Lease new vs buy old?

Soooo true !!
The new emissions trucks have become very good since SCR became mainstream.
Dramatically lower regens and EGR flows have made reliability much much better, as well as improved engine timing for fuel efficiency because the NoX is neutralized with the Urea spray.


Also let's figure the MPG savings. The difference between a XE Spec Volvo at 7.5-8 mpg VS a old pete or classic at 4.5-6 mpg could easily save $15,000+ or more in fuel every year. Fuel savings alone over 3 years can pay 1/3 of the new truck cost, not including having a warranty on all major parts to control your overhead expenses.

 

You can talk about fuel savings of new engines but they never materialize in my experience. My 86 3406b gets the same mileage as the 08 ISX.

And warranties aren't worth the paper their written on. Even if they do pay after the weeks of fighting them, do they cover down time?

 

We have a repair shop to go along with our trucking and a couple of wreckers to go with that shop. We don't seem to tow any older pre-emission trucks into the shop. At least when I am there. One of the mechanics told me that 90% of the tows are newer trucks with the emissions. Now that does not mean that older trucks do not break down or need repairs, they just seem to make it in under their own power.

 

I'm not aware of any warranty that does, new truck or old. But that's no different than a old truck either, when they break down there is nothing to pay for your downtime either.

 

Except they don't break.

 

I've owned a couple of older trucks that will say otherwise, and a couple that would back up your claim. And there's new trucks that can make the same claims. Anything mechanical is going to have problems, its inevitable.

 

I'm not talking about a worn out rad or steering box after a million miles. New tricks have those repairs too. You know what I'm talking about. Anything with a frigging acronym will bankrupt you

Again this month. Had to put another egr cooler in an 08 ISX. Haven't seen the bill yet but if history is any indication the part is out of warranty and its going to be $2500 + 3 days down time. It's only been 12-18 months since the last time.

Back about '08, when the 05 Acert was still new it puked a VVA housing and put a hole in the head. Two weeks down. $13000 and the warranty just expired, imagine that.

Bought a 95 N14 in 96 that ate ate injectors so bad we kept a spare in truck. They finally got that figured out after a years I guess because we stopped having trouble. I'll let someone else finance the OEM's R&D.

 

Rank, you are basically correct here. But you gotta go older to bee completely computer free. ive had a 91 pete with a full computer controlled engine. DdecII. I've also got my dad's 93 w900 sitting in my barn with that peak engine cat made. The electronics on that thing will drive you nuts.

Personally, the sweet spot for me falls in the early 2000's engines. This old truck of mine just keeps on rolling with almost no maintenance. December will be 13 years since I bought it and took possession. My last payment was the summer of 06. nearly 1.3 million mile later, it's still running strong, pulling the same freight as the guys with brand new trucks, and getting paid the same to pull it.

So that's 9 years of no payments. 108 months of no payments. with today's truck prices, even with a great down payment and low interest you are looking at 2k a month. That means I have saved 216k dollars on truck payments. Almost a quarter of a million dollars.

Some guys will say "But ron, what about those high maintenance costs your truck has? It's gotta be eating you alive!"
Since this truck was new, my maintenance issues have been the following:

1 clutch replacement at 800k miles costs me right at 1500 shop screwed it up installing the rear seal and had to take it back. total down time 1 week. A month later the tranny went, turns out the tech "forgot" to fill the tranny back with oil street dropping it. I'm thinking he did it on purpose cause when I took it back for the real seal problem the original tech insisted it was the oil pan gasket and proceeded to blow out the pan and valve cover gaskets by plugging the blow by tube. at that point I went nuts and made it clear to stay the f away from my truck and went over his head to the shop owner. Who, btw did stand behind everything, and had another tech replace the real seal, the pan gasket and valve cover gasket. But not when the tranny went a month later. This was the last time a shop touched my truck. done everything myself since.

Got a used tranny for 1800, spent a couple hundred more tearing it down looking for bad gears and bearings. Replaced one bearing and put her in the truck. Total cost, maybe 2500 max and a week down time. this should not be used in figuring used vs New costs. It would of happened to a new truck just as easy. a bad mechanic can damage a new truck add well as an old.

1 fuel injector. Total cost under 1k after the tow bill. 3 days down time because the closest freightliner with one in stock was a sixhour drive away.
At 1 million I rebushed the rear axles. Total cost 275 dollars and a Saturday afternoon.
Have also replaced all 4 air bags this year,
along with the dogbone shaped torsion bars. Total cost around 750.

Last fall I rebuilt the engine. Total rebuilt. Even had the crank out to be polished. Same for the cam. New head. New turbo. Etc etc. New everything total cost under 20k. Next time I'll just buy a crate engine for 25 and save the month of assbust. I could of also just did an inframe for 3k but I wanted to make the engine new and not touch it again for ten years.

There had also been a new radiator due to poor coolant system maintenance. Was about 700 and a weekend of work. This was on me. I caused this by not staying ontop of my nitrate levels.

2 starters, 2 ac compressors, and 1 alternator. On the high end those total about 1500 including recharging the ac.

That's it. That's all the repairs. Less than thirty thousand dollars.
I don't include things like oil changes, the occasional marker light, tires, socks, alignment and brakes. To me those are wear items that all trucks need, New and old.

I expect to spend about five, maybe six grand in another couple years replacing the rear ends and power divider. going to do this when I get a bearing problem.

Also not including a few windshields and two ac condensers. Stones falling off gravel trucks hurt new trucks as well as old. Same as when lester coggins ripped my hood off.

The savings of keeping my old truck vs buying new has, in my case, equated to about twenty grand a year. That money goes a long way towards my children's future. Private school vs crap public antigod liberal brainwashing schools. Money set aside to pay for college. And growing up in an upper middle class Lisa crime neighborhood surrounded by other kids who will be going to college vs growing up in a lower income, higher crime working class neighborhood where they would be surrounded by kids who will be getting a job at the local factory and popping out kids right out of high school (for the ones that even wait that long).



Now for a guy just starting out. I believe an older truck is still the way to go, but he needs to be dang sure he takes his time and thoroughly inspects before he buys. It's better to spend five hundred dollars to find a reason not to buy a truck than to find out you bought a truck that was abused. And even after doing these inspections and finding the truck that passes, you better be prepared to have to spend up to twenty grand on stuff you missed. if it was me, after saving a bit of a nest egg, I'd find a ten thousand dollar truck that will pass a dot inspection and start hauling freight saving most of what I made to fix things as they break

 

That's basically my thinking too. I said pre 95 becasue I suspect that's the model yr when the US speed limiter law will kick in. We had a '95 Celect computer that was trouble free as is the '98 Celect + that I still drive. Only real trouble with the '98 is ABS related crap and the fact that it requires the speed limiter to be set when in ON and QC.

 

I was under the impression that the speed limiter law, if passed, would only apply to trucks built on or after the law was put into affect.