After 5000 miles of buying the truck, needs NEW ENGINE!!!

All those stories about how bad others brands are from people who have never owned those brands.

 

It would be an anecdote if it was just my personal experience but I’ve given plenty of examples that indicate those products are failing to perform as promised.
I was going to get an X15 in my new International but, based on my research, I didn’t. It was apparent it would be more of the same. I was excited about the new X15 but the more I read, the more disappointed I was.
I originally tried to get a Mack but the attitude from Mack, then Volvo, then Freightliner, even Peterbilt (I was even willing to give them a second chance) was all the same. No one could convince me their products were going to achieve what I wanted. The experience at International was totally different. When starting the process I wasn’t even considering them but based on the feedback I got from their engineering guys regarding the A26 I jumped on it, and I’m glad I did.

 

And how long have you been driving this truck with a motor sold to you by "engineering guys"? Have you hit 500,000 miles yet?

If I were looking at buying trucks for a fleet, I'd go with a truck and motor with the largest service network, so likely a Diamler truck with a Cummins motor. The beauty of the Cummins is that any dealer shop will work on one, so even if you drive a Peterbilt, a Volvo shop can still do the work.

Pretty much every truck these days has issues, almost entirely surrounding the emissions systems, but because of strict EPA regulations (thanks to Volvo), gliders are getting harder and harder to purchase, so fleet owners HAVE to buy the new garbage. If they are going to have issues, might as well save some money on downtime and tow bills by using equipment with a larger service network.

 

If you want to know who really loves you, lock your wife and dog in the trunk of the car. After an hour open it and see who loves you

 

I don’t think any of the brands have a poor service network at this point. Mack has the smallest number of shops but if you stay in the central to Eastern US, it’s not bad. The other brands have an extensive network and you can view their maps on their websites.
And again, I don’t think emissions trucks are garbage. There is still a strong negative reputation surrounding them due to previous generations that weren’t great and plenty of used ones being bought that were not maintained properly causing plenty of problems for the second owner, that isn’t helping the reputation any.
My current one has almost 138k on it. I’ve made plenty of posts about it in a thread on here specific to the A26. Freightliner has a blog called Team RunSmart with lots of good information and one guy in particular, Henry Albert, is showing what these things are capable of if you drive them right.
My last truck was a 2012 Peterbilt 386 with a Cummins I traded in at a little over 600k Miles. It was constantly pecking at me culminating with a camshaft failure and had to replace the top end valve train along with it. Once they took the motor apart you could see all the caked on soot and sludge in it. My other Cummins powered KW I bought for my company driver had the same problem. There was so much soot in there.
I had the cover off the A26 for its initial overhead at 120k and it was still super clean in there. The oil isn’t even completely black and easily wipes off your fingers when you rub them together, indicating it’s still clean. If the oil is soot heavy it will smear on your hands and not go away until you wipe it off.

 

Alot of it likely has to do with EGR duty cycles. The EGR usage on the newer engines is less than previous generations since the SCR catalyst is capable of removing more NOx. Less EGR, less soot. Less soot, cleaner engine and longer DPF life. People say DEF is bad but think about it. What's worse? Pumping sooty exhaust back into the cylinder to control the NOx or taking all the junk right off the engine and putting it all post-turbocharger? I'd rather have all the emission control stuff after the turbo, which leaves the engine free to work.

 

...and THAT'S when you SHOULD have walked away from that "deal", never taking delivery on the truck. Most trucks only hold 8-10 gallons, so to be 6 gallons low, that truck was likely starving for oil. Without tearing apart the engine to see what all has been damaged, it just isn't worth the risk.

 

Definitely do your due diligence and spend time before making a major purchase....that being said I agree with the folks above...lawyer up!

 

My belief is brand doesn’t matter. Only the year. I’ve owned or spent serious time with 6 trucks over 1.2 million miles 2005 or older. 2 of them passed 2.1 million. Never had issues.

My girlfriends 2013 deleted t660 isx15 has constant oil temp issues. Nothing has fixed it yet. I ended up buying a 1996 W900L because of her experience.