2004 Freighliner; I am thinking of buying this truck

I don't know where your at but you will not be able to get into California with a 2004

 

You are putting the cart before the horse here. Go to school and learn how to drive, get your CDL, and then learn the industry. At least drive a year or so and save your money to buy a truck. Don't start out in debt if it isn't necessary. There are plenty of threads on this. Good luck.

 

why are you looking at buying a truck when you are still a wannabe? If you havnt driven, you have no idea what to even look for in a truck. No idea what specs are important to you. No financial plan to pay that truck off.

 

i admire your willingness to jump into it

but learning the industry is a BIG learning curve

if you can afford to buy the truck, go get it, but as others have said, you better sit with someone experienced to show you the ropes, or that truck will just be a money pit and you wont even be making the money to take care of it

on the surface, an 04 freightliner (pre egr) is the truck to buy (got one myself) but let me put it this way

over the past 4 years, including every dime i have put into it (tires, lights, engine repairs, mistakes and other stuff) it has been $70k

that averages out to about 12cpm since i got the truck

not bad, but it was part of that learning curve

 

I would take the advice of these guys and learn the ropes. It's a big step and buying a used truck, 2004, with little cash as backup, even if you were experienced could be a recipe for disaster.
You've got a lot to learn. Start at the bottom like we all had to and work your way up.
You will be glad you did.
good luck

 

2004 truck gotta have 2003 engine to be non egr

 

Hi mutskid, hmm, where to start. Depends a lot on what you are going to do with it. It doesn't sound like the best truck to do a cross country, gone all the time thing and many companies won't put you on with a truck that old. I drove a Frightliner like that with about the same miles and it had NEVER been opened up,( S60 Detroit) but it was pretty much local stuff so when it broke, I was close to home. Try and get more paperwork on other stuff done to it. Wheel bearings, trans., axles, brakes,( a leaking trans. or axles usually means metal in the oil and it took the seal out) electrical systems on older trucks are a common problem. I've found, trucks with that many miles, usually have had most everything done to them, where as a truck with 4,5, or 600K, things start to fail rapidly. Freightliner is a good truck, but remember, getting into it is easy, but if it's not what you like, getting out is almost impossible. Best of luck.

 

Mutskid, do you have any driving experience? A CDL? Good advice to drive a while before committing to an investment in a truck. One thing to consider is that commercial credit (a truck loan is commercial credit) is much more difficult to qualify for than consumer credit. If you need to get your CDL, the replies that say don't get the horse before the cart are good advice.

 

I forgot to mention that if you do decide to purchase a truck, consider this. The mega-carriers do their PM's at 30-40K miles. O/O or independent operators usually do their PM's at 15K miles. For one thing, it's their truck and they care. For another thing, the warranty carrier will want PM's at 15K miles or void the warranty. In other words, you might get a good price on a fleet truck, but that PM schedule is designed for trucks that will be wholesaled out in 500K miles.