Well I went over to the local Freightliner dealer today to look at some trucks. The economy is bad, credit is tight, nobody is buying anything so I just wanted to see some prices.

I looked at some 2005's. They are within a few thousand of what I paid like 9 months ago (low 60's). At least when I bought it I still had factory warranty.

I would say it's Florida where nobody wants to realize that prices have dropped (like Real Estate) but even looking at Truckpaper and they aren't so low.

I told her what my friend just paid for an 09 or 08 Kenworth ($124,000 out the door with FET and APU) and the saleswoman starts telling me that's because they can't give them away due to bad fuel economy. By the way the Kenworth he just bought was one of those green ones. Apparently they can't get enough of them at the local Kenworth Dealer.

Who knows the truth, she's a salesperson after all.

I will say one thing, I'm not paying $60,000 for an 05 that's for sure.
She was talking up the new DD15 engines. She was saying that Publix was getting 8mpg with their daycabs. But then she said the new DD15 doesn't come out til this summer so maybe I missed something.

They had an 08 Colomia for $98,000 with 12,000 miles on it. Might have been a lemon, why would someone get rid of that so quick unless they just couldn't afford it.

 

I talked to my local KW sales manager a few weeks ago. He said that they really weren't seeing much drop in the used truck market. OTR sales of new trucks were brutal, but they were doing ok in the local and vocational market. If you're going to find a deal right now, it's going to be from a private party sale. There are guys out there trying to get out from under their equipment. The dealers are trying to make up for poor new truck sales with their used trucks still. I passed a small trucking company near Cookeville (I think), TN the other day. There was a sign out front that said, "Everything for sale" that's where you find your deals.

 

I talked to a guy from GE Capital and they are selling 2005's in the 40's. No warranty.

 

You will be able to get better buys over the next several months. These dealers have been sitting in the catbird seat and now don't know how to deal with the realities of the current market situation. You can probably get a better deal from an owner operator who is in trouble or simply tired of fighting the high costs of doing business.

 

Few things I want to comment on here, but I'll have to do that later, but this GE Capital must have been what the salesperson mentioned today. She said something about , well I thought she said CEG but it must have ben GEC trucks. She said I don't want those. We were talking about repos.

Here's the link http://geasset.com/Application/Store...RANSPORTATION&

Great info on this board, that's for sure.

 

Double post

 

Merrick,

That's the same GE Capital thing the guy was talking about. Everything is sold As Is. If you want to turn the key and go then it's not the place. If you have the time and skills to make repairs then it can be worth it. I suspect the dealers are buying some of these.

 

Anybody every buy from GE? Looks like they have some good deals. Of course I would take a mechanic with me beforehand. Some of the Freightliner 2005 had extended warranty.

I wonder if these are all repos, or if they lease them to big companies. You would think the big companies lease directly from the manufacturers or their finance arms I.E. Paccar for Kenworth, Peterbilt.

 

Companies can often get better terms leasing or financing equipment from sources other than the manufacturer.