How Much Would You Spend on a FIRST Truck?

I bought 2000 Pete 379 with 833000 miles cat 3406 E super 10 355 rear. from the second owner.I paid $ 16000 had brand new tires,no problems other than few scratches. runs great .changed all fluids and filters. It is all paid for it therefore everything I make goes to bank,not to the dealer.Find your self a good old O/O truck belive me you will be happy.Now it has over 890000 miles

 

Road Calls are expensive too....Consider that before buying an older rig...

 

I talked to the F&I guy from Peterbilt....Used truck rates are like 10% and higher depending on your credit....

A two year old truck with a higher interest rate on the mortgage can cost you as much as new one for a lower rate....

The trucks have "Bankable Value" for 5 years or 500K miles...whichever comes first....

That's why it's hard to get a new truck loan for more than 60 months unless you have stellar credit...and even then....With stellar credit...The banks will only give you an additional 6 mos on the loan.....

 

What most are missing here is that the few commercial banks left out there to finance rigs will only finance up to about 30K and that is pushing it (for first time buyers). If you want a 40K truck you would have to come up with 10% down plus the difference between the price you are paying for the truck and the amount the finance company is willing to extend. You would be looking at $14K down in this scenario versus about 3K down if you were within the range the finance company would lend. Another aspect is research that these finance companies are doing is revealing that first time buyers payments should be $800 or less to help insure them that it will not be repossed.

 

I think many lenders have learned to reduce their risk. They've re-po'd too many trucks with no equity in them, and sold them at a loss.

 

My plan, and it's working well so far, was to buy an older truck for less money with the intent of upgrading within the 1st year. That way my overhead would be held down where I could bank $$ for maintenance/repairs first and a newer truck after that. I have no truck or trailer payment, but with a high miler like I got, I'm living on the edge. I did have a dyno and oil analysis done on the truck prior to purchase. It's a 2000. The trailer is a 2001 and I plan on keeping it as long as possible. I don't do California, so no CARB issues for me.

 

If I were you I'd buy my Peterbilt.

 

I agree with you totally also it depends what you plan on doing with it as I log I don't really a newer electronic motor is needed. A buddy of mines owns a 09 KW with a electronic motor just died while he was loaded because of some egr crap sensor cost him a ton of money.....now if I was over the road I would invest in one maybe an older 12.7. .Just my two cents.

 

Just curious??
If he had a 09 KW why wasn't it under warrenty?

Anyhow.. Just about all motors are "electronic, there is no getting away from them now.. Even those "E" model Cats are electronic.. (hence the "E" for electronic, before the E's they were 3406a or 3406b then they "jumped" to "E" models then straight into the "C's"..C-15, C-16..ect. That's Cat.. Detroits were always electronic.. Cummins... ?? Not sure about. I only ran the old mechanical ones (350's and SC400's) till I bought my 2001 Pete with the ISX that is all electronic.. (no egr though..whew)

In todays world you need electronics. Better MPG more HP. Better emmissions..ect. The days of fixing the truck yourself (the engine) are about gone. The computer software is completely out of sight for any shade tree mechanic to afford with just 1 or 2 trucks.. (I asked Cummins, I think they said the Insite software was like $2000 & the cabe to hook it up to the truck alone was almost $1000 by itself?)The most you can hope for is to be able to do the basic stuff, tires, shocks, mufflers, brakes, ujoints, starters, alternators, belts, and hoses by yourself.. oh & maybe oil changes (that's becoming more difficult in some areas, where to get rid of the used waste oil. Not everyone has the means, whether it be the local dump that may or may not charge you, or if you can afford a waste oil furnace for your garage)

An older truck can run just fine, IF you are proactive and keep ahead of your maintaince. NOT wait till somthing happens THEN fix it.. IF you know your gonna need a clutch soon.. replace it before it blows! Do not wait till your under a load and have to pay the big $$ for a tow, and pay big $$ to find any old shop to do it at any old price.. Shop around for best price, and best time to do it.. Dealers have sales, manafacturers have discounts and stuff too.. coupons.. for things, fan hubs, shocks, clutches, mufflers, windshields, You name it.. why pay top dollar? Not every Co. is going to welcome you with an older truck.. Some want trucks no older than 4 years old in order to lease on.. SOmthing to kep in mind.. What do you plan on doing with it? Run the tires off it? OTR, regional, Local, ???

Just throwing out somethings to think about. Hope this helps??

 

NEWS FLASH! while I was working yesterday 4 different truck dealers in different parts of the country told me that used truck prices are about to jump about 10k.
As I spoke before about banks limiting the amount they will advance to finance used trucks and start-ups only allowed about 25-30K. This increase will easily double the down payment required until the banks and all of their red tape catches up to the real world. Understand that used interest rates are 12-16%(and has been for the last 10 years) for used equipment even with good credit and that you will be charged some extra fee's to procure your loan like GPS, risk protection, Dyno tests etc. DOn't make the mistake I have seen so many make and that is they will walk away from an approval only to go procure a worse one. It is definately not easy out there but with only a few banks financing trucks and how badly they (the banks) got slammed with repo's. I know of commercial finance companies taking back more repos a month than they finance about 30! so maybe you can understand why the shananagins are happening. Some finance companies are not even allowed to re-up their money so they are forced to recycle their profits. Today if you get any type of approval for used trucks you should consider yourself lucky. Oh, and don't give anyone claiming to be a bank up front money. There are a few good brokers left but most have lost their bank lines. Run if they ask for money before you see an approval and commitment letters do the same! IF your credit is under a 650 and someone says they have you approved you best start asking a lot of questions unless it's 25-35% interest loan. I hope you truckers can benifit from some of this. I feel your pain.