CAT pulls the plug!
 

http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=69901

Good riddance.

It took them long enough to finally announce it. The rumors have been flying for months.

according to my ears over the last couple years, drivers of cat engines have not been bragging. a lot of drivers complain recently about having the truck in the shop more often than on the road. this refers to the 07'-08' models. & before that I heard very few & I mean very few brag about good fuel mileage. though I have heard about their power & in times past, about their reliability. though when needing repairs usually higher price & harder to work on.

Hm... I got a Cat and I was quite happy with it. But I guess it got to a point where if you don't make your own brand truck you cannot sell your engine to a truck-maker.

Cummins.

I think Cat made a good move here. They are refusing to degrade the quality and performance of their engines for only the North American market that might give themselves a bad name worldwide. If the government does not allow you to make a quality product then let someone else take the fall.


Of course if you believe the rumors Cat actually owns Navistar and Cummins, so it is all a big mind game that they play with us. :wink:

They did that when they quit making the engine that gave them their reputation. The 1693 was the best engine they made and they replaced it with the 3406, been going down hill since.

I read an article somewhere that stated that CAT is coming out with their own brand of truck in conjunction with Navistar/International. Details were a bit sketchy.

I'll say this. CAT leaving is not good for the market. Cummins already is poor on their service, the last thing they need to be is the only guy in town.

Example. Guy has head gasket go on his ISX 600k miles. Fire ring #4 gone so it's OH time. Call Cummins and ask as that really isn't a whole ton of miles - maybe some goodwill help. Cummins says nope - got your money's worth out of that engine.

Different guy, tosses a rod out the engine block - thru hood. 601k - same story from big red.

I know for a FACT that CAT would have helped in some way or shape were it their engines. (goodwill in the form of a % of parts or labor)

Paccar will come out with their engines about the same time CAT goes away and that will help the Pete and KW guys.

Article in WSJ said that Cat and Navistar were gonna partner and produce a line of specialty trucks for construction apps etc. and market them under the Cat name. Also gonna be a Cat brand engine made by Navistar. I really don't understand that 1.

Class 8 trucks were never a huge part of Cat's business. The money required to stay in the game surpassed the potential profit by doing so. It is a smart move on Cat's part.

Only to stop the bleeding from all the goodwill for those acert engines.

The thing I mind is how caterpiller has trashed EGR engines the last six years and said how much better acert was then EGR. They had ISX and Series 60 on display that they took them apart for Mid-America show and they trashed them publicly and said oh, look at all this soot, and here it acert that can't get the job done and can't meet emissions, and EGR is doing the job AND meeting emissions.

What a pity the government has killed the CAT engine for class 8 trucks. I will miss them. I have had excellent service out of my CAT engines.

I will not! I guess I'll keep this one i got, till i retire.... :D

I have a hunch that Cat parts are going to increase in cost after they leave the market.

I sure hope that you are wrong, Rev. CAT parts are already high enough. :shock: I put a turbo on my International a few months ago. It cost over $1,500 for the turbo. Had it been a Detroit, I was told the cost would have been around $900. :? I suppose I should not complain. The truck has 900,000 miles without any major engine work and is still in good running order. I hope to get over a million miles before having to overhaul it.

Did you shop around? Cause that's almost double from what i remember! :shock:
It was a while tho, but it was under that amount, with the labor... :roll:

Yep, I called everyone I could think of locally and in California where the truck was sitting. CAT had a big increase shortly before I had to buy mine according to one dealer that I called. Lucky me! I believe the last turbo I bought was less than $1,000, but that was several years ago. I believe that I paid about $1,300 with labor and turbo the last time. This time the labor alone ran about $1,100. I felt that it was high, but I had little choice. I had just injured my leg on the trip getting to the truck and wasn't able to do the work myself. Besides, if there was a problem I would have the warranty.

Sign of things to come..... :wink:

Exactly!

No, CAT decided to pull the plug because their market share was plummeting.

According to last numbers, Cummins, Detroit, and Volvo were all selling more engines then CAT.

CAT has gone from a 40%+ market share to a 12% market share. Cummins has gone way up. CAT did it to themselves, cummins has to abide by the same rules, and they seem to have done fine.

They tried to set themselves apart from the rest of the market by trying a different technology. That technology failed. They gambled and lost. Getting out is a smart move. I'm sure they wish they would have done it before they spent all that R&D money.

I love my CATS never have problems with them. i have a 3406 a model and 4 e models. Been running them for years. The 1693 was a great engine. Guess that makes my Petes worth more money now? lol

A shop owner told me any of the "C" engines like C-15, are junk and can be predicted to come to the shop often. He added that any older "number" engine like 3406 with a mechanical fuel pump will hardly ever come into the shop unless its driver neglect.

Yes, the older ones burn more fuel but it seems OK to spend a little more each week than a whopping sevice bill all at once. Not to montion if you have to get towed off the NY thruway. This guy has been in business for decades and is quite happy with the C-15's comming into the shop.