Repair account

last year i spend 10g in 2 months on a electrical gremlin. that problem was finally figured out when the engine was washed. and it was blue beacon that found the problem.

2 weeks ago i spend 6g on a catalyst filter an some doc module.

one truck i drove. snapped pinion gears in the rear end. $4500 for used rear end. every 3 months. company still has the truck and is still replacing rear ends. no one is smart enough to get rid of that crappy super 10 trans. i'm surprised the thing still works.

you can have 20G for a maint account. but that can disappear real fast. or it could sit there for months.

 

I agree with everything posted thus far I drive the 1985 Pete ran it hard last year spent less than 10k all year, just bought a 2000 model with 800000 miles we have spent 7500 getting it to suit us, or my partner as I refuse to get out of my truck. bear in mind these numbers may not help as absolutely no labor is in these numbers we do all our own work. Yes I know I should bill the labor out thru the repair business but I don't.

 

Well a truck with 900K and an in frame is only the beginning of rebuilding it! You will find that a truck with this many miles is going to start to wear out, once you do one thing that will cause the next thing to wear out and break, I rather a set payment or a set per mile fee towards the payment of the truck, then a small amount towards the maintenance account. Thanks.

 

I recently looked at a 2010 truck with a DPF and all the fun stuff on it, thinking about buying it. I went and made a list of the most common 15 things that I would have done, starting with the DPF and other relates items and then brakes, and so on. I talked to my favorite dealer's service manager about pricing all these items out and he did. Once I had the prices, I added in the lifetime for those items and then amortized it all out to see how much would I need to make it work per mile and per year.

 

I say anything with less than 15000 is a gamble. one tow bill could be three four thousand easy

 

Sign up for that TowMaster program - $300 - I have never personally used but have talked to a couple of people who have it, at minimum paid for the $300. Keep in mind some insurance programs have some built in enhancements that cover tows as well.

 

Some owners put a fixed amount into their maintenance account out of each settlement. You could put in a percentage, such as 8-15%. Or you could put in a fixed amount per mile for maintenance. A percentage is usually the easiest to use. I have known some who have a separate account for maintenance. It can be tempting to use the money if it is too accessible for some when they mix it with their other money. You need to build it up to where you have enough to cover an inframe, which can run as much as $20,000 or so. You could continue to put money into the account and use those funds to purchase your next truck for cash, if you don't use it for maintenance.