Best Truck for the Buck(s)

Peterbilts and KW's hold their Value the best, Western Stars used to be great, im not sure about know that they are owned by Freightliner.

Macks, Volvo's, Freighliners, and Internationals are crap.


As far as the Pete's/ KW's go the Hoods are easyer to work on oviously since you can acess everything, but you are going to pay more for a Pete or KW vs other crap trucks.


Not sure what other info you want lol, I'm no expert but i do know allot about trucks. I'm sure 100 other guys will come in and debate the Pete vs. KW thing haha




American Trucker

 

The way the truck looks or how long the hood is has NOTHING to do with how much money it will earn you or it's reliability. Grab a POS 2003 with a rebuilt top-end and crappy paint, run it for a few years while saving money for another one three years down the road.

AT, I happen to know plenty of O/O's who are running FL Century's and Columbias with old DD-60's and making it very well. No, they aren't pretty, but they are getting the job done. Keep it in good mechanical condition and it'll earn you money. I personally have driven several FL's, and one Vulva. Didn't like them, but they got the job done and I had no probs. The Vulva 670 was the only one that had issues, and it was a leaky power steering pump, which was replaced, and leaked again (probably due to the retarded shop guys, not the Vulva dealer or the part). Hated the truck, but it was a 2006, company said that was all they had to give me, and it earned them a LOT of money with my kiester in the seat.

On the other hand, the Pete 379 I ran at TMC was a giant money pit. Sucked fuel, especially with that C15 (low end torque on that bad boy with a 13 speed was AWESOME!!!), massive electrical problems (I couldn't begin to understand why), and alignment that just wouldn't stay straight for more than a week, burning up steers like crazy.

Just sayin...

 

he asked about best value, Buying a truck for $30,000 that wont be worth $1 with 1.5 million miles on it isnt a value. But a pete or KW with 1.5milliion miles is still worth money...



American Trucker

 

Well, I wouldn't be buying a $30k truck to start off with as a new O/O, but that's just me.

 

All trucks are basically just an engine and a chassis. People may say one brand is better than the other, but I don't buy it. I have owned mainly Freightliner and Kenworth, and one International. I can honestly say that the KW's were not any better than the Freightliners, nor were the Freightliners any better than the KW's, they both spent about an equal amount of time in the shop being repaired. In fact the old Freightliner Classic that I still own has been the most reliable truck of all the trucks I have owned.

Buying a good used truck that maybe doesn't look as "cool" as you would like but was well maintained is much better than buying a fancy Pete or KW that wasn't. I personally wouldn't buy over 5 years old, but it depends on what kind of work you are doing, if you are doing more local work you could get away with an older, higher mileage truck. For running big miles I would recomend as new as you can afford and warranty is a big plus.

You must realise that "stylish" and "hip" cost money, mainly because stylish and hip have the areodynamics of a brick. I have seen first-hand how stylish and hip can cause a guy to go broke when they don't have their prioritys straight and chrome becomes a priority over everything else.

I have owned several "stylish" and "hip" looking trucks, none were ever very fuel efficient, and 5 - 10 years ago we didn't think too much about it since fuel was much cheaper. Nowdays the difference between 5 mpg and 8 mpg has a huge impact on how much money stays in your pocket, and fuel prices are only going to go up. Just something to consider.

I co-own a small trucking company and fuel economy is key, we run a few Cascadias with Detroit DD15 engines, best fuel economy truck I have ever owned, no real major problems. The International has the second best fuel economy, with a Cummins engine in it, very reliable truck as well.

 

Macks, Volvo's, Freighliners, and Internationals are crap , But a pete or KW with 1.5milliion miles is still worth money... and how many trucks have you owned to warrant this comment. Better yet how many 1.5 million mile trucks have you driven.

Having owned quite a few over the years it is sad to say the Biggest piece of CRAP I ever owned was a KW.

There is good value in all makes of trucks , all depends on what you are planning on doing with it and the $ you have to start out with. And there a junkers in all makes / models of truck.

 

Hey Lil'Devil,

What kind of International are you running?

I've heard a lot of mixed reviews on the Cascadia. You'll see a lot of folks on this very board cursing them like they are the devil because of things breaking, electrical issues, etc..., but then see posts like yours praising the fuel mileage (which, coincidentally, is what FL seems to brag about with the Cascadia). I've never been in one but have heard that the living space is phenomenal. You've had no major issues with yours?

If/when I ever buy a truck, it will undoubtedly be a "football helmet" aero type truck. Fuel cost is one of the biggest things scaring me away right now. As long as the interior is servicable and doesn't have cigarette burns all over it, functioning arm rests, a mattress without bodily fluids staining it up, and all electrical services functioning, I'd use it to earn money. Of course, the engine, service history, driveline, etc.... are show stoppers if they are not good to go.

I like the interior of the Volvo 780 but again have heard nightmare stories about the cost for parts and labor. (I like living space because if/when I ever buy, I'll more than likely be spending the majority of the year living in the #### thing).

 

Dont get sucked into the hype. Most of the time the only difference is the shape of the hood and the badge on it.

Make your own decisions based on what your needs/wants are and most importantly what you can make the most money with.

 

I have driven a Mack Cabover with over a million on it, I have driven a 379 pete with 1.2 on it the pete was still in great shape, i cant say the same about the mack though.

I have driven 3 differant types of Internationals, all sucked.


I have driven 1 volvo smooth ride, but from what i was told it was always breaking down on them, which is why i only got to drive it once.

The rest have all been Freightliners, FLD's, Columbias, Centurys. Out of all of them I'd say I liked the FLD the most, but that was probably because of the smooth ride and the BIG CAT under the hood lol.


I've never owned any trucks, but you can go to Select trucks or anyplace that sells used trucks and see 1000's of 2000-2009 freightliners dirt cheap, yet when you look at petes and KW's they are all still exspensive no matter how old.....


And i did say i was no expert, and between my exp and what i've learned from here and my dad (truck driver) my comment was pretty dead on.


And he again asked for value, not which one will make you more money, If im buying a truck, i would like to know if for any reason i need to sell it i can not only get some money back out of it but i can sell it somewhat quickly.






American Trucker