Are the newer trucks really that bad, no longevity anymore?

I had an N14 go well over a million, but the S60 needed rebuilt at 600k. And at a million.

I have no love lost on old iron. Spent way to much time and attention keeping it running.

 

I tend to love old trucks that you approach with a tool box to repair, not a laptop. Of course I love old cars, old planes, old women, ok that's going too far but you get the idea. But I don't like any of it because its more reliable I like it because it's old and simple to work on. #### good thing because you worked on them all the time.

For decades people couldn't imagine a more reliable ignition system than a condenser and points with a distributor. Then came along electronic ignition then computerized ignition. Cars don't have ignition problems anymore. I haven't seen one less than 25 years old with anything ignition related causing an issue.

Newer cars are FAR more complex but FAR more reliable. 50 years ago if you got 100K out of a car it was done. Nowadays, 300K is not unheard of if well maintained. Now it could be argued that better oils are available now and the point would be valid, but if car complexity was a direct reflection of its reliability, all the new cars would be on the side of the road and the old ones would be put putting along and that's simply not the case.

 

If you haven't heard of new cars having ignition problems you must not have ever spent much time in a car repair shop, I don't know how many I've seen getting coils, plugs, and it's all at a lot more cost than condenser and points still are.

 

As long as there is no cottage cheese involved....

 

What I'm talking about is that vehicles with a lot of tech and plastic parts have a shelf life of around 8-15 years, then plastic components and tech items begin to fail. My last new 4 wheeler was a 2005 Expedition. It was just over $50k back then, and since that time I've dumped another $12,000 in repairs into it, every single one was a failure of a plastic part (like a plastic gear in the ##### transmission), several sensors, and currently it's in again for a failure of a solid state relay that can't be replaced on its own, and must be replaced as part of a very expensive circuit board. Pre-1995 or so vehicles had pretty much all metal parts, very little tech because it didn't exist yet, and they were simply built more solid than what we see today.

 

I just had all 6 ignition coils changed out on my 2002 Lexus RX300. Pack of 6 on Amazon Prime for $65. Had a local semi-retired mechanic $110 to change them out.

 

why did you choose trucking as a career then? and why are you on a trucking forum in your downtime. You should work at gamestop. sounds like what you are looking for. blockbuster video would be a good choice for you ut they all closed now i guess

 

interesting. so you drive new iron, and think its easier and cheaper to keep it running? un;less i read your post wrong, but thats a bunch of bull and no owner operator is gonna buy your story. you must have had a real unmaintained piece of scrap second junk where you had to try to keep it running. Old iron is easy to work on and diagnose. and will never leave you stranded on the highway due to some computer or sensor malfunction or regen issue that only the delaer can diagnose or misdiagnose. no offense but i found it very hard not to respond to your last sentence

 

Sounds like you've had better luck than I. Rebuilds, AC's that keep crapping out, two power dividers, two new rear ends, it just never ended. Tired of renting trucks to make a load, tired of shuttling the truck to the shop for another air leak, or fixing an oil leak on the front cover, or any of another zillion things going wrong, all the time. She's parked right now, gauge cluster not working properly, and no one can really figure out what the problem is.

And as far as not maintaining things -- you're talking out of your arse.