First Truck

It’s always been that way as long as I can remember. 8 out of 10 Drivers will tell you it’s impossible to make it. The other 2 are getting rich, and soon will be bankrupt because they have no idea what they’re really making. While seeking advice and opinions is important. I did it every chance I had. There’s a big difference between what’s possible, and what most are willing to do. Some don’t do enough research.Most give up too easily, before having a full understanding of the big picture. Others chase dreams that never happen. I’ve done the latter myself. Lol. But I’ve always had a good idea of the possibilities good and bad.

 

They've always been 3 year leases.
Even in the 90's

 

Overall, we have not seen the emissions trucks run that well past a certain point. We see a ton of the mega fleets dump the trucks, right before big maintenance costs hit. You could get the "lemon" of the lot or you could get the "cherry". I think the best way to go is to either buy/lease brand new or find an older pre-emissions truck. If you can swing a new truck, understand how to run it, then by all means take that road. A brand new W900 with zero miles is your baby. Love it, learn it and understand it. If $180K is too steep and that is a TON of money, then I would look elsewhere. I wouldn't though be looking at a used emissions truck with 400K on the odometer.

https://www.truckpaper.com/listings/trucks/for-sale/203153301/2002-kenworth-w900l

Lists for $92K, maybe walk out with it at $90K. That's about HALF the cost of a new one and it has an engine that historically is a long haul champ. I don't know all the history on that truck but that's something I would be looking at. There were at least 2-3 other W900s that were in the same ballpark but for less. No rolling of the dice on emissions and a simple engine to care for. Does that mean no maintenance costs?!?!? NO but it definitely takes the potential for "emissions technology" out of the picture.

I think some of the best advice given was on buying a truck you actually like and want to drive. It needs to be a sound business choice but overall it is your office, home and wingman for the journeys ahead.

 

Most things advertised come with a rebuilt motor. And a few other replacements.

They don't usually have papers to prove, either.

And $100g is the going rate.

 

A fool and his money are easily parted.

On the truck I posted, it all starts with a call/e-mail and working it from there. If the seller is balking over standard questions and a desire to inspect the truck then you should know what to do. Hey, I like your W900. Do you have paperwork on the rebuild? Where was it done? When was it done? What made you do it and now put it up for sale? Where was it maintained? Do you have that documented? Can I come out and get an oil sample, have a friend that is a mechanic take a quick look?

It isn't rocket science but at times I shake my head when someone says, "Check out my new truck. Awesome price, saw it for the first time 30 minutes ago and just pulled off the lot."

 

old information.

 

Not sure what, "old information" means.

If you can't do your due diligence on a piece of equipment, then it is time to move onto the next one. Being "to slow" in a market is one thing. Buying a used truck without knowledge is really rolling the dice. Buying a used high price asset without running your own checks, well I just don't play that game.

I've bought new (or paid the deposit) on sight unseen but that was knowing the exact specs, color, etc but that was brand new, not somebody else's used horse.

 

So ill add this. And keep in mind this is MY opinion so YMMV. That said. Even though i got a real lemon and the recent honda my truck ate didnt help matters im sure. You CAN make a used emissions or even a emissions truck in general work for you. If you are bound and determined to get one. Its not wise and is a great way to blow a massive maintiance account in less then a couple months but it CAN be done.

Now here the thing with used emissions rigs. 9 out of 10 of these trucks will have issues. They are typically dumped by a big fleet at around 500-600K just before the warranty expires. As a result as they get close to this magic number they start letting maintaince slide, half assing issues, or just ignoreing them. Afterall if they getting rid of it soon anyway why do ANYTHING past the bare minimum and why have any unnessesary down time?

If they get real bad they send it down the road a bit early just to avoid the headaches. Having a truck down for a month when your going to pawn it off in 50-60k miles is just a waste of time and money. Just get a new truck a bit sooner and pawn off the troublemaker for a bit extra cash due to the lower miles.

The other 1 in 10 trucks are likely owned from new like from someone such as @slow.rider and have been babied and will likely be just fine. Or comes from a small fleet that babied them. These emissions trucks will typically have a good amount of life left in them and be ready to hit the road as everything will have been kept up right till replacment day and anything not kept up will likely have full maintance records so you can plan on it from the start. Afterall small operations dont have 500 other trucks to take up the slack if it breaks down early so they gotta fix it and keep it up till they day it is replaced.

These are bad odds for YOU to get one of these unicorn trucks. Unless you buy directly from an individual of course. So if you must buy one then there are things you will NEED to have checked and most likely replaced before you even hit the road.

Items like the ALL of the filters from air to def to coolant to fuel, full EGR cleaning, a test of all sensors as well as pulling and cleaning them, new doser valve and new def level sensor as well as BOTH nox sensors (these things are imfamious for going bad so just change them unless you have a less then 100k mile old recipt from the seller) your def system pulled and cleaned nose to ###, your def tank dropped drained and cleaned then backfilled with fresh jugged def (may have been sitting for weeks or months during the auction or trade in process and thus a lot of the water evaporated off). Also likely a brand new sootcan as this can cause excessive regens and break parts early. Also have your injectors tested and your valves tested to ensure nothing fishy is going on with them. Make sure all the recall work has been done and so on.

Doing all of this will head off MOST major problems before they become problems. However, the downside is to all of this is they are only the start and they are EXPENSIVE. Your looking at easily 20k in repairs before you even touch rubber to asphalt just to ensure you wont have problems.

After that the saga will keep going. You need to change your fuel filters every month or so. Granted its not nessesary on all emissions engines but many freak out if the filter clogs even a little (*cough* paccar *cough*) you need to take your "dealer maintaince schedule" and throw it out the window. Do your EGR every 6 months or so regardless of motor, have your sensors pulled, checked and cleaned every year at a minimum. Do oil tests to determine when to change the oil. Change your air filters every 3rd oil change. Buy a code reading/clearing tool so you can check the errors and a lot more.

Things like this are why most of us say to avoid a used emissions vehicle. In a worst case ALL of what i listed could be bad like my 579. In a best case nothing could be bad. However, the odds of the latter are far lower then those of the former. And if you buy an emissions truck you NEED to consider these things.

A clogged EGR can cause a cascade failure frying parts up and down the emissions system for example. And it can be hard for techs to track down any individual problem so many will just throw parts at it till it works or your wallet is dry. So because of this again its why so many of us caution buy new or old iron. Its not because used def trucks CANT be reliable, its because the odds of major problems and the cost to prevent any chance of them is so high its an iffy option and breaks so many aspireing new O/Os before they even have a chance to BE an O/O.

But hay im just a dumb trucker on the interwebs. The hell do i know?

 

I didn't get my truck new though. The first 381k miles were put on by none other than Western Express.

 

i could have sworn yours was new? Must have gotten you mixed up with another O/O....my mistake then. Point still stands though for the rest XD