[Papa Rick]

As many already know I bought a

2003 Kenworth W9000L

C-15 Cat Engine 475 HP, can be turned up to 550
13 Speed Transmission Number# 18913
390 Gear Ratio
210WB
Full Gauge Package
Has Dual Exhaust
Dual Breathers
8 Bag air suspension combined with leaf springs
Mileage is 771875, with a 2 year, 200,000 mile warranty on engine and 1 year 100,000 mile warranty on trans and rears.

Now the fun begins:

Bought Truck 9-28-2007
Started hauling with Truck 10-01-2007

When I went to pick it up it had not been DOT certified, or washed and cleaned up.

I asked them to DOT with the sticker and paperwork and clean it up.

I signed the papers and went to town eat and get some items I needed, came back about 3 hours later and noticed it looked like my Truck had been hosed off and that was all, not cleaned up, and couldn't find my DOT Sticker or paperwork.

Went to the service mgr and asked him if they could do the inspection and get me on my way, and he replied:

I did the inspection but cannot certify it until you get a Brake Chamber put on, the ABS Sensor Light repaired, and Steering Shaft U-Joints replaced.

So I tell the service guy that go ahead and do this as I am sure they would pay for this???!!!***???

He was a super nice guy and the look on his face told me I was in for a big !!##&&** with no vaseline.

He told me he was told I would have to pay for this since it was my truck now.

Funny thing my salesman was no longer at work, had gone home early!!

Called the main guy over sales in Knoxville and he told me that was correct that I got the Truck at such a good deal they could not spend one penny on the Truck.

When I first started driving the truck, I noticed it would jumped out of gear two times in my first day. When I would put it in gear and start to pull it would slam it back out of gear.

Well I thought to myself that I must have not gotten it in gear right.

Next day this increased to 4 times it came out of gear?? Still thought I was not getting it deep enough in gear and just my fault!

Had driven it 1 week & 1 day and it started jumping out of the same gear 3rd/9/10 (same hole pattern, far right side up), all the other gears were fine was to the point that I was very nervous that it was gonna tear the drive line up.

Called the place where I bought the Truck Lookout Mtn Peterbilt in Ringgold GA and was told that it was my truck now and they could not help on any repairs needed since I got the Truck at their cost.

Called Peterbilt of Knoxville and talked to the Mgr of the Used Truck Sales over Lookout Mtn and he told me they could not help any with the repair since it was my truck now and I got it at cost.

He did offer to give me the best rate on everything, at which I replied that I wouldn't take it to their dealership anywhere because they could not be trusted, as they were liars.

When I was looking at the Truck I asked the salesman what would happen if I bought the Truck and within a couple of weeks something major went wrong, and he replied we are not bast**ds, we will work with you on this.

Called the warranty company and was told to take it in for inspection.

Found out the following:

Main Drive Gear and Front Sliding Clutch was shot, this is covered by warranty. cost of this $2100.00

Items needing replacing not covered under warranty:

Input Shaft $104.65
Clutch Assembly $599.99
Piolt Bearing $8.45
Stop Brake $21.61
Surface Flywheel $25.00
Total Cost: $802.66 including Tax
but not freight to get it here.

He is not going to charge me labor as it will be on the warranty side anyway since the trans had to come out.

This is a the KW Dealership in Chattanooga TN, super nice guys.

This Truck had less than 2500 miles put on it since buying it and running it, less than 2 weeks of service.

If you ever happen to break down and have to go the Lookout Mtn Peterbilt in Ringgold GA, the service department is great, but watch out for a salesman named MIKE DOUBLEDAY or His Boss REED FARMER of Peterbilt of Knoxville.

Nothing but Liars & Cheaters!!

[GMAN]

I am sorry that you had a problem with Lookout Mtn Peterbilt, Papa Rick. They wired a trailer for me some years back and I didn't have a problem with them. I had a damaged head light assembly on my Peterbilt once. Lookout Mtn Peterbilt told me that I could not buy the parts I needed, but must purchase the entire headlight assembly at a cost of more than $700. I called the Peterbilt dealer in Birmingham, AL and was told that they had the parts in stock and would sell them to me for $133. Needless to say, I took a trip to Birmingham. I have used never had a problem with their work, but the bill always seems to be about a third more than the quote. I have a mechanic that I work with in Chattanooga who seems to do a good job and sticks with his estimates. If you are interested in talking to him, let me know. I don't know if he can do anything with the warranty items, but could probably save you some money on the other things. I recently spend $2,700 with one of the MHC KW dealerships. This was after giving me an estimate of $2,100. They tried to charge $3,100. I was charged double the retail price for a marker lense (from my local International dealer) plus about $55 to put it on. It took about 2 minutes to put the lense on the truck. They tried to charge me $1,050 for another part which I was able to buy at a local dealer for $566 (retail). I won't do business with any MHC KW dealer unless there is absolutely no other place to do business. I don't like getting ripped off. I prefer independents. I usually find them to be more honest. Once the work begins, you are at their mercy. :evil:

[RostyC]

Baltimore Peterbilt tried to pull a fast one me too, but since I wasn't in a rush and had time to investigate, they didn't get me. They knew what they were doing too. Tried to sell me centrifuge drums @ 290.00 a piece, and I needed four, never mentioned steel drums to me.

I rebuilt my headlamps also GMAN and payed about the same as you did, they didn't try to get me to buy the whole lamp but geez the parts had to be shipped in from two other locations, were talking screws, springs and four plastic adjustment pieces. I was kinda shocked when the local auto parts store didn't carry them, which is where I went first.

Sorry to hear all that Papa Rick, I hope it all works out for you.

[no_worries]

Ditto on the MHC KW. You won't find me in any of their shops again :x

[GMAN]

I am amazed at how some of these large dealers do business. Sometimes you get caught in a bind and there is no other place where you can do business. There is something else which is a pet peeve of mine, "SHOP FEES." These are a rip off. It is only a way for some shops to boost their profits at our expense. By the way, in addition to lying to me and charging me $110/hour for mechanic time, MHC KW also added 11% for shop fees. I don't have to worry about that with the smaller shops. It is a fraudulent charge. There is no way a dealer should be allowed to charge a flat percentage or hourly add on for shop fees. The shop fees are supposed to be for soap, 10w40, towels, screws, environmental fees for disposal (whether they took out any fluids or not). Most items on lists that I have seen are things which most companies would consider an expense of doing business. It is one thing to charge for items actually used, it is another to charge a flat fee in case you need to use something. I have told several shops that I won't do business with any who charge a flat shop fee. If the regulators want to do something useful, they need to take a look at these fees. I don't think some of the larger carriers pay this fee, at least when buying on national account. It is a matter of ethics and doing what is right. Charging a shop fee is dishonest. I always challenge the charge. Some will take it off if I make a big deal about it. If they don't take it off, that is the last time they have to defraud me.

[LexAtlanta]

Its stuff like this that give dealers a bad name. I work for the nations largest used truck dealer and before we put a truck out onthe front line we have then DOT inspected, Pm'd and detailed. We call it "recon". If something is blatant - like a bad brake chamber - it is fixed or replaced during the recon process. If it pops out of gear that is looked at also. To go a step further when we take a tractor out on a test ride we bring along a "work to be performed" sheet. That is so when the buyer and I are in the truck and either of us notice something amiss - like the front end vibrates at highway speed - it is addressed before delivery. We make every effort to deliver a "complete" truck that is ready to work. To top it off we also have our 30 day warranty that starts when you take delivery.

Now, as a buyer you are buying a used truck and used trucks do break. The important thing here is to have a dialog with your salesperson and the dealership. I hate it that you had trouble with the dealer. Good luck with your truck!

[no_worries]

I agree GMAN, those shop fees have gotten out of control. I was stuck at MHC in Oklahoma City a year ago with a busted spider bracket. We were supposed to be down for 3 days :roll: waiting for a part so I was going to need fuel put in the reefer. I mentioned to the shop that I would probably need to come over and take the trailer down to the J for fuel at some point. They told me "Naw, don't worry about it. We keep fuel here in a drum, we'll just fill it for you." When I get the bill they charged 3 hours of labor for a guy to go to the service station on the corner twice (200 yards), fill a couple of cans, and fill the reefer. On top of that they tried to charge the 10% shop fee on the fuel :shock: Needless to say, I had a few words with the shop manager.

I was fed up with my local dealer shop here, but I think I've stumbled on a solution to that problem

[Red Clay Rambler]

Originally Posted by GMAN

I am amazed at how some of these large dealers do business. Sometimes you get caught in a bind and there is no other place where you can do business. There is something else which is a pet peeve of mine, "SHOP FEES." These are a rip off. It is only a way for some shops to boost their profits at our expense. By the way, in addition to lying to me and charging me $110/hour for mechanic time, MHC KW also added 11% for shop fees. I don't have to worry about that with the smaller shops. It is a fraudulent charge. There is no way a dealer should be allowed to charge a flat percentage or hourly add on for shop fees. The shop fees are supposed to be for soap, 10w40, towels, screws, environmental fees for disposal (whether they took out any fluids or not). Most items on lists that I have seen are things which most companies would consider an expense of doing business. It is one thing to charge for items actually used, it is another to charge a flat fee in case you need to use something. I have told several shops that I won't do business with any who charge a flat shop fee. If the regulators want to do something useful, they need to take a look at these fees. I don't think some of the larger carriers pay this fee, at least when buying on national account. It is a matter of ethics and doing what is right. Charging a shop fee is dishonest. I always challenge the charge. Some will take it off if I make a big deal about it. If they don't take it off, that is the last time they have to defraud me.

Kind of like "doc fees" at car dealerships.

[Doghouse]

Doc fees!!
My girl and I went over to trade our car on a nice used jeep,,..and not only did they want $6,000 over blue book retail,...but then they tried to get her to sign a paper that said that they were not liable for ANY repairs, or any warranty work,....even thought it was still covered by a factory warranty.
Get this,...I asked them to get me a printout of the Kelly Blue Book retail price, and they came back with whiteout on the mileage and the year.
They gave me ##'s on an 07 with 10,000 miles on it,...not the 04 with 50,000 miles that I was looking at.
I looked at the salesman and straight up laughed in his face and then said,...."you do know that there's whiteout on this paper,....don't you??".
Then,...I saw the paper with the $599.00 dealers fee, for doing repairs (which they tried to get her to sign off on,..and prep,..the car was not even clean).
BTW its St Pete Jeep,...just so you know.

I laughed on my way out of there,....it was so crazy ,.....I could not believe it.

[Bandit102]

I have 2 T-600 KW's. The only KW dealers in our neighborhood (900 miles) are MHC. I order from clear across the country when I need parts and will never take my trucks to an MHC shop. I hate MHC. Bought the two T-600's from them, paid with a cashier's check for the dotted line amount. Got a bill for $8,850 two months later for some shit they said they forgot to put on the buyers orders. They didn't get it after some letters from my attorneys. Crooked bastards.