Freightliner Coronado

extended basic vehicle is little under $4000 for 3 year 450,000,, little under $6000 for a 4 year 500,000 $550 for 4 years towing coverage and around $2500 for extended detroit.. they have a new cornado coming out i am being told,, a salesmen here sent a email to freightliner to see if the new coronado will be able to have the dd15

 

I drove teams in a 2007 Coronado for over a year and wouldn't set foot in one again. They don't get the nickname 'Freightshaker' for nothing. Within 6 months the rattles and squeaks started and they got worse until the day we got rid of it.

We did get lots of down time with it -- 9 days in Cali, 5 days in Denver , 3 days in Normal, IL and regular layovers in Amarillo (where our company was based) while it was in getting serviced.

I have to admit that they were excellent at getting a tow truck out to you quickly -- their toll free number for breakdowns was quick, easy to use, friendly people and they would call back and check with you to make sure everything was OK. However, after a while we realized that instead of spending so much money on their breakdown service, they should have spent more on the actual quality of the truck.

The biggest problem we had was with the wiring. Wires were constantly shorting out -- spent a few weeks going down the road with the drivers side headlight going off, then on, then off -- always seemed to come on before a scale thankfully. Not being able to start the truck because it reached the maximum error messages for one thing or another. We were told by 3 separate mechanics that Freightliner uses the minimum amount of wiring on the truck and they have a tendancy to short out. A fraction of an inch more wire would have avoided the problem but I guess some accounting genius sold the idea of how much money they could save by using a little less wire on each connection -- I'm sure a half inch x each connection x each truck built would add up over a year.

They have that really nice chrome strip along the bottom of the sleeper -- the chrome started bubbling and peeling at about the 6 month mark (of course it's only warrantied for 6 months). They agreed to replace ours under the warranty, but the piece for the driver's side has been on back order for over a year -- still hasn't come in and the truck is on it's 4th owner since we had it.

Those nice seats in the Coronado fell apart with alarming speed. First the edge of the seat started to separate from the main seat portion. Then the padding started breaking into chunks and coming out when you got in or out. We actually went to a hobby store and bought a square foam piece that we cut to replace the crumbled one and put a store bought seat cover to cover it up (we would have gotten new seats, but couldn't afford it)

The straw that broke the camel's back was when fuel hit $4 a gallon. That Coronado with the Detroit engine drove great (when it drove), and it would pass anything out there -- but a fuel stop. If we were getting 5.3 mpg and up we were thrilled. We went several months running good miles but not getting a paycheck because of the lousy fuel mileage we got. All of the other Coronado's in the fleet have had similar problems.

Our company still has several of the Coronado's in the fleet (a couple were involved in rollovers and we were told that they are prone to rollovers) and they have a really hard time keeping drivers in them. Average time until the driver is begging to get out of the truck or quits is about 5 weeks. They are nice looking, I thought they handled well, but I wouldn't drive one again if they paid me double the money -- and neither would my co-driver.

If you want to talk to a trucking company owner about his experience with the Cascadia, you can PM me and I will give you his info. Good luck with whatever you purchase.

As for making the truck comfortable, APU's (I like the Thermo King -- works well and has a huge dealer network if you need service), a good size power inverter, a refrigerator/freezer, power windows on BOTH sides of the truck (so much easier when going through a toll gate to push a button to roll the window back up instead of trying to crank and drive or holding up traffic while you crank). If you decide to go with the Coronado's, you may want to consider a sliding fifth wheel -- the Coronado is a pretty heavy truck and we spent most of our time with the fifth wheel slid all or most of the way forward to get the axle's legal.

 

If you are considering Coronados you should check with Fitzgerald Truck in TN. They sell Coronado gliders. New truck with reman Detroit 12.7 engines. These are very reliable and get great mileage. If you are buying 10 units you will be about $350,000 or more to the good right out of the gate. Just one more thing to get confused about.

 

coronado will be offered with a dd15 in 2010

 

If you're looking into a 387 and buying new, go with the ISX cummins.

KH

 

have u decided on what truck u wanting to buy?

 

Good move. I doubt you'll regret going with KWs.

 

Im sure he will. They have a better ride than shakers i spent 22 hours in total in a kw no complaints.