Found my dream truck but have a few questions

I do have work lined up for it or any truck I buy. I will be getting my own authority and will be running though our broker service that the company I work at now owns. They haul the exact same freight I do as a company driver to the exact same places and being that it is a broker service, the age of the truck is a non-issue as far as that goes. The loads are parts for a large car manufacturer in Alabama and 95% of our loads are under 15k pounds. We do have a few that get up to 33k but they are few and far between. Those are usually brake parts.

As far as the price goes, I think its a reflection of the market. I do think the price is a little high for a 2003. People want pre emission motors. With the exception of a $130,000 glider, that means buying an older truck. To top that off, it is a 379 and not only a 379 but a 379EXHD which is more sought after. That means that they can put an $80,000 price tag on that same truck and someone will come along and buy it eventually. That is why you can look at a freightshaker with the same miles and options and its $20k where this one is $62k. Not trying to justify it but I understand that the market is hot for these trucks and specifically with that engine/trans combination.

This will be my first largecar purchase. This will actually be my first truck purchase ever. But, I have right around $130,000 cash to get my truck and trailer and authority and expenses for a while until I get going. If I'm going to buy a truck, I'm going to buy a quality truck (made of steel not plastic and fiberglass) that I will be happy with.

 

Take the sellers word on which part? Didn't understand the question. I saw the paperwork on the rebuild but I can't remember if the date was the same time the engine was done. And like I said about the rears, I didn't see any paperwork for them and he never said they were rebuilt so I'm going to assume they haven't been rebuilt until I see paperwork or he tells me otherwise.

 

Glad you found the exact truck you were looking for. So, you know my pain.

As far as turning wrenches, I worked in our shop before I started driving. It's actually how I got my CDL and bypassed the mega carriers and got a good home every night and off every weekend gig as a rookie. I worked my way up in the shop and became the leadman and learned tons that has even helped me get off the shoulder and down the road in my company truck. I'm not afraid to turn a wrench or get dirty and there isn't much I haven't done to a truck except rebuilding trans and rears. As I said before, we only had 1 truck with a CAT out of 200+ trucks and it was an 08 prostar with a C15 ACERT. Biggest POS in the fleet. Since we only had one, I didn't get too much experience with CAT motors but I would assume they all go together the same. The S60's, D12's, D13's, ISX's, and Paccar's all did anyway.

 

I asked about a warranty. They have quite a few other trucks on the lot with a 2yr/200k mile warranty but because this one has over 1m on the clock, they don't offer a warranty on it. It has to have less than 1m to be eligible for the warranty. The only way to make it eligible is to take it to CAT and let them do an in-frame and then I could purchase the 2yr/200k mile warranty for $3,000 through them.

 

Not sure if it matters or not as far as the price goes but I will add that most of the routine maintenance parts are new such as brake pads, wheel seals, drums, chambers, filters, air bags, etc. I know that wouldn't constitute an extra $10k or $20k over the value but it is nice to know that it is all new.