When buying a Used Truck?

Actually, the odds of me sticking around are fairly good. LOL!!

 

I would never buy a truck today without complete accurate up to date maintenance records, put it thru a full dyno test and dot chk from the bumper to the taillights by an independent garage with no axe to grind. Unless of course,you want or intend to rebuild the whole truck. Buying a used commercial vehicle is not a good idea for the inexperienced,you would do well to take and pay a reputable mechanic with you to look at a possible truck buy. The dealer is like a recruiter,he will tell you everything you want to hear and nothing you should need to hear,just to make a sale,or give you a job.

 

well sometimes yes, sometimes no.

we all have seen those truck ads with shiny next to new trucks for sale,you know the less than 1 year old trucks.........or the less than 2 year old trucks..? i'm for the moment speaking of O/O trucks. my questions regarding such vehicles being sold are many, but mostly, why would someone sell such a good truck so soon........??

i think its because the O/O was either inexperienced and didn't watch his pennies, or, he/she bought too much truck that the payments can handle. now, this being "surmised", one has to think about the maintenance or lack of it during this time frame. i'm of the belief that the inexperienced O/O can't make the payments so therefore, the usual maintenance items like oil/filter changes were neglected as well. afterall, no money for those monthly payments means no money for oil changes. even in today's world of "extended oil change intervals", the engine still falls victim. so, to think that an O/O takes better care of a rig isn't as acurate as one would think.

in regards to the "company trucks", these can be maintained much better, but may have more miles on them. Ryder, Penske, for instance stand firm on scheduled maintenance, this i do know from experience. yes, many drivers will abuse these trucks as well, and so would a schnieder, werner, jb hunt drivers as well. but, the shop will go through those rigs as well as possible, and in most instances provide either the balance of the factory warranty, or provide a "third party" warranty as they would want future business from you.

buying a used rig is still "let the buyer beware" like when you buy a used car.

for the first time O/O, i would recommend a good used truck, not brand spankin' new. this way, if a person fails miserably as an O/O, they still lose, but the bite of those new rigs is hard to swallow. then, most guys ( i think guys are guilty of this) when buying a brand new rig, spec it out with their "little head" rather than their real brain, thinking that they need all those bells and whistles, if only to impress those who watch them, as they sit waithing for a load at the local truckstop, because they didn't use their "real brain" to figure the CODB (cost of doing business).

 

In addition to the Ryder and other big leasing companies, if you can get by with less than a big sleeper, I have yet to see a used Walmart truck that wasn;t a good deal. IH has tons of them in their used truck system, which means that they are willing to negotiate on the prices, the miles are decent, and I can find no fault with their maintenance. They aren't specced with big hp, or set up as anything fancy, but as a good basic truck with a known history, they would be very hard to beat.

 

exactly............

 

I didn't mean to mislead in any way....research on the maintenance history should be one of the biggest things you should do...and it should go without saying....but i guess not to a newbie...that you buy the right truck for the job. My first truck in '92 (and I had to buy one to get a job) was a '77 KW cabover, 160" wb, 425 cat and rougher than ####, but I had no payments and put up with some inadequacies for that. Start within your price range and try to get the best for that

 

You are absolutely correct !