Buying a truck from Penske? DON'T DO IT!

I had good luck with PENSKE, would do it again

 

I bought a 1979 K100 back in 1984. It was a Penske truck. Back then, all there trucks were well maintained, at least in SoCal. This truck was trouble free, only thing I missed was the cracked frame that wasn’t patched well, but I was green back then. Drove this truck until 2007 with one inframe. Still have the truck(parked/Retired).

 

I'll point out obvious issues

I Didn't take it to a mechanic away from place you buying from or bring a mechanic
I Didn't test drive said vehicle

Anyone who's bought a car before alone should always take it to someone who knows about cars enough to know if it is a lemon or a gem. At age 12 I was told that sometimes your taught sooner or later. I worked on a farm/ranch with tractors we fixed most of the time stuff we just had laying around. the problem with buying anything used and new nowadays is your normally buy someone else's problems. Unless you know said problems its a bad setup which is why you bring in an expert mechanic not just someone you found on Craigslist but someone who knows what they looking at, If you can't do anything to make sure its a good buy walk away. This basic info isn't just for buying a personal car or truck its for every major buy everyone should be taught this if no one taught you this they did you a disservice especially since you are a grown adult trying to make a discission that could effect your livelihood...

 

Just dont buy from Penske,they are changing oil at 60-70k

 

If its a Cummins x15, Cummins will warranty the engine under an extended oil change to 75k.

Mine was under the program. I was changing at 60k. At 710k miles it was still running tight and not using any oil.

 

Its a Freightliner brother

 

And this right here is why you need to be cautious when you buy. No test drive. No ecm dump. No 3rd party verification of truck condition then screw you is my stance. And even then its easy to miss things. I cant say too much since i got screwed on my first rig too. But it did teach me to really go over a potential new rig with a fine toothed comb.

Anything they say. Paperwork and recipts or it didnt happen. Anything they claim, get it in writeing AND noterized. Get on your back and verify the part numbers and condition. Ask if you can test with a trailer on. Do a blowby, pull samples from EVERYTHING. and just plan on a full emissions cleaning unless they have recipts with warranty of it having just been done.

If they wont play leave and find a new deal. Otherwise this is the result.

 

All of this can relate to all modern truck no matter where you buy them.

 

Put 40,000 pounds on it and get onto a grade then you will know if it's a solid unit or not. Bobtailing it around the corner and peeking at the tires and belts won't tell you a whole lot. Put a big heavy load on it and see if it twists like a pretzel or makes horrific noises. And you can't do that at an auction or Bubba's truck lot. You're gambling a bit. But that said, take a creeper, some coveralls, flashlight and gloves and crawl all over and under it. Go over it really well and hopefully you get to know it.