Best used semi truck for 15-25k?

paullud · Apr 4, 2015

Eminaga said:
Man you sure are giving me lots to think about!

Check out Kevin Rutherford. He usually deals with owner operators but he is a former fleet owner that had a multi million dollar contract with FedEx before he left the industry. All the info about finding the right truck and making money in this industry is great and would still apply in your case. I have watched more than a few go bankrupt trying to become fleet owners and I hate it.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/letstruck

Eminaga · Apr 10, 2015

Well I am getting ready to get a truck in a week or so, as soon as my dad is home from the road so he can check them out with me. (Found 7 that i think are good, even tho they have lots of milage but lots of new parts). I will post some pics and details once I buy it!

paullud · Apr 10, 2015

Eminaga said:
Well I am getting ready to get a truck in a week or so, as soon as my dad is home from the road so he can check them out with me. (Found 7 that i think are good, even tho they have lots of milage but lots of new parts). I will post some pics and details once I buy it!

What trucks are on the list?

Eminaga · Apr 10, 2015

paullud said:
What trucks are on the list?

1. 2000 Mack Midliner 4600, 1.4mil miles but engine overhauled at 800k. Has good tires and new brakes. passed dot inapection and rdy to work.
2. 2001 freightline century, 850k, cummins n14 with 13speed, good tires and ready for work.
3. 1999 volvo with 60 serie detroit has 1mil miles but overhauled less then 100k miles ago, tires and brakes at 70%, ready to work.
4. 2004 9400 International 1 million miles on a Red top 400 Cummins. decent rubber, new clutch, injector work, new EGR, turbocharger, new oil pump, pulls 42 pounds pressure still on the road
5. 2005 Freightliner with 777,040 Miles. No other info yet.
6. 97 Volvo Aero Sleeper, N 14 Cummins 690k. No other info yet.

I am calling all the owners tomorrow to get more info and make sure thwy have service history before i even go and look at them.

paullud · Apr 10, 2015

Eminaga said:
1. 2000 Mack Midliner 4600, 1.4mil miles but engine overhauled at 800k. Has good tires and new brakes. passed dot inapection and rdy to work.
2. 2001 freightline century, 850k, cummins n14 with 13speed, good tires and ready for work.
3. 1999 volvo with 60 serie detroit has 1mil miles but overhauled less then 100k miles ago, tires and brakes at 70%, ready to work.
4. 2004 9400 International 1 million miles on a Red top 400 Cummins. decent rubber, new clutch, injector work, new EGR, turbocharger, new oil pump, pulls 42 pounds pressure still on the road
5. 2005 Freightliner with 777,040 Miles. No other info yet.
6. 97 Volvo Aero Sleeper, N 14 Cummins 690k. No other info yet.

I am calling all the owners tomorrow to get more info and make sure thwy have service history before i even go and look at them.

I would focus on 2 but 3 is also a great possibility. I would highly suggest that you stay away from 2004 and 2005 since 2004 was the first year of the EGR and you will have trouble with them.(Notice it's being sold with a new EGR) People buy older trucks to get away from the EGR motors because they have lots of bugs, less power, and get worse fuel mileage. Typically people buy older trucks because they are going to drive them so the condition of interior isn't as important but since someone else is driving for you it would be a decision maker between 2 and 3 for me as long as there is nothing odd like a strange axle ratio or major mechanical issue in one of them. They are both known to be great fuel mileage trucks.

Eminaga · Apr 10, 2015

paullud said:
I would focus on 2 but 3 is also a great possibility. I would highly suggest that you stay away from 2004 and 2005 since 2004 was the first year of the EGR and you will have trouble with them.(Notice it's being sold with a new EGR) People buy older trucks to get away from the EGR motors because they have lots of bugs, less power, and get worse fuel mileage. Typically people buy older trucks because they are going to drive them so the condition of interior isn't as important but since someone else is driving for you it would be a decision maker between 2 and 3 for me as long as there is nothing odd like a strange axle ratio or major mechanical issue in one of them. They are both known to be great fuel mileage trucks.

Thanks for the info. I will take the 04 and 05 out of the mix. The guy is asking 15k for the volvo and the freightliner is 12900. They both look pretty good from outside. Do u think they are fair prices?

Edit; dont know the milage on the 01 freightliner yet. It has new tires so thats a big plus. What milage should i stay away from it at? Even if it drives good.
Guy noted that it is well maintained and averages 7.4mpg.

paullud · Apr 10, 2015

Eminaga said:
Thanks for the info. I will take the 04 and 05 out of the mix. The guy is asking 15k for the volvo and the freightliner is 12900. They both look pretty good from outside. Do u think they are fair prices?

You know for $15k and paperwork to verify rebuild that Volvo is a great deal assuming the rest checks out. Both are priced well and both have great motors but of course you will want to try and being the price down to save money. The Detroit is very popular so parts are easy to find and more mechanics will be familiar with them. The N14 is a terrific motor but Cummins is known for producing junk now so if you hear complaints it doesn't apply to that motor. The one drawback to the Freightliner is the 13 speed which fewer drivers will be familiar with since the vast majority of company trucks are 10 speed or auto shift but it's not a total deal breaker.

Edit; dont know the milage on the 01 freightliner yet. It has new tires so thats a big plus. What milage should i stay away from it at? Even if it drives good.
Guy noted that it is well maintained and averages 7.4mpg.

Those motors are nice but once you hit a million miles it's a little bit more of a concern. If they start up well when cold and don't smoke much then it's not a huge concern but there is still a gamble. With any truck once you get to 700k miles you start to have problems with the little things so after that point there really isn't a mileage that I would avoid a truck. It's more about how is the truck running at that point because some trucks make it to 1.5 million miles before a rebuild while another only gets to 850k.

Eminaga · Apr 10, 2015

paullud said:
You know for $15k and paperwork to verify rebuild that Volvo is a great deal assuming the rest checks out. Both are priced well and both have great motors but of course you will want to try and being the price down to save money. The Detroit is very popular so parts are easy to find and more mechanics will be familiar with them. The N14 is a terrific motor but Cummins is known for producing junk now so if you hear complaints it doesn't apply to that motor. The one drawback to the Freightliner is the 13 speed which fewer drivers will be familiar with since the vast majority of company trucks are 10 speed or auto shift but it's not a total deal breaker.

Those motors are nice but once you hit a million miles it's a little bit more of a concern. If they start up well when cold and don't smoke much then it's not a huge concern but there is still a gamble. With any truck once you get to 700k miles you start to have problems with the little things so after that point there really isn't a mileage that I would avoid a truck. It's more about how is the truck running at that point because some trucks make it to 1.5 million miles before a rebuild while another only gets to 850k.

Thank u sir. Volvo will be my first choice. I will post here whatever I buy

paullud · Apr 11, 2015

Eminaga said:
Thank u sir. Volvo will be my first choice. I will post here whatever I buy

If you don't mind can you send me the link for the truck that you don't buy. I know someone that is looking.

Eminaga · Apr 11, 2015

paullud said:
If you don't mind can you send me the link for the truck that you don't buy. I know someone that is looking.

Will do.

Eminaga · Apr 12, 2015

paullud said:
If you don't mind can you send me the link for the truck that you don't buy. I know someone that is looking.

Well volvo is out because the guy has no documentation of the overhaul but says can have me meet the guy that did it... (yeah okay). The freightliner might get sold on monday but if not the guy will let me know so I can go check it out on Wed. I did find an 06 volvo with a d12 engine that has 970k miles and has new tires and brakes as well as egr, cooler, and valves and has documentation for all the work. He wants 15k for the volvo but i am sure he would probably let it go for 14k. I did some research on the d12 engine and it seems like a good one. What do u think? I am still keeping the 04 international on the table since it has many new parts, i am just frusterated at this point.

paullud · Apr 12, 2015

Eminaga said:
Well volvo is out because the guy has no documentation of the overhaul but says can have me meet the guy that did it... (yeah okay). The freightliner might get sold on monday but if not the guy will let me know so I can go check it out on Wed. I did find an 06 volvo with a d12 engine that has 970k miles and has new tires and brakes as well as egr, cooler, and valves and has documentation for all the work. He wants 15k for the volvo but i am sure he would probably let it go for 14k. I did some research on the d12 engine and it seems like a good one. What do u think? I am still keeping the 04 international on the table since it has many new parts, i am just frusterated at this point.

Well if the rebuild was done you can't be 100% certain but you can look for signs like new gaskets and the running condition to have a really good idea that it was done. I would just want to know that the guy that did it is actually a diesel mechanic. Someone much like yourself bought a truck with a motor that was rebuilt by a mechanic, a mechanic that works on lawn mowers, four wheelers, and dirt bikes. Well the truck didn't even make it 100 miles before the motor had to be rebuilt at my company's shop.

I personally wouldn't buy a truck with a Volvo motor and the D12 is known to be gutless. They seem to be relatively reliable but I would rather find a better motor with the same reliability. If you think shopping for a truck is frustrating just wait for the 3am call that the truck is dead on the side of the road or your vacation gets ruined because you are dumping $4k on repairs.

Eminaga · Apr 12, 2015

paullud said:
Well if the rebuild was done you can't be 100% certain but you can look for signs like new gaskets and the running condition to have a really good idea that it was done. I would just want to know that the guy that did it is actually a diesel mechanic. Someone much like yourself bought a truck with a motor that was rebuilt by a mechanic, a mechanic that works on lawn mowers, four wheelers, and dirt bikes. Well the truck didn't even make it 100 miles before the motor had to be rebuilt at my company's shop.

I personally wouldn't buy a truck with a Volvo motor and the D12 is known to be gutless. They seem to be relatively reliable but I would rather find a better motor with the same reliability. If you think shopping for a truck is frustrating just wait for the 3am call that the truck is dead on the side of the road or your vacation gets ruined because you are dumping $4k on repairs.

Would u rather go with the volvo d12 or red top 400 cummins? They have similar milage and cummins seems to have more new parts.

paullud · Apr 12, 2015

Eminaga said:
Would u rather go with the volvo d12 or red top 400 cummins? They have similar milage and cummins seems to have more new parts.

The older Cummins engines are great motors and more mechanics will be familiar with them.

Eminaga · Apr 15, 2015

Well after checking out all the truck I bought one! Its a 2005 International 9200i. It has a c-13 engine with 10 speed. It also has 780k miles which is a lot lower then all the trucks i looked at. Here is a pic! I paid 13.7k and feel that i got a decent deal. All it needs is new brakes and both front tires which i am getting done tomorrow. Here is a pic!

paullud · Apr 16, 2015

Eminaga said:
Well after checking out all the truck I bought one! Its a 2005 International 9200i. It has a c-13 engine with 10 speed. It also has 780k miles which is a lot lower then all the trucks i looked at. Here is a pic! I paid 13.7k and feel that i got a decent deal. All it needs is new brakes and both front tires which i am getting done tomorrow. Here is a pic!

OK. Well good luck and I hope it serves you well.