2003 Peterbilt 389 or 2017 Freightliner Cascadia

You want a nice truck, Pete, you want a fuel saver, Freightliner. Pete, you've got resale, 389's are always wanted, the Freightliner will nickel and dime you to death, and nobody will want it later. The fuel mileage is about the same, and the Pete gets you respect. The Freightliner, not so much.

 

I’ve never seen a 2003 Peterbilt 389.

 

Freightliner will give you better MPG and more room in cab and sleeper. You will have all the emissions stuff. A 379 Pete with a 6nz. The cat 6nz they say is the best Cat engine and those are not easy to find today from what I hear. Places like Pittsburgh Power can turn those Cat engines up to like 800HP. It's very expressive but those pre emissions engine are the best. Those Cat engine would get like 5.5 MPG but they have great pulling power because they are like 2,100 of torque VS a Detroit is 1,800
You can get 7.8 MPG with a modern truck and automatic

 

Even though I am 100% anti Peterbilt and anti caterpillar, of those two trucks I would have to go with the older one., assuming they are in the same condition. It probably has EGR but doesn't have the rest of that emissions nonsense.

The Peterbilt is terrible, if you have anywhere that you don't have multiple football fields you won't be able to back in or turn around, the windshield will leak and cause you electrical problems, the gauges will go crazy. The cab is small and cramped. That stupid brake pedal on the floor will trap dirt and your brakes won't work right, and that goofy clutch through the floorboard some moron designed that. It never can have the nice feel of a regular clutch pedal. I have even heard that the thermostat will not hold a constant temperature so in the middle of the night you're either freezing or sweating. I'd be completely embarrassed to have that truck and I would feel ripped off that I paid that amount of money for such a turd. The only thing that is just as sickening is what that Caterpillar engine will cost when it needs work. That can literally make a grown man cry tears of regret. I have seen it happen before my own eyes. And that was a guy that had more money than most of us...

Really I would advise you to look for an older Freightliner with a series 60 or an n14. For those trucks and those engines parts are plentiful and cheap.

Then again, if you buy the Peterbilt there will always be some sucker that wants the Big Pete with the big cat so you can always unload it and buy a good truck.

They had PT Barnum in mind when they made those trucks. Smh...

 

Detroit had had trouble with the emissions box when they get to 650,000+ they can go bad and it a $12,000 repair. The clutch assembly in the auto shift truck are something like $4,500 to replace. So no perfect truck

 

That's why older is better, but you have to have something that's really in good shape or you will spend a fortune and go out of your mind fixing all the stuff that it needs.

 

If its a 6NZ there's no EGR. CAT never actually used EGR on the C15 except for possibly the SDP (the last on-highway model they produced).

 

All Acert truck motors are EGR. They don’t have an external EGR valve..it’s all done inside the cylinder head via IVA(Miller Cycle).