What's It Worth? 1994 Pete 377

Has he given you a price, or did he say make me an offer?

 

i'll buy an older truck like that before i even look at a new one.

 

the virgin tires are in excellent condition but are 6 years old Virgin RUBBER is new RUBBER not 6 year old tires that look good. How long have they been sitting ?

Has he offered you a job for the truck or are you looking to work some place else.

 

I run in california with my 1994 cabover frieghtliner leased to mercer and have never been bothered. I am even exempt from registering for the DPF retrofit. There are two places I can not go to in california the port of long beach and the port of oakland and I do not want to go to either of them anyway.the same with speed limiters in Ontario and qubeck canada exempt from them also.So do not let anyone tell you that you can not run an older truck.

 

Those tires need replaced, so there is 0 value there. They have sat for too long and u expect them to sit for another 2 years while u fix it. By now they have already dry rotted and will pop on you the 1st load you drag.

 

First of all the wheel size is an issue. Pinion angle and front end geometry are set by diameter. If (and I doubt it) he realigned the front end AND reset the pinion angle its ok but usually that has not been done.

More importantly you should research CPM (cents per mile) cost and profit, for your application, if you are running dirt from a mine to a jobsite and paid hourly then a 20 year old truck with 1,500,000 miles on it is a good idea. If you are running 48 and 120,00 per year then consider a few things.
Depreciation, If you are earning $250K per year then fuel and the standard $29 per nite per diem are nowhere near enough of a write off. You NEED depreciation and the payments. Trust me, the old guys who think you can "work around" the IRS will get you in trouble. Play their game, you must have write offs or you WILL be sending 30% of your money to them. I (and most successful trucking company owners) have always said "you either write a check to Peterbilt or the IRS, at least when you write one to Peterbilt you get to drive a new truck".

 

Sounds to me like you dont even need the dang thing. Its not in working condition at the moment, you dont plan on having it in working condition within the next 2 years AND its going to cost you money while you try to "fix it up" over the aforementioned 2 years. You also say you have no plans to use it to make money at the present time. Dont waste your time and money, in two years you will still have an out of service truck. Unless your willing to pour buckets of money into this truck to bring it into service and then work it hard to recoup your investment then its a waste of time. Why not just save the purchase money, save the money you would have spent fixing it up and in 2 years if you have a NEED for a truck then go ahead and buy one that can start making you money right away. If you want an endless money pit, then go ahead and buy it now. If you want to go trucking as a business and make some coin, pass on it and buy a truck in working condition.