Buying a 2006 Columbia, $18000, good deal?

Good luck finding an older kw or pete in "super solid" shape for 35k. Old trucks in that good of shape are so rare they are bringing well over 50k $.

If you think different ill give you 5k just as a finders fee for finding me a 379 in super solid shape for 35k or less. I've been looking for over two years.

 

Yep,.. I have one with 1.6million and counting. Driver has been in it since Oct,.. here we are almost Sept. Other than service and PM's,.. truck has not needed any repairs. And if I remember correctly,.. the last time it was in the shop was back in April or May of 2017 for a new radiator and I had the universal joints replaced for peace of mind. The only issue the truck has is that it keeps melting the plug to the AC high pressure switch,.. causes the fan to stay locked on. Easy fix.

No one sells a money making truck. When mine finally does go down,.. I already have an offer on the engine for $8k running or not. I'll part the rest out and then scrap the aluminum body at the recycler.

Hurst

 

Exactly,.. I paid $35k for mine with a 1 year old crate engine and paperwork. Buyer beware,.. I ended up putting another $30k into before I pulled my first load. So,.. $65k for a 1998 KW. On the plus side,.. I know what I have now and its been 100% reliable. Even better than my Columbia.

Hurst

 

I wouldn’t take $50k for my Columbia, but then there’s hardly an original part on it besides the body and frame. When I get out of this industry, I’m turning this thing into a motorhome and keeping it.

 

Everyone knows what opinions are like. All I did was give mine. The long and short of it is that I know what I see in this town. Anyway, be safe, I’m gone.

 

You can't even buy a fresh c15 for $9000 let alone a whole truck.

 

I wouldn't be afraid of a truck that has a million and a half miles on it... If I had it for a while and I knew everything about it.

It isn't about the miles it's about how they maintain the truck. And there's also a little bit of luck involved.

When I was in California I worked for a company that I think the lowest mileage truck was about 1.5 million. They had several that were over 2 million maybe higher I couldn't tell you. Those trucks ran the whole West Coast to win all the way up to Canada and that was their whole Fleet and that's how they ran them.

At that place when you got back from your trip you had to drop the truck off at the garage and give them your dvir and tell them anything wrong with that truck and it will go through the garage before it would go out again.

I came back from one trip and I told them I don't even remember something with the steering something with the wheel I don't remember. By the time I walked out of the office after I gave them my paperwork they had the front wheel off the fender off and the spring off just that quick. They were like animals and it was great to see.

So my point is, if the truck is really well maintained that's your best shot because with all those miles if it wasn't going to be well-maintained that's your worst shot.

And that is also the point. Hurst is not a newbie I'm sure he looked that truck over inside out and we all experience that. Because they're always are things you don't see immediately or things that are going to happen around the corner you can't anticipate. The only answer is to have enough of a plan to fix it before you start or if it happens that you have the funds to take care of it as you are rolling.

Read the threads about how owner operators got started. I can't remember who the thread was by but there was someone that started out and he bought an inexpensive truck and I think about within three months he blew a rear out and I think he blew his transmission out and he had some big repairs and he might even have blown a radiator out I don't know but he had some big repairs. He had the money to weather the storm and I think a year later he bought another truck.

So really you have to be prepared for the worst and if it's easier than that hey that's great.

 

And as someone else in this thread said, a used truck value is not the sum of the parts. For instance, if you take an old Road Commode and plunk in a 25000 dollar fresh engine, it doesn’t automatically make the truck worth 25k. Think! It is only worth what someone is willing to pay. I gave my OPINION, yet there is a sucker born every minute.

 

In my case,.. I had found a truck spec'd how I wanted it and it had a new engine with paperwork and verified by a mechanic. I was blinded by my need to have that truck,. that I didnt follow my own advice.

He neglected to mention that the lockers in the rears were shot as well as the carriers. I ended up swapping out both axles. It also came with a 15 spd. While nothing was wrong with the tranny,. it made so much noise and buzzed my arm so bad if you didnt shift right that I got rid of it. 13 spd in it now. That and I spent almost $4500 on new chrome and exhaust. Did a few other upgrades as well.



Hurst