What is the attraction with peterbilts

this past summer we had a Pete daycab for three days as a demo, not a single driver liked it. Interior was small compared Mack, overall build quality wasn't very good, for the price there was no way we could justify it. As for quality, my '00 Mack had 978K on it and interior noise and quality was still the same as it was the day we bought it. Even the exterior, it needed a paint job, but otherwise was still as strong as the day it was built. Pete's and KW's are nice to look at, but not for the price. The comparison to a Harley, yep, I can spend $45,000 for a full dress Harley or $28,000 for a Honda Goldwing, same creature features, but better mileage and durability and still have $17,000 in my pocket.

 

Correct ! I was picking about the successful commit . Both can work , just the out look of upper management . And if and when to reinvest is up to each person. For us we specked trucks that worked for out app but never were going to have any trade value . So ran em till there was nothing left . The miles we ran fuel milage and life. Single drive walking beam rears. Straight 7 speeds. L10 Cummings alm frames. Worked great for us (fleet avg was 10+). Fuel savings back in mid 80s made truck payments! As few moving parts as we could get away with. Only real steel part was the fifth wheel ! No rust ! But as we'll as they worked they were worthless in trade . We knew this when ordering . And that oddball a setup if Pete or kw or Mack or name who ever would not change that! And we could not get everything we wanted . Freightliner would not let us set fifth wheel as close to back of cab. Had to go to strick to order kingpin back a foot more than normal . Needed to close the gap. Get it down to 16 inches . So even our trailers had no trade value. Every body was switching to 53 but contract only called for cube of a 45 ft so smaller was cheaper and no need to haul extra cube for free. Sorry for being long winded. But I think it makes where I am coming from, at times!

 

It may matter to some, but not me anymore. The Freightliner model I bought in August is made at two different plants. Either N.Carolina or Mexico. The dealer made the comment that if they ever have any problems, it is the ones from N.C. And Mine was built at N.C. It took two extra weeks fo dealer prep to have the truck ready to work because they had to fix thing the plant did wrong or didn't do at all. Shortly after going to work, carrier bearing was destroyed. Why? because the plant either mounted it wrong or it was in the only location that it could be mounted, they put on too short of a driveshaft. Either way, two new driveshafts and new carrier bearing.

Seems that Bubba at the UAW in N.C. is more worried about Monday Night Football, checking out Candy at Hooters, Miller time, or that he is not required to do only so much per hour per the union contract to actually put together something right. Pedro and Juan may be paid less in Mexico, but they seem to appreciate their decent paying job (by Mexico standards) and putting a quality into their truck building.


I have become more cynical about this "made in America" mantra. If the American worker doesn't get his act together, then the rest of the world is going to pass us by.

 

What are you talking about? if you drive a pete, your supposed to be sitting on the floor anyway.

 

Yep that's me.

 

Bought my 95 intl in 99'' paid $15,000 cash. it had 427,000 miles on it. still driving it. 1.5 mil now. paid less than 1/2 of what the hoods were going for with 700,000 miles. I never consider the resale vaule. I bought truck to drive & make money. not resel. being it was & is my first truck, I had nothing to compare it to. those who drive a pete first may never consider a lessor priced truck. m.p.g. & no truck payment has many more blessings for me over the last decade than a nicer looking pete. having made several (turned out to be good) financial decisions because I had no truck payment, I do not have a pete, but I do have much more value in other things, that I could not have with a pete. now after several years & financially secure, I may buy a pete or k.w. when I hit 50 which is 3 years away.


I know some can afford a pete, have a large payment & still make money & save it. but I did it my way. it worked out for me. I am not going to drive down the road thinking.. man when, if I sell my pete it will have a good resale value. too many folks look at buying a truck like buying a house. if you are going to flip the house in a short amount of time, than you consider that when buying it & any renovations & add the most value. that is different than buying a home you plan to live in for 15-20 years & may still never intend to sell. when I replace a doorknob on my house door, I do not buy a $80.00 knob, cause it is what buyers want to see. hell I just want to be able to open the door, not sell the house. same with a truck. I want to just drive the truck & make money, not look cool or feel rich. peace of mind is better than a pete. yeah I know you can have both, but I could'nt. not the way I did it. one or the other. my ole intl has bought me more value than any pete ever built.

though I love the fact that so many will buy the petes. it makes the other less desireable trucks less expensive for me.

 

And have wax paper seat covers, so you can get your candy butt out.

 

paccar changed thier warranty,you can put air in thier seats now and not void the warranty

 

I drive a new Pete, and the def tank is on passinger side. And the hoses the put in the Pilots are just about 3 ft too short. Have to wait and use the othe side pump for my def.

 

But how can that be ? I was told I was just wrong !!! Just love when people have no idea what they talk about ! Sorry you are having to deal with their pour planing . And hope the driver on the other side understands. Have seen one come in against the flow . My trainee did not listen , pulled up hood to hood. Other fellow hade to back out after pilot manger gave him the riot act. I was thinking people in your shoes would always be forced to buy 3 or 4 of the big jugs.