Mack trucks - good/bad?

That is the case with any truck in ones area.

 

Here in the Bay Area all the dealers are pretty much a few miles apart from each other. My friend that I work with owns 19 trucks mixed from every make. So from that experience what we learned is to stick with Kenworths, Freightliner/western stars. International parts are stocked but want peterbilt prices. Volvo/mack the volvo might have parts but mack nope. It hurts alot because almost everything on the macks is dealer only.

 

I don't care about part avalibilty since they can be shipped from anywhere. The big issue is what kind of service do you get from the place.

 

I have had the opposite experience, and agree with @Siinman it's specific to the dealer more than the brand. My market area (Atlanta) is served by Nextran. Their service and parts are miles ahead of anyone else in the region. Are they perfect? No, nobody is. There have been issues and conflicts. However, they've been resolved quickly, and usually not in Nextran/Mack's favor.

I have only stopped at one other Mack franchise in Franksville WI (Kriete Truck Center), because I had the time and wanted to visually measure it up against Nextran at home. The excuse to stop was to pick up some motor oil. Everything about the place gave me the feeling I would be treated the same in the event of a real breakdown. So, one in a row. It's possible I have only visited the two decent Mack chains in the nation I guess. I've only had one "real" breakdown outside of getting things done local, and it was another Nextran location across town. Same franchise, so pretty much the same good treatment at my home store.

This topic brings to mind why I buy Goodyear tires and made it a point to specify them on my new trucks from the factory. Goodyear isn't the best tire on the market. What they do have is the best service dealer in my region, and the most uniformly good network in the nation. At least the part I operate in, east of I-35. That's been more valuable than having tires that might last 10% longer.

 

Yeah it always felt like o had to have the steering wheel at 2

 

I've only had 1 experience with an Anthem. Rode like crap. Interior felt cheap. Biggest thing though is according to the display, best I could get or if it was 6.5 mpg. If course not knowing the gear ratio doesn't help. My current 760 has got me 8.1 over that last 50,000 miles. Maybe some others here have done better

 

Flip that 6.5, and make it 5.6 and that’s my average in this old girl for the last 4 1/2 years. Pitiful!

 

OUCH... might as well get a hood truck at that point

 

Was just having a look at their site and seeing what options they have as far as specs go. Like all other manufacturers, it's going to come down to how cheap the person or company was that specced it from the factory. Several different steering, suspension and other options to choose from.

Build Your Mack Anthem | Mack Trucks

 

While I am no fan of newer Macks, pulling an end dump is hard for everything, when your heavy your usually right at weight, and they are unaero dynamic as hell, I was in the 5's to with my flat top pete, flatbed I am in the 7's