Buying a new truck this week, should i buy new or used?

abtrucker: is right I have been around allot of different types of equipment that do various types of jobs not just trucks. I have seen many things go wrong with all these different types of equipment including trucks. I personally have had to wrench on it new or old it all depends on what conditions a person is put into stuff happens that a person really has no control over no matter how careful one is. I have personally seen a friend of mine get his own Tri drive logging trucks right up out of highschool.
The only thing I seen was him working his butt off Monday to Friday and on weekends He was wrenching on stuff welding stuff He had no time for just going out to have some time to himself. If he was not working He was sleeping If He was not sleeping He was back out working.
The only time He had a tiny bit to himself was when Break up was but that was when they usually did all the big repairs to all there equipment so it was just a big never ending cycle of no time to himself working his hands to the bone.
Trust me you will want to learn how to do some of your own repairs as well as change your own oil ect as soon as you start getting the big shop bills that come in. Simple things or so called simple things you will want to start doing yourself and it will end up being that it wont end there.

 

Basic, I bought a brand new truck to start ....... It can be done.
I keep my trucks for ever though....... After making payments it's kinda nice not to deal with them.

The one thing I question is turning the truck over so soon. And planning how much it'll be worth. We all know the price will depend on lots of factors, many of witch are out of your control......


Like I've said before theirs 2 new Mack's working with me that seem alright( so far) !!

 

Basic,everyone says to stay away from the Acert series.
Had this been your friends truck for a longtime,.......then maybe.
But why is he selling a truck he bought 6 months ago?
If you are going to buy an older truck,i would go for a pre 04'.
But that is my view.

Here,again,i agree with Cat.
A good truck bought new and well maintained is a good earner.
It is part off my bussiness model.
Buy new ,maintain and run it for a long time.

 

I've had 5 trucks now. 3 used, 2 new. The used ones ALWAYS cost a fortune the first year you have them, getting all the crap fixed the previous owner didn't do because he or she, new it was the last year he was going to own it.
1 new truck was a Crapcadia, it cost me a crap load of down time, and a crap load when I sold it. My accountant says if you remove the down time, it cost me less to operate, when it was operating) than any of the used....
I went back to used, spend 9 months fixing up a Pete and just as it was getting reliable, (it was still a pig on fuel and Cat is real proud of their parts) it burnt to the ground.....
I bought a new Volvo, and even tho I had less down than I normally wanted, I've never made so much money. Very little repairs and no down time, and my monthly costs are fixed now, reg maintenance, tires. I love warranty, I have as much as I could buy, at 3 years ill be ordering a new one and repeat the cycle. I will never have a truck I don't know the full history on again.
My 3 cents.

 

I would avoid that truck. It must be costing him a fortune in repairs as there is no other reason I can think of to sell a truck after 6 months.

The way I look at the debate of new vs used is in two seperate parts. Reliability and Price.

For Price - too many people in this industry can only buy used as their business model, and who they haul for does not allow them to purchase new. I will never expand if I can't made enough money to turn a new truck over every 5 years and still make money. Not that I will buy new or replace in 5 years but I want to give myself the option.

For reliability, I look at it by emissions standards - 2010 and newer - more reliable however there are still issues that are being worked out, have the option to have warranty cover as they are new

2008 - I avoid as the costs are way to high and no warranty

2004 - I don't see an issue with them although EGR still gives problems. Trucks are getting to be long in the tooth so other non-engine related issues are going to become prominent

pre-egr - Engines are good. Trucks are 10+ years old which means they are running near the end of their expected/designed life. Yes you can drive a truck till its 25 years old but trucks are not made the way they used to. In the past 15 years the quality has been slowly decreasing all to force you to buy a new truck and give the manufacturer more money.

I rank it right now as 1. New 2. Pre-EGR 3. 2004 4. 2008. Others will rank it a differently but that is how I have it for now.