Good deal or should I pass .?

[Turtle]

Is Penske selling this truck direct or a third party? I wouldn't think Penske would put a truck up for sale that wasn't road ready and legal.

It may very well be road ready and legal within the state of California, but not for interstate commerce. One would think that things like external truck lighting regulations would be more or less uniform across all states, following DOT regulations, but this is California we're talking about, so I dunno.

 

[greasytshirt]

A CAT mechanic and someone familiar with trucks and DOT should be given a couple hours to crawl all over it to find any discrepancies, then these things can be used as bargaining chips. At that point I'd have made a deposit if I were interested, imo.

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[Kip life]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I appreciate each and everyone of you .

Yes it's penske owned .just came off a lease with one of its clients.

I am now enroute to go check the truck myself. I am no expert but I will make my final decision today and either lose 12k or 500.

Anything I need to ask or pay attention to when I actually get to see the truck ?

 

[greasytshirt]

Personally I'd rather lose $500 until I was sure I had my ducks in a row. I'm still not convinced it has a 3126. Bring an experienced mechanic with you next time, or agree that the truck be taken to a shop for an inspection to be done. I've had far too many people bring me rolling disasters that they bought without inspection because the price was right.

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[Kip life]

Guys, I am going for this truck. It looks clean and run well. How does one upload a video here? The only problem I saw was the engine compartment looks too clean like it's new yet it's an old truck

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[greasytshirt]

Can you post the VIN?

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[Kip life]

Sorry i was away .

VIN

1FVACWAK74HM29596

 

[greasytshirt]

Sorry i was away .

VIN

1FVACWAK74HM29596

I ran this through a VIN decoder. It says it has a CAT C7 acert.

I'm not impressed with these engines at all. In fact, there's one dead in my yard, exactly like yours, but with 100k fewer miles. It just randomly blew up one day. Shredded cylinder wall. Parent bore block, no removable liners, needs to be removed from the chassis and sent to a machine shop to be fixed properly.

Start stuffing your mattress. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Sorry for raining on your parade.


Here's a pic from a different C7 that failed even worse.

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[BIGTRAIN]

You could say that about every motor ......you got ONE bad one in your shop and they are all junk .

 

[Kip life]

I run the same VIN and got this information

Vin :1FVACWAK74HM29596
Manufacturer Freightliner Corporation U.S.A
Make Freightliner
Model Year 2004
Model Business Class M2
Engine Manufacturer Caterpillar
Engine Series 3126
Engine Capacity L6, 7.2L (439 CID) - 3126/CFE
Fuel Type Diesel
Vehicle Type Incomplete Vehicle
Cab Type Conventional
Chassis Truck Chassis
Drive Line Type 4 x 2
Brake System Air
Series M2 106 Medium Duty
GVWR Class Class 6
Country United States
Assy. Plant Mt. Holly, NC


Then i Read 3126 reviews from here and everyone is like it was a bad engine OTHERS sa C7 is a bad engine At this point I am just cutting the chase and keep my cash.

 

[BIGTRAIN]

I don't know what you were using it for but I thought it was a good deal . People were Trying to talk me out of my Cummins .....but I did the research on it and bought it and I am glad I did . Couldn't be happier .

 

[greasytshirt]

You could say that about every motor ......you got ONE bad one in your shop and they are all junk .

There's been several. They stick out in my mind.

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[greasytshirt]

I don't know what you were using it for but I thought it was a good deal . People were Trying to talk me out of my Cummins .....but I did the research on it and bought it and I am glad I did . Couldn't be happier .

I personally think the Cummins is a better choice.


OP hopefully got a good truck that will run well for a long time.

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[Kip life]

I am back to looking for a truck. I am not getting into a truck payment. I will save up cash and buy newer if need be but it will be cash.. .My thought process was buy a decent used truck Run it for 1 yr or so upgrade to a newer truck..
400k is alot miles irrespective of what engine it is on the truck

 

[Kip life]

what would you recommend if you dont mind.. Me asking .

I don't know what you were using it for but I thought it was a good deal . People were Trying to talk me out of my Cummins .....but I did the research on it and bought it and I am glad I did . Couldn't be happier .

I personally think the Cummins is a better choice.


OP hopefully got a good truck that will run well for a long time.

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[BIGTRAIN]

I think you are on the right track thinking wise .......get a used ( relatively cheap ) straight truck that you can pay off in a couple months ( 6- 12 ) . If everything is still running good .......see How long you can go running without a payment .....then a year or so later ......upgrade .

 

[FlyingVan]

That was my thought process when I got mine. 2004 M2 with the mbe900 engine. Bought it for 7k cash and I put about 2k more in it. Had 550k on it. By now it paid for itself many times over.

It proved to be a very good truck despite everybody saying to stay away from the mbe900. 12.4 mpg doesn't hurt either. At this point I will keep driving it until I either have to put too much money into it to fix it or I retire from expediting.

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[greasytshirt]

what would you recommend if you dont mind.. Me asking .

First, I will admit my bias. I work on Hino trucks. I understand their nuances, strengths and weaknesses.

Second, for your purposes, I don't recommend anything newer than 2007 because after that came the aftertreatment systems, and all manufacturers struggled for a while. This stuff adds a lot of cost.

International trucks with the DT466 engines. Auto or manual. Not the T444E engines, and especially not the VT365s. Most people that call themselves a diesel mechanic can figure out how to fix a DT466, and parts prices aren't ridiculous. The fuel mileage on these aren't great, and they're loud. They have stupid wiring and dumb problems with body control modules on occasion. And the A/C is always broken.

Hino 268, 2005-2007. They run like clocks, until the injectors go bad. Or the turbos. Or until crap in the fuel systems clog fittings, and people inexperienced with this will never find the problem. Parts are expensive. Little aftermarket support, but getting better. Good fuel mileage. Not that powerful, Hino 338 gets a more powerful engine but you'll need a class B. If you're local dealer is good, consider a Hino.

Freightliner M2, with the Cummins. Cummins egr coolers love to blow up, and they're expensive. The rest of the engine ain't bad. This chassis, in my view, is prone to dumb electrical problems and they have fragile A/C systems.

More disclosure: I don't drive trucks. I just fix them and cuss at them. My input will be different than other people's.

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[BIGTRAIN]

You could say that about every motor ......you got ONE bad one in your shop and they are all junk .

There's been several. They stick out in my mind.

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If they stick out in your mind ....I guess it would quickly raise a Red flag . Are those different then the 2000 year class

 

[greasytshirt]

If they stick out in your mind ....I guess it would quickly raise a Red flag . Are those different then the 2000 year class

Around 2000 they world still be the 3126. Pretty sure. The evolution of this engine went 3116-> 3126-> C7. The 3126 was the best of the bunch, but they were still essentially nonrebuildable, since they didn't have removable cylinder liners. And parts are expensive.

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