Buying a 2006 Columbia, $18000, good deal?

You're not buying an engine you are buying a truck, it is a whole package which the worth of the whole package is not the sum of the individual components.

 

Just like when you spend eight grand on an engine for your pickup, it doesn’t magically make it worth eight grand more.

 

If the engine was rebuilt at caterpillar with caterpillar genuine parts, you could consider it.

If it was a backyard rebuild that he did you don't know what is in there, you don't know the condition of the crankshaft or the cam or even the heads for that matter unless he can show you paperwork otherwise.

But think of it like this. Let's say the engine is rebuilt and let's even assume that it's good.

If within the next 3 months the transmission went, one of the rears blew up, the radiator blew up, one of those twin turbos blew up, if the steering gear went out, and if you got pulled over by Dot and found out that you have bad spring pin bushings or bad King Pins or something along those lines and got a nice fine or put out of service, would that still be a good deal?

Even if DOT did not catch you or your friend, would he be able to handle those repairs if he found them beforehand? And I'm sure there's a bunch of other stuff that can happen besides what I listed.

Always always always figure if you buy a used truck you're going to spend five to $10,000 easily within a very short period of time if you don't do it up front. Possibly more.

Now if he has a laundry list of repairs that he can show your receipts for that go beyond the engine, then you could consider it.

The point that I'm making is that if no recent repairs have been done besides the engine, even if the engine itself is okay, you can still have expensive breakdowns that will stop you from earning an income. And with that mileage it's possible you can have one after another.

Do some guys get lucky? Yes. Do most guys get lucky? No.

You always end up paying one way or another.

 

Wish I could thank a million times. Well said, Dino

 

Hell..... mine has 1.5 million..... I guess it’s a piece of junk, since you all make seem to be with all those Miles’s
Let’s see..... 1994..... 3406E (putting 600+ and CARB Compliant) 13 spd, Elog exempt .....
Well.... all that said and some..... I’ll keep my piece of junk with 1.5 million.
But I guarantee you, the day I let it go, I’m gonna have a bidding war......

 

The words inframe, rebuilt, and overhaul by definition mean potential for disaster. Parts are only as good as the person installing them. No matter if they are dealer, aftermarket, or used. So many think a monkey is a mechanic. If that overhaul doesn't have at least 50k trouble free miles it's risky a 100k is better. Fresh I wouldn't consider. Even coast to coast warranty doesn't cover down time. Almost half of inframe motors fail due to poor workmanship, or low quality parts. Recognizing that while going back together is key. Everyone makes mistakes, it's not the mistake but how its handled that makes a difference

 

You know in my mind I think That’s a fair price considering it’s got a ton of work done on it. Cuz a rebuild isn’t cheap either.
I bought my 07 for 10k with 1million on the clock 1.2 now still running hard. Just got it fully tuned and deleted. Couldn’t get rid of this truck if I wanted to. I have other trucks that are reliable and way more comfortable. But this one holds the throne .