I know!!! Another which truck is reliable thread. Please help. Volvo vs Freightliner

Hi, welcome aboard. I have no experience with Volvo's, except the older ones, had great luck with a Freightliner, WITH a 500 Detroit,( with over 850K and never opened up) and remains the nicest riding truck I ever drove. However, with as many Kenworth's that are out there, I'd go the K-Whopper. The W900 has been around for over 50 years, and with the many fleet trucks around, you could get a great deal on a K-Whopper. Nicer trucks, better dealers, and a better resale. Trust me, the Mrs. will like trucking a whole lot more in a Kenworth. Best of luck.

 

IMO pretty much everything in the $60k range fleet truck is a bad buy, unless it was o/o truck, who took good care of it.
The only good fleet trucks I hear about is Walmart trucks

 

Well, you are not far from Atlanta and one of the best diesel repair shops in the country. Personally, I would be looking for a Cummins CM-871. They stopped installing those motors in 2011 or 12. They can be found in just about every make, even seen them in Freightliners. I would look for a unit with that motor and run it down to Griffin GA to Mr Haggai's shop and let him work his magic on it. Haggai Automotive & Diesel Repair

I would stay away from the Cummins CM-2250 and CM-2350, you are just asking for headaches and financial pain if you go with one of those. Liner and fuel pump issues not excluding the SCR, which is another issue that can get quite costly if you do not know these systems.

I would avoid the other brands, flame suit on, due to the fact we have access to the ECM software that Cummins uses. And, there are shops like Mr Haggai's that know what to look for and how to properly repair these motors. The wealth of information is quite impressive on these Cummins, and it is not that difficult to get high mpg's out of them.

 

I would call Mr Haggai, he may have a line on a good truck, mechanically sound that he may know is for sale.

Haggai Diesel
1228 High Falls Rd,
Griffin, GA 30223
(678) 688-8107

 

I found my trucks on Craigslist, twice had to fly to Arizona from Michigan, to get a truck without rust. There are also buy/sell Facebook truckers groups.
I would not buy fleet trucks, unless they can show proof of oil changes done at 10-15k miles, which none of them do. I have seen trucks starting to eat 2 gallons of oil per week with just 200k miles on ODO. Buying used is a lottery.
If you have 60k available, get a pre 2004 truck. You can get a nice rebuilt one for under 40k

 

So true on the fleet trucks. 30,000 to 50,000 mile oil changes. And these EPA motors are soot producers, the soot stays in the oil and eats away at the internals, like cams and bearings. I would avoid at all cost. And agree on the 2004 or older. Not due to the ELD, but for the inherent reliability these trucks offer.

 

Automatics are out there. My buddy out in Phoenix is running one with the Cummins CM-871 in a 2009 International ProStar, he loves it. Me and him fixed our CM-871 motors at the same time, around three years ago, maybe four now, we both wound up doing the in frames due to head issues that the trucks came with. But after the in frames, both are running great, just change the oil and service on a regular basis. Just like a non-EPA truck, and we are now both making money, not sitting in shops.