Just bought a truck

I started this thread to share my experience of buying a used truck. A little background about me: I have been driving for almost two years. Prior to trucking, I spent 24 years in the military. I started out at Maverick and worked there for about 6 months. I liked Maverick and would recommend Maverick to anyone wanting to get in to flatbed. I left Maverick to go to work for a very small local company in Northeast Georgia. I drove there for a year and started thinking about purchasing my own truck about six months ago. I had 40k saved up and had considered buying a 40k truck, but I wanted to start out with an emergency fund also. I started looking at the Freightliner dealership some time back. It seemed like every time I found a truck, someone would put a deposit on it before I could get up to see it. It seemed like they were selling so many trucks, I wondered if I needed to apply for a sales job. The last truck I looked at was a 2007 Freightliner with 1 million miles. The salesman told me that they wanted 16k for the truck and they were in the process of getting it detailed. He said the manager had considered putting a new engine in it and selling it for 29k with a warranty. I expressed my interest in the truck. The next day, the salesman called me and said that after detailing it, they had raised the price to 24900 and 34900 with a new engine. I told him I wasn't interested and decided to find one on my own.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw an ad for a 2004 Freightliner Columbia with a 14Liter. The truck had 698k miles on it and 690,400 on ECM. The truck had two new steers, four new drives, new brakes, a new turbo, a new air to air, EGR delete, and a new mattress. I was surprised at how good of shape the truck was in. The truck had been owned by a moving company and hadn't been on the road in six months. The owner was asking 16k. I have a nephew who works at a diesel shop, so I took the truck to the shop and had him look it over. He put it on the computer and everything came back looking good. He gave it a thumbs up but said it would need a new clutch soon. I went back to the owner and offered him 12k. Just that fast, he said "OK". This past week, I took him the 12k and picked up the truck. Before going to pick it up, I picked up some insurance on it. Insurance is 1878.00 per year. After getting it home, I took it for a service and DOT inspection. Everything checked out fine again except the clutch. So here I sit with a 12k truck in the yard and 28k in an emergency fund. I am taking the truck tomorrow to get a new clutch. To my understanding, that will set me back about 1300 bucks.

I am leasing the truck on to a small flatbed operation in the area. THere are 8 owner operators pulling loads around Alabama, GA, the Carolinas, and FL. Most of the guys are home each night with an occasional overnight run. I know I've got to get the title transferred in my name and get a tag. But can anyone tell me what else you have to do to get the truck ready for the road? I have the DOT inspection and I am good there. Also, I have a small BB size dent in the passenger side window. I plan to call safelite to get them out in the next few days. I want to take care of it before it spreads. I am scheduled to start the lease on August 21st. Any other suggestions or ideas of what I might need to do before then? The company will have my DOT number and decals, but I heard there was a couple of more places I need to go besides the tag office.

I know this is a roll of the dice. And I know the truck could break down tomorrow. But I am ok with the risk. My main worry is if I break down and have to get towed. I saw a company a few weeks ago that charged 39,99 a month for breakdown protection. Is it worth it?

I hope to keep this thread updated with my experiences over the coming months. Man, I am excited but also nervous. Till next time

 

Thanks, baha and oldog. Anxious to get it rolling. Msbritt, thanks for the information but already found the company I am leasing to.

 

Got my insurance policy through OOIDA. Still waiting on binder in the mail, but I think they quoted me for bobtail and physical damage. Hopefully that will square me away.

 

Thanks, Luckystar! It's a Columbia with the Detroit 14L. It's a condo and does have a headache rack.