what would you do fellow flatbedders??

5.2MPG is horrible. Don't forget the chronic emmisions problems, pre-mature turbo failures, and sensor problems this engine has.

I seriously doubt you will ever get ahead of your initial loss with this thing. It is going to bleed you.

Maybe an export market buyer will give you more money for it. They buy trucks and parts to ship to Central America. They can put a pre-emissions Detroit in it and have a really nice truck.

 

It's not something I do and rarely recommend, but it is an option, and a useful bargaining chip when you have been pushed into a corner by dishonest manufacturers, dealers, and their sales people.

These guys have been killing truck buyers with these problem motors. Putting many out of business.

What was their punishment? More trade-in commissions, more parts sales, and more shop labor revenue.
These lemons are still turning over from one poor guy to the next. They should be bought back by the manufacturers or at least given a free engine that works. There is no accountability for them, just more money being made off these lemons at great expense to the buyers.

That's the real breakdown in morality.

 

Completely agree but unless it was in house financing there is no bargaining. An independent bank has nothing in your scenario but a loss thats not their fault.

 

Would you say Donald Trump is a low life? He has filed a few times and lost millions, but he still got his own reality show.

The higher risk borrowers pay higher interest. The bank almost always gets theirs plus sone more. Finance guys have the risk calculated into the rate pretty well.

This is not a case of a low life taking advantage of the system. This is a case of the system taking advantage of an honest hard worker.

If the truck cannot earn revenue, the truck owner cannot pay the bank. The owner should do more research before buying, and the bank should stop loaning money on lemon trucks.

 

Going into business assumes there will be risk. I've financed 3 new trucks and every time I've signed a personal guarantee of repayment. It matters not who's fault anything is, when you assume responsibility, you are responsible.

My second truck was a nightmare and after 40 months and $40,000 dollars along with 5.5 MPG out of a 12.7 S60, I called GE Capital and told them I wanted to give the truck back. They said sure but you'll have to pay the difference between what we sell it for and what you owe. Since I would have no way to generate enough income at a wage job and was not ready to walk away from my initial investment , I found a salesman that would "make the numbers work" and doubled down and bought my present truck. But I found my own financing with my bank and because I'm the kind of guy that pays his debts, financing was a piece of cake. I was approved the same day.

That was 9 years ago this September and I haven't looked back.

BTW, I've had 2 S60 12.7 pre emissions motors which are supposed to be the Holy Grail of fuel efficiency and reliability yet both were a major disappointment. Sometimes you can make the right choices and still loose.

 

Yes I do. I could care less if somebody has a TV show.

Bottom line is if a person does not pay for debts they agreed to pay they are a first class loser.

There is no system taking advantage of anyone. I have borrowed money several times. Each time the terms and conditions of the loan were spelled out in the paperwork. Was I somehow taken advantage of? Nope it was all there in black and white.

I guess I was brought up different then some guys. Thankfully my family taught me good values.

I'll jump out of this and not continue to hijack the ops thread.

 

Hey Chris,

I know nothing about CAT motors but I work with a guy that has a 2005 ACCERT in a 387(?) Pete. He gets high 6's and low 7's consistently. He did take off the catalytic converter and runs wide singles and most importantly drives 55-57 at below 1300 RPM. We both run flats- western canada to 48 states usually 75-80,000.

He beats me in mpg most months but he's a bit of a tourist and I'm not at all. Point is, there is probably room for improvement to your 5.2 MPG.

$1500/ month in out of pocket expenses is worth working for.

 

You say you owe 28k, is that 28k in lease payments or 28k in principal or 28k to break the lease?

This truck is a lemon, those years cat engines are horrible. Quite possibly the worst engine made in the past 20 years. You should be able to get more for the trade in.

However there is possibly a better option. Buy a glider kit, and swap the tranny/differentials/tires into that truck with a Detroit. Contact GE see what your options are with them, and exactly how the numbers work out. They may allow you to buy out the financing/lease for cheaper, they may not. Simply not paying them is a bad option because they'll just sell the truck wholesale for pennies and come after you for the difference. Contact fitzgeralds or another glider kit maker and tell them what you plan on doing, and give you a price.

It sounds like the 5.2 MPG is only half the story. The 400,000 miles on the truck is very telling. By my math if we could get 7.5 MPG out of a new truck which is very doable you would save $29,000 a year in fuel on 120,000 miles at $4 a gallon. This does not include increased uptime or lower maintenance costs.

The other option is to trade in/park this truck and go older. Something pre DPF maybe even pre EGR which is hard to find nowadays.

 

Why spend big $$$ on a glider???
The whole truck has only 400 000 miles.
Might as well get a engine from a salvage yard and dropp that in it.