Looking to buy this truck.. is it worth 20k?

They all look good in the pictures. I see rattle can yellow overspray. Nothing wrong with that. Just typical of a used Truck lot. It’s old. $20k, anything cheaper for sale that I’ve seen is junk. Might just be everything they say. Might be exactly what you need. I wouldn’t be as thorough as most. Just look it over, drive it, make a decision. Make an offer. Then I’d run it, learn about it along the way. Deal with whatever is necessarily. Not spend a bunch of $$ trying to make it new. Defeats the purpose. I think it may require rod bearings at 500k as suggested maintenance. It also might be a peec engine. I’d get more info on the specs and ask one of the many Cat experts on here about certain things to expect. A friend of mine had a 97 377. Pretty sure it had a 550 cat, first year available. 18 spd. 342 or 355 gear. It got unbelievable mpg’s. Good aerodynamics. Better than any Detroit, in any Freighliner. It was a great Truck. Front end was a little bit bouncy. Otherwise a real money maker.

 

That 30 year old 377 is still better than any brand new 2024 anything being sold today. Even if you have an oil leak or two.

 

I can't really complain about the 18 paccar I'm driving.

Lately.

It sure took alot of work to get there though.

 

I have already seen many Paccars with 500k miles and blown engines. How many miles does yours have?

 

Almost 700k. I started in the truck with 575k.

Looking at the maintenance book. Looks like it was bought at 435k.

Other then a clutch. And probably a fuel pump. It's been the only motor I've driven that hasn't needed fixing. Doesn't use a drop of oil or coolant.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy one.

If it got a new motor or whatever. I don't see it in the book. It would have happened before it was bought.

No one does a history or investigation before buying

 

The only thing that would scare me off of it for his purposes would be if it was a PEEC engine. I have lost a lot of sleep worrying with them when they start running and acting funny.

 

Personally like the slightly bigger sleepers myself. Remove the top bunk mattress and strap bottled waters bags or whatever. Living in it 24/7 some of us appreciate a taller inside roof so it doesn't feel cramped

 

If you can find a place to dyno it nearby even better since they can check for blow by while on the dyno. If that checks out and the oil sample as well I see that CAT doing a mil easily.