That's why I like this forum! You learn new every day See - I used mechanics at our shop. These are the guys (and one pretty girl, believe it or not) who fix company trucks of the carrier I'm leased to. A lot of owner-operators at our company use them because we're offered a discounted rate on repairs ($60/hr as opposed to $85 at the International dealer). However, I must say quite a few times I wasn't happy with they way they "fixed" things. For example, no one told me about the service repair kit that Splitshifter mentioned. ..

Nowadays I trust our shop only to grease my truck. I go to TOROMONT (CAT's dealer in Canada) to service the engine, and International truck dealer who I bought the truck from if I need some advice on the chassis.

 

If anyone is looking for a good deal on a new truck - International dealers in USA and Canada are giving away their 2007's 9400 and 9200 models because they are being discontinued... Carrier Trucks in London ONT. advertises a 2007 International 9400 (Cat 435 hp, 72" sleeper) for Cnd$92,000. I talked to one of their salesmen today and he said soon they would only have conventional 9900 and aerodynamic ProStar. He also said they usually sell out 9900 early in the year while tons of 9400's and 9200's still gather dust on the parking lots. Now 9900 ... that's a truck I can live with (even if it uses same dashboards as 9400).

 

Tsk,Tsk,Tsk, well hope you learned a lesson. Intl's suck. I can say that because I have driven a few.

We have a new 2008 Intl in the barn where I work. 968 miles, back in shop for warranty. ABS light on. We have daycabs obviously, but they put the exhaust in the wrong spot. When blindsiding, the Exhaust is kinda in the way.

Interior is nice, however, with all the problems I see with the older Intl's the drama should just continue.

I think their brakes suck also.

 

The brakes are not made by International.

Most have Meritor brakes and the air valves are Bendix.

Same brakes you'll get on any other brand of truck these days.

 

International has always had a reputation for building a good, solid truck. I would buy another one if I could get a good buy. I think they build one of the best, undervalued trucks on the market.

 

That would be Swift flooding the used market with all the 2-3 year old fleet tractors.

 

Every big company at one time or another floods the market with used trucks from all different maufacturers.

 

I'm sitting at a truck stop in Edmonton , Alberta, CANADA and there's an International dealer nearby. I went in to check out the new ProStars. .. I was glad to see they have totally new dashboards, not like the shabby ones used on 9400 and 9900 models. Anyone driven the ProStar yet? Any feedback?

 

Welcome to Edmonton !! Are you parked at the Esso ( or is it Shell ) truck stop on 170th St, just south of the Yellowhead ? There is an International dealer pretty much round the corner from there, as also other truck dealerships further west along that road ( 118 Ave ).

About the Prostar...one of the drivers of a fleet owner who works for our company, drives one. During some routine servicing at our shop, one of our mechanics accidentally damaged an air-valve. When our Parts lady called around, she was told that International doesn't have that part, and they'd have to procure it from Chicago, which could take about a week or so. Suffice it to say, the truck will have to sit all that while.

To give International the benefit of doubt, maybe this happened because it's a new model and they're yet to stock up fully on all the parts. Still, it's not a good advertisement for a brand new model. I hope they get their act together soon.

 

Yeah, that's where I spent a day and roamed the lots of those dealers in the area. There's an International, a Kenworth, a Mac, and a Peterbilt. I got tired of the Esso and I moved to Flying J in Sherwood Park, east of the city. At least here I have Internet access and can get free showers (my carrier issued us TCH fuel cards).

Yep - that sucks. The owner was probably really stressed out to have the new expensive truck gather dust in your shop. I think the best make in this regard is Freightliner. These guys have branches everywhere ... I remember once when I drove a company Columbia I damaged a mudflap hangar. To be fair I decided to buy it with my own money and install it. I was doing a run across the entire US (Portland, OR to Mississauga, ON, Canada) and the first dealer i stopped by didn't have the part but they gave me a map with all the Freightliner dealers along my route. A couple of stops/days later I was able to get the part and install it much cheaper than in Canada