Did you start out in a beater?

First truck I bought was a 95 Freightliner FLD120 60 Series Detroit with 800k plus miles on it in 2003 for $14k. Kept it for 8 years and sold it with 2 million on it, still running strong. Inframed the engine at a million and a half. Be prepared to sink a lot of money in an older truck. If I remember right, I put about $15k a year average into repairs not counting the year I got the engine inframed. In those 8 years I think I replaced everything under the hood at least once except the engine block.

 

You will always put about 12-18k a year into a truck. A 20k truck will get the job done but make sure it's mechanically sound. I run a 03 int and its the best truck I've ever owned.

 

Nothing wrong with an older truck, just make sure majors are documented and proof in your hand. You don't want to begin your o/o career and break down within the first month.

 

I recommend that until you get road time in, understand how a truck works and know how to drive one, get something newer and reliable. Nothing is worst than having no knowledge and being taken by an idiot mechanic who robs you blind for things that don't matter.

 

Hi browndawg, well, beater is such an ugly word. My 1st truck was a 5 year old Western Star, that had a million miles on it, but just had a new motor. I guess to some, it was a beater, but it was a good truck. Over the almost 4 years I had it, like Rehab sez, I replaced just about everything, EXCEPT the engine and trans. You'll get opinions on both sides of the coin. Some will say, get a newer truck, and it won't nickel and dime you to death (hopefully) but you've got that big payment every month, where as in my situation, I had a cheaper truck, with a lesser payment, and if I didn't turn the miles one month, it wasn't the end of the world. If you can work on your own truck, I say get a cheaper one, if not, go with a newer truck, as repairs will kill you on an older one.

 

I started out in a 74 International cabover. Bought one new truck in 1985 and will never do that again. Enough of the history lesson. My thoughts are just that and nothing more. An older guy told me one time that you can either put your money in payments or repairs and through the years have put it in repairs. Would I do it again? Absolutely! Someone can buy a newer truck with the thought they are more reliable which is not true. Maybe they are and maybe they aren't. It's nothing more than the luck of the draw. Today I have a 96 model, about 10,000 mi on a rebuild and otherwise tip top shape. And I will finish my driving with that truck. One word of advice, if you have the money or financing, buy from an individual and not from a truck dealer. My experience has been you can make a better deal most of the time from them, but more importantly, they tend to be much more honest in telling you what they have done to the truck. Good luck and I hope my rant has been helpful.

 

a 1965 peterbilt conv.,V-12 detroit,5X4 trans, yes it was a beater but i owned it outright. what you are faced with is not new to trucking,you are faced with a new truck with payments or repair on a older truck. if you buy a new truck that payment will always be there every month. on a older truck some months you might not have any repairs that amount to anything. if its your first truck my answer would be go with a older truck,that way if anything happens you wont be so far in debt. any thing happens is like the little women says its me or that dumb butt truck,or you discover this not for me. lots of luck and be safe out there

 

There's one other thing I would mention, everyone says it's either payments or repairs, and while that's true, there is one more situation you can encounter and that is having both payments and repairs. That's the toughest one. Even if you buy a brand new truck, guaranteed before it's paid for you will be starting to repair. If you buy something in the 40-70 thousand dollar range, you for sure are going to be repairing starting sooner rather than later. And if you but a $20,000 truck, that's what you will get. There is the odd exception to the rule, but if you can pick it out, good for you. Just some thoughts!

 

i saw a 66 pete. not the ugliest, but not the prettiest either. but defenitly the coolest thing to see.

have a friend that bought a 96 i beleive it is. they declared bankruptcy 3 times in the first 6 months. but they're still rolling in that truck. 2 years later.

repairs are the nature of the beast. and shops LOVE to take advantage of that beast. i retired from auto mechanics in 2000. i never milked my customers for everything they've got. replacing parts that really didn't need replacing. i also never threatened to not release them cars if they didn't replace all the parts i recommended. even though they weren't needed.

4 years ago. old trucks were the way to go. now they're dinosaurs. pretty soon, it won't matter what old truck you buy. it's GOING to have emissions. each year that goes by, is one more year that the older emissions trucks die off.

the numbers range from 12 - 18 a year in repairs. we have 12 new FL's. and i think the number is 26 per year each truck in payments. BUT, there's warranty. but warranties won't cover 100% of the total cost. they certainly won't cover lost revenue. 2 weeks ago i took a 700 mile trip that cost 11,500 in repairs. warranty portion was only 5,000. the rest was company expense. my company is doing good with warranty, compared to his older fleet he got rid of. he's averaging about the same with the new trucks. it's almost an even swap. repairs for older trucks vs. payments on newer trucks.