first ever experience at a kenworth dealer. absolute joke

Being a retired mechanic. I hate KW and how they do things.

FL is better.

 

These modern code readers and parts changers you speak of were known back in the day as good "hammer & chisel guys", about all they were good for.

Many, including myself, stick with the older mechanical stuff, trucks & tractors, as we can still repair them ourselves. Not surprisingly, older equipment in good shape is bringing a good dollar at auction.

Much of this new equipment you can't even work on yourself because the dealers refuse to relinquish the necessary diagnostic's tools needed for today's electronically controlled equipment...

 

That's really hard to imagine.

 

Being a mechanic these days is not easy. If you want to do more than just brakes and services, you need to work at a dealer. Now every manufacturer does things differently. So if you want to be good at what you do, you best pick a brand and stick with it. What you learn about one brand may not apply to another.

 

Lesson learned, when picking up a vehicle, wether com. Truck or private vehicle, always inspect before leaving, JMO

 

It's not just truck manufacturers.

Having worked at a John Deere dealer from 2000-2009, I saw the technology really change. It was neat to see what the engineers would dream of next.

Now here we are in 2020, and I hear that Deere is taking things too far for the customer's likes. Supposedly there is a lawsuit brewing over a customer's right to repair equipment themselves. Deere won't open the software to allow independent shops access into the computer systems on their equipment.

I hear Paccar does the same.

 

Here is how some of this works.

The dealers don't care about older trucks, it is a quick buck truck to them and they know that if they invest some time into it to actually fix something, it will come back for other things. They want that continuing cash flow, this happens with a lot of shops too.

A warrantee is also a good thing for them, a few dealers I have personally dealt with pad the bill to cash in on those warranties.

Why doesn't he look for trucks coming onto the market, buying a couple at a time dealers will cut deals for them.

 

It doesn't matter what you buy, the manufacturers are making so only THEY can service them. More money is made on the service end than the actual sale of the equipment. I took my reefer to a Speedco to get the oil changed and they couldn't do it. Thermo King puts a drain plug on new reefers that can only be accessed by an authorized TK dealership. I was furious. New cars are even worse. So much tech on them that nobody can work on them, sometimes not even the dealers.