevy using a haines manual, you can rebuild an inline six diesel. Figuring out what's wrong is the hard part, and that just takes time and experience. None of us were born knowing how to keep our trucks going, we learned by being too stubborn to pay a shop a hundred bucks an hour to screw it up even more.

 

You may not have experience working on big trucks but most people can change a belt or light. That can save you hundreds of dollars. Most shop have a minimum labor charge of 30 to 60 minutes. And they will also charge a "shop supplies" fee. You can expect to pay at least $80-100+/hour for their time. You will also lose time that you could be running and making money. I don't do everything on my equipment, but will do basic things like lights, belts and alternator. I am currently changing out a radiator on a truck. Sometimes, you have no choice but to use a truck stop or garage to work on your equipment. But, most things are simple that you can do yourself. I usually keep a spare fuel filter in my truck, too. It can save a road service call if you get some bad fuel or have a clogged filter. Even if you can afford to pay a mechanic, you will still lose work time. I have waited 4 hours to get into a shop. Then, I have to pay them to do the repair. Most mechanic jobs are common sense. You might be surprised what you can do on your truck with a screwdriver and pair of pliers. I keep a full set of tools in the truck that I drive.I will usually pay someone else to change my brakes or wheel seal, but I still do the simple jobs. I could do the brakes and seals, but it seem that when a seal goes out that I am on the road and don't have the right tools and jack to do the job.

 

When I started out on my own I had to have a big shiny KW w900L. Went and bought one, 2009 with the cat dpf engine. It can't be as bad as people say can it? It dang near bankrupted me. I eventually decided to cut my losses as 4-5 mpg and 4.00 fuel + 1 week in shop for every 3 on the road was leaving me with far less than I could have made doing any other job. Nice looking and riding truck. Puts no money on dinner table for mama and kids.

Now I have an old freightliner classic with 12.7 Detroit. Pre egr. 6 to 7 mpg. Yes I spent a lot on repairs but I owe nothing on it. It is not a fast or a pretty truck by any definition. But it puts way more dollars on the dinner table for mama and kids.

 

I should add that I am not one to do repairs beyond greasing the truck between oil changes and changing the odd light, or fixing the odd electrical problem. I am sure I am capable of most repairs but I choose not to. My mechanic lets me park at his yard free of charge in exchange for having my work done there. Maybe when I get my own yard I will slowly take on more of the maintenance myself.

 

Hey gokid, was it more of a dpf issue or just an issue with KW?

If he had to get towed and be at the dealership for more than a day, than this is one example where the warranty hurts you. You can replace an alternator in about 3 hours.

 

Completely a dpf issue. Nothing wrong with the build of the truck.

 

Assuming you have decent credit..say 650 or better, save up a real down payment of 25 percent and try again with an equipment finance company. That's for new or almost new. On older used trucks plan on paying cash.