Looking For Best Automatic truck TO BUY Please help!!!!!!

Down times does!!!

 

Go with a brand that has it all in house.
What i mean is both engine and gearbox should match.
So Volvo engine with I shift
Mack with M drive (aldough i haven't driven one,when i see the controls Mack uses.......lets just say i would find then annoying,they should have gone for a stick on the steeringwheel,not the controlbox on the dashboard)

Freightliner with smartshift.

I wouldn't go with any Eaton auto's,i think their development isn't as advanced as it should be.(yes,i know this leaves KW and Peterbilt at the sideline and as my name suggest,i'm a Paccar fan)

Because,and this is true for all auto's,you need engines and gearboxes that have highly evolved computers.
Any auto is only as good as the software used.

Taking into account the cheaper price off the Freightliner and their very high rating by JDPower into customersatisfaction,they would be ahead in this race ,as far as i'm concerred.

With the Volvo coming second.(the I shift has proven itself in Europe,there are nearly no problems with it)

You didn't state which weights you had to haul but if you have to haul heavy loads,there again the Freightliner has an advantage.(from what i know it is lighter then the Volvo)

 

Freightliner columbia 07 with smartshift,now 313k never problems, my next truck only with auto,less stress and better for my knee and leg

 

Don't know how much money you plan to spend. If you want to look at a used Kenworth product check out TransAM. They sell their inventory directly. Depending on miles they are asking anywhere from 56-62k and they come with an tri-pac apu. Haven't found anything else better price wise on truckpaper. They are all C15 10spd autos with double bunk and a fridge. I drive an old Keim truck but we have an 05 and 09 TransAM. The 05 has almost a million on it with no problems. I've had more problems with this Keim truck than the TransAMs and Keim is a flatbed fleet, go figure.

 

It's a 2010.

 

I bought one of these trucks. Poor fuel mileage with the CAT was the main issue. Maintenance wise it was a pretty solid truck. We did have the X-Y issue with the auto transmission which caused a tow bill but that could happen to any used truck.

To the OP. In my opinion the Volvo with I shift is the best thing going for an auto. Super smooth compared to the Ultra shift in the Freightliner plus it's "smart" and will skip gears when you're light or empty just like you would with a manual. We had an '07 Freightliner with the Ultrashift and the Volvo is head and shoulders above that.

 

I test drove a Mack with the M-Drive (same as the Volvo setup) and pulled a 48,000# trailer and that automatic was amazing. It shifted right on and you could barely feel the shifts. Then after that i hooked to an empty trailer and it skipped gears as it went along. Very nice setup IMHO