99 or brand new truck.. e logs coming -thoughts?

New trucks work for some. If I had a contracted run I would own new in a heartbeat. BUT, Costumers change, sales go up and down, China makes a knock off and and starts gaining market share, acquisitions happen, buissness look good one day and chains on the door the next.

But I just bought a brand new truck and that special trailer you requested?!

Well..... The company we have a synergy with now has there own fleet so we will be using them now. You have been a great vendor for us for years. If something comes up we will give you a call. You can run for .95 cents a mile now right?

Been there done that for the last 25 years. Not as a truck owner though. Yes, I was that guy. It was my job.

But maybe I'm just paranoid?

 

I can guarantee that the closer we get to the Elog mandate, the more absolute crap trucks that are going to get a spit-shine and hiked up in price for the first sucker who is desperately looking to run multiple loose-leaf pages (I really don't see any other reason why someone would want an older truck unless they are planning on dumping a load of money into it to make a show truck).

You aren't going to find a worthwhile pre-1999 truck for cheap anymore. Most pre-1999 Kenworth's and Peterbilt's are quickly hitting the $80,000-$100,000 zone and will go up from here.

Go with the new(ish) truck. You said it yourself, instead of pouring money into repairs, you should be putting it into something of value. A 450,000 mile warranty is amazing, and you *should* be able to make a whole butt-load of money over the next few years with that truck.

Plus, I hate to say it, but newer Pete's are way more comfy than older ones (I'm talking about factory stock trucks mind you).

 

I have absolutely no intentions of ever selling my '99 W9, but for that kind of coin, I'd sure have to think about it. I bought it last year, a month before the elog mandate came out, for $18,500.

 

Have a Freind getting ready to sell his late model Pete with a ISX in it, just spent over 4 grand getting the turbo fixed. His (other truck) is a Freightliner Classic with a N14, still going and still looks sharp! His Freightliner is paid in full, the fancy blue Peterbilt has payments. Guess which one he has to make payments on even if he doesn't work?? Something to think about. On the other hand, how far are you willing to go, or able to go to pull your own wrenches? Maybe payments would be easier.....Even if your not working? I usually do 100% of my own work, been at it long enough to go by feel, sight, and sound to diagnose a problem. But I still ask questions, nobody knows it all. Wish you the best in your decision.

 

Wow. So much disagree with. The warrantee is worthless. My 86 Pete and my 98 T8 are worth more and require fewer repairs and have less downtime and get better fuel mileage than the 08 DPF T660. Talking about putting money into something with no value......we just dropped another $11k into that POS but nobody wants it so we continue with it. I'm just....... wow. Really makes me wonder is you've ever had to pay the bills on old vs new.

 

Find an older truck with a recent inframe, they are out there in the 20-40k range. Plan on putting another 20-40k into it and you basically have a new/old truck. What really needs to be repaired or changed? Rears 5k each. Transmission 5k. Kingpins??? Wiring harness? Add in some labor and 20k can take care of that easily.

Some of you think that it takes 80-100k to rebuild a truck. That is not the case and other than those parts I mentioned, there is very little else you could change out that you would also not have to do on a new truck.

So now you have a new truck that is old in title only.What gets most people is that they start putting bling on the truck and waste all their money.

 

I think yes the new petes and so forth are nice.

But I have a feeling there is going to be a mighty wave of older petes and KW as people purchase pre 99 at ANY price, like a wave of muscle cars we are seeing into the 6 figures for some, partly to drop a computer engine and harness into em to get em under the low bar of the Feds and their rules.

I should grab a couple pre 99 petes for a few thousand figuratively and resell for 100K or more. But I wont. But it's going to happen real soon for a lucky few. Ive taken petes across the barn a few times and they were solid. I would buy one at 30K or whatever the prices under the bidding hammer.

 

I got a 86 and a 92 pete.work the piss out of them.both still looks and run cherry.i spend a lot but...about 25 percent of my gross goes to maintanence.New trucks are still 25 percent for maintanance 30% for the payment, another 10 percent for ins& 10 more for registration then there is the downtime on that plastic turd .Try to find a clean well maintained truck .Spend 20k on it.Drive it nicely and start a list of priorities to fix as you go.I bought my 359 from a friend who got spooked by carb.It is a one owner cream puff,still has shiny original paint, the inframe cost him 14k 2 years before i got it from him for the same price.He is now working a 2014 388.It cost him 140k.Guesse who wants his old truck back.I wont sell it for twice what I paid.

 

But the fuel mileage they say. Really?
California. Really?
They are not as dependable as a new...Are they freaking serious?

When it comes to old iron it's not the miles so much as how they were put on and how it was taken care of.

New is still that way to a point.......

 

To everybody saying Elogs is reality----- Elogs aint reality yet!! Folks just give in so easy. Dang!! I run elogs, and it's cool for me but it ain't law!! Won't be unless it finishes passing as law.... Probably will but I'm just saying

But yea man, $25k for his whole setup ain't that bad. Think about it. Your return on investment should be pretty quick; then you won't be at the mercy of worthless warranties and huge overhead debt. If you can verify the rebuild, by looking at receipts of what all was actually done then that alone is worth what the selling price is. If it has say, a new head, new cylinders, new injectors, new fueling actuators, cam bearings, rod and main bearings, oil pump, water pump maybe a turbo... Then man your are looking pretty green for some time...

But most will tell you to assume 150k worth of debt. Hell if you wanted to, buy a Bose seat, it's as good as they come I suppose. If your paying $650 a month on your notes and the person w/ a new truck is paying $3000, that's a savings of almost $2500 a month, u could buy a Bose seat cash in a few months if u wanted. ----------And a new truck doesn't necessarily mean more freight will be hauled either, these folks don't add in DOWNTIME for these warranty works. DOWNTIME of no new incoming money + hotels and living expenses. Most major dealerships are days to weeks behind with work,,,,, this is the reality these warranty promoters won't face