Opinions on a truck

[Double L]

Companies that are small like Mal's are afraid to upgrade to the new emission trucks and it's cheaper than having a truck payment from a business standpoint.

[RR9501]

ok...i see your point, but its much harder to sell a truck wiht 876,000 miles on it

[heavyhaulerss]

I would think long & hard before switching to super singles. my problem with them is when one blows, your stuck right there. no limping at 45 mph to a truck stop. & in the middle of nowhere there is usually a tire shop not far away with the most common truck tire sizes. not so with the super singles. yet. if you go with them, get a spare immed. as far as the truck.. all sounds good. except I had in mind the exact thing G-MAN said. the high mileage... and I dont care how well it was taken care of or how it performs today. time is not on your side as far as engine componets going out. not trying to scare you but, I'm talking from experience. how often do you hear of a truck clinking & clanking for a few hundred miles giving you warning, something is going to give out ? usually it goes out after everything seems to be running great. thats why all of our trucks almost never break down in our driveway or at a truck stop. you may go 200,000 mile trouble free. or you may not. I got over 1 mil miles from my ser 60 det. one day while driving & it sounded & ran great. my injector went out, & without warning. head gasket went out at one time again without warning. you could have the truck inspected pryor to consideration & have a dyno done on it & have a gear train inspection done along with the oil analyst. that would tell you a great deal more than you now know. you could also look at identical models with the same specs that have verified engine work already done. such as a inframe , e.t.c. take your timedeciding ... & best of luck

[Double L]

ok...i see your point, but its much harder to sell a truck wiht 876,000 miles on it

Honestly if it had a recent in frame and there was paperwork to prove it I wouldn't hesitate to buy it but that is my opinion.

[RR9501]

ok...i see your point, but its much harder to sell a truck wiht 876,000 miles on it

Honestly if it had a recent in frame and there was paperwork to prove it I wouldn't hesitate to buy it but that is my opinion.

yea i can see your point...as long as a fully ASE certified mechanic did a thorough check of the whole truck too, so there's no future surprizes...mechanial surprizes = Downtime!

[Double L]

ok...i see your point, but its much harder to sell a truck wiht 876,000 miles on it

Honestly if it had a recent in frame and there was paperwork to prove it I wouldn't hesitate to buy it but that is my opinion.

yea i can see your point...as long as a fully ASE certified mechanic did a thorough check of the whole truck too, so there's no future surprizes...mechanial surprizes = Downtime!

When it comes to buying a truck or any vehicle always use common sense. Request maintenance records on the truck and always inspect it yourself or have a trusted mechanic inspect it.

[RR9501]

absolutely, i totally agree, those papers will help u down the road when u need to prove waruntee

[Double L]

absolutely, i totally agree, those papers will help u down the road when u need to prove waruntee

Got that right!

[Malaki86]

My company is considering selling my truck, and I'm considering buying it. I just need your thoughts on the truck. Here are the specs:

2002 Volvo 770/780 (originally owned by USXpress)
876,000 miles
ECU shows an average of 6.5mpg over the life of the truck
450hp ISX - uses/loses no oil
10spd autoshift
3.42 rears
Body is about 95% condition

The transmission was rebuilt less than 3 months ago. Both rear ends were replaced about 5-6 months ago. To the best of my knowledge, and our shop, there has never been any major mechanical engine work done.

I've driven this truck myself for about 15 months. In that time, other than when the transmission went out (the hi/low range splitter ate itself), it's only had minor problems, such as water lines, maxi's, etc.

The ECU average mpg is pretty consistent with what I currently get out of it. We haul heavy (42k+ on average) into and out of central WV. When I take a load into/out of TX, I see an average of 10-11mpg @ 64mph (our governed speed).

I'm thinking that I can buy the truck in the range of $20-24,000. They'll put a new set of tires all around on it if I purchase as well (caps on the drives).

So, whaddya think?

here's my question, why is the company waiting untill now, 876,000 miles to upgrade there fleet?...most companies ive heard of change out at around 400,000

The major carriers all sell out their trucks when they're almost out of warranty. That's where my carrier steps in. We run former major fleet trucks. We have trucks in our fleet from USXpress, Western Express, Knight, Averitt, etc.

Our company did at one time buy new trucks. Their last brand-new truck purchased was literally the last White-Volvo that came off the assembly line.

[Malaki86]

I would think long & hard before switching to super singles. my problem with them is when one blows, your stuck right there. no limping at 45 mph to a truck stop. & in the middle of nowhere there is usually a tire shop not far away with the most common truck tire sizes. not so with the super singles. yet. if you go with them, get a spare immed. as far as the truck.. all sounds good. except I had in mind the exact thing G-MAN said. the high mileage... and I dont care how well it was taken care of or how it performs today. time is not on your side as far as engine componets going out. not trying to scare you but, I'm talking from experience. how often do you hear of a truck clinking & clanking for a few hundred miles giving you warning, something is going to give out ? usually it goes out after everything seems to be running great. thats why all of our trucks almost never break down in our driveway or at a truck stop. you may go 200,000 mile trouble free. or you may not. I got over 1 mil miles from my ser 60 det. one day while driving & it sounded & ran great. my injector went out, & without warning. head gasket went out at one time again without warning. you could have the truck inspected pryor to consideration & have a dyno done on it & have a gear train inspection done along with the oil analyst. that would tell you a great deal more than you now know. you could also look at identical models with the same specs that have verified engine work already done. such as a inframe , e.t.c. take your timedeciding ... & best of luck

The flat on a super single is my main reason that I'm not sold on them. Not to mention the amount of damage you can get from a single explosive blowout (or even it just ripping itself up).

Like I stated at the beginning, the entire drive train (transmission and both rear ends) are new/rebuilt within the past 6-9 months.

If they decide to sell it and I start looking closer, I'll get a copy of the oil analysis and all maintenance records, plus take the truck to the Volvo dealer to see what additional info I can come up with. It'd be nice to find out that the engine had major work done to it prior to our company purchasing it (I know nothing major has been done to the engine in our shop).

[RR9501]

The major carriers all sell out their trucks when they're almost out of warranty. That's where my carrier steps in. We run former major fleet trucks. We have trucks in our fleet from USXpress, Western Express, Knight, Averitt, etc.

ahh, mostly RED trucks eh??...ya'll ever buy old SuperService Inc. Trucks?...lol
thats who i mostly ran for...in some ways i kinda miss it

[Malaki86]

Hmm - let's see what we have:

Red Volvo 770s (only 3 of them) (USXpress)
Red Volvo 670s (Averitt)
White Volvo 670s (Mainly Western Express)
Red Columbias (USXpress)
White Columbias (which they just bought and are selling before they even put a driver in them) (A local carrier that went out of business)
Blue Columbias (Can't remember for the life of me)

[RR9501]

i see....well i liked my 05 volvo 640, would've liked a lil more room, perhaps an 880 or somethin..lol...but im really interested in checking out whoever starts using the new International Lonestars...they look sharp as hell...

[charged]

i see....well i liked my 05 volvo 640, would've liked a lil more room, perhaps an 880 or somethin..lol...but im really interested in checking out whoever starts using the new International Lonestars...they look sharp as hell...

They look cool, but I think the whole front end is made of plastic. I saw a crate come through work with a hood, grill and fenders and it was all flimsy plastic.

[RR9501]

i'm rather surprized...the least they could've done was make it out of fiberglass like most hoods....i mean a good new hood cost about $9-11k
i guess theyre just trying to go for cost effficient.

[charged]

i'm rather surprized...the least they could've done was make it out of fiberglass like most hoods....i mean a good new hood cost about $9-11k
i guess theyre just trying to go for cost effficient.

I took a picture of it. Let me see if I can upload it...

[RR9501]

i still want to test drive one....they look real smooth!....