Just Wow......Class 8 Truck Orders Fall 52% During April

I thought KW took tons of driver input into the design of the T680, so maybe it's not KW's fault after all. "Hey, this is what you guys wanted".
Hopefully they get these issues resolved. It's not a bad looking truck, and it could be so much more.

 

Neither of mine made 100K, before the usual PACCAR issues started.

This Next Gen started with shift stalk issues, this past week, just like my 1st Gen did. Three days in a row it locked into gear, dashboard lit up, and wouldn’t shift. It’s still needing the 3rd Gen injectors installed, so planning to wait until then to get a new stalk. This will be the 3rd full set of injectors, plus 2 additional replacements mixed in there. Ugh!

 

I've got a cab in my shop stripped down right now off my 1980 W9. Truck spent the first 20 years as a logging truck in BC. Nothing really heavy duty about the specs, only had 44k rears and a 5/16" thick frame. Apart from a broken tab on the dash down by the clutch the dash was still solid and minimal rattling during the little bit I did drive it before I stripped the truck down. Pretty sure the truck had rolled over 1 million kilometers, doubt it had 2 million. Logging trucks don't typically see high mileage and it only worked part time for the 5 years after it was a logging truck.

 

I forgot about the transmission stalk recall.

 

$200,000 trucks and $1.50 a mile loads.
The math ain't mathing

 

Im not saying it isnt crap, but lets face it, this has been a kw issue since the k100, the windshield leaks regardless of model, split or single

 

Part of the problem is that some of the other manufacturers don’t offer a less expensive vehicle like they used to anymore.
Honda discontinued the Fit(their cheapest entry level car) a few years ago for the U.S.,leaving the Civic as their cheapest offering-and those depending on the trim level can start around $28-$41K

Toyota has the Corolla but even if they start around $22-$23K both Toyota and Honda (at least their dealers) will markup their prices first chance they get!

Volkswagen has the Jetta and Nissan has the Versa(currently the lowest priced new vehicle sold anywhere in the U.S.) but both are going to be subject to the tariffs,since they’re both “Hecho En Mexico”!!
Nissan was planning to phase out the Versa this year but the tariff situation may have accelerated those plans.

Kia and Hyundai have vehicles that are built in Mexico as well and may be subject to the tariffs (depending on the model) but they also have factories here in the US, plus they’re in a better financial position to absorb the hits from the tariffs.

Another company that is a little concerned about the tariffs as Mazda. Some of their vehicles are assembled in Mexico and sold here in US as well(Mazda 3 sedan and hatchback). For now, Mazda announced that they weren’t gonna tack on any of the fees from the tariffs on any new vehicles that are in inventory at dealers, but that is yet to be seen how long that will last.
And that drivers,puts a lot of consumers in the market for a small vehicle between a rock and a hard place.
NONE of the Big Three (or 2 and a 1/2 depending on your point of view on Stellantis) offer ANY new small entry level vehicles(cars in particular)-just crossovers,SUVs and trucks!

 

That's not true about KIA. They're not cheap like they used to be either. Anyway back in 2018 they replaced the engine in my wife's car free of charge with a new long block. We bought the car with 23,000 miles on it several years ago. The engine started knocking at 93,000 and completely seized as we wheeled it into the local dealer's lot. The following afternoon we drove it home with a new engine in it. I thought that was pretty impressive they had it shipped and there the next morning then we drove it home that afternoon. It's been a great car and has 175,000 miles on it now. There were people with more than 100k miles that got new engines at no cost after they seized. The warranty was 100k. How's that for taking care of customers?

 

All this time I thought it was just a Freightliner thing.lol

 

I definitely know about the mirror tabs. My 2024 Freightliner has the driver side trim piece of the mirror just kind of flapping now even. I guess the tab broke on it or something. I tried using gorilla tape on it to hold it down but that didn't work either. I guess I could try superglue.