To Keep or not to keep,that is the question
 

I would like some insight on the following. I have a paid for truck and by yr end I am looking to rebuild the engine, and other things such as rims , tires etc.

I would like other opinion own to buy a newer truck $20,000 to $30,000 range. The type of hauling I do is short haul, around 2000 to 2500 miles weekly ( 2500 being high). Weight avg about 5000 to 42,000 lbs)
42 pulled twice weekly for about 100 miles. All other 23,000 lbs or below. Home almost daily out maybe 1 night. I avg between 1.20 to 1.30 to the truck on hub miles, leased to a carrier.

This I will run past and accountant but would like other opinion before I do since I have some time before I have to make a decision.

My truck is a 2000 frliner fld 120 with a Detriot engine, has been very good truck. I like the old truck, some of the newer Detriot engine 14.0 have been getting mixed reviews on.

As always Thx in Advance

Vontrial

I say "KEEP"
 

Greetings. I'd say keep your truck. You know it well. You know where the problems are, what it needs and when. New trucks bring new headaches and questions.

I rebuilt my Pete (new engine, Trans, clutch) and love it. Well worth the investment.

We are still not out of the recession slump. You may be fortunate enough to stay in your current haul, or, it may change. You probably don't want to kick yourself with a new payment then have your haul change.

I know "new" trucks bring that feeling of "I got a new truck" making it fun and exciting again. But there are other ways to bring that excitement back. Try a different interior, maybe add some different appliances, a new fridge.

Hope this helps...

I would keep the old truck and rebuild the engine. I have one truck that has 980,000 and still running strong. I have rebuilt the rears, transmission, clutch and turbo. I hope it lasts many more miles, but I will probably rebuild the engine when the time comes. It has been such a good truck I hate to get rid of it. Used trucks are not bringing much money. There will always be things to do to a truck. You don't know how well another truck has been maintained. Who knows you might need to rebuild the engine in another truck. We don't know what will happen with this economy. It would be best to have as little debt as possible.

I'll second that.

.

better the devil you know.....

What if the old truck is costing you $1,000/mo in repairs and upgrades? My truck's payment is $1,600 per month and will be paid off in December 2010. A friend recently suggested I trade the truck in and get a brand new one for - let's say $2,200 a month. The sale will provide funds for the downpayment and will possibly provide some extra cash to spend. The new truck shouldn't cause $1,000 a month to maintain for at least 2 or 3 years. Plus the higher initial price will allow for some nice tax write-offs at the end of the year. What do you guys think?

I doubt any good used truck would cost $1000 per month except for special one time circumstances. Even maintaining a new truck isn't cheap, you can pretty much eliminate regular maintenance items from your comparison such as:

- oil changes
- grease jobs
- air dryer servicing
- engine air filters
- coolant services
- tires
- brakes
- overheads

These items represent the bulk of maintenance costs yet have no difference in frequency between a new and a used truck. Now granted a used truck may need a brake job in 6 months, but overall the lifetime CPM for new/used will be exactly the same.

I say keep it..


But if you were rosty i would say buy NEW :lol::thumbsup:

keep the used.

I recently ran into an interesting tip concerning personal car purchase. This guy was recommending to buy used if you like cars, and buy new if you don't care what you drive. His argument was that those who like cars would like to change them often, so it makes more sense to buy used. Those who view cars as transportation and don't care much about their vehicles should buy them new and keep them for as long as possible.

As most truckers I like trucks and I enjoy upgrading/improving them and I bought my 2004 International 9400 used in 2007. Here's an incomplete list of improvements/upgrades/repairs:

headlights
wiper motor
clutch (Lipe, 2000 lb-ft torque rating)
a/c unit
air dryer
transmission upgrade (1650 torque rating to 1850)
starter
cooler tank
engine rerate 435 to 475
engine rerate 475 to 550
performance dyno (3)
driver's seat
sleeper heater
sleeper heater rebuild
roof air deflector (whale tail)
roof air deflector (full)
roof air deflector removed
batteries
half fenders
exhaust
muffler
exhaust stack
extrude honed exhaust manifold
rear axle ratio change: 3.70 to 3.42
under-cab chicken lights removed...

All in all, it's now a totally different truck than what I bought in 2007 for Cnd$64,000 :) But then you look at the new technology in the form of a International ProStar, and it's like a different ball game altogether. I like the new Maxxforce engine (even though it only has 1,700 lb-ft of torque) and I like the fact that you can spec a new truck from the factory exactly the way you want it thus avoiding expensive upgrades and improvements in the future.

When you buy used, you buy someone else's spec's that might or might not work for you.

I am going to jump on board with keeping the older truck. If you have maintained it well, then you will be dollars ahead sticking with it and rebuilding the engine. One thing about getting a newer one, even a newer used one...... you have got a lot more little things that can go wrong with all the emissions stuff. Sure, a new one will cause a larger tax writeoff, but rebuilding the engine on yours is a writeoff also. And why would anyone want to spend a $1 just to be able to save $.20 in taxes? No one should view a tax writeoff as one of the primary reasons for buying a new truck. If you want to save taxes, then put extra money in an IRA, 401K, or Health Savings Account and avoid the taxes. And you got to factor in the down time, even on a new truck, just to get that stupid EGR or DPF replaced or some other bug worked out. Even though it may be covered by a warranty, you are still not making any money and you still have a larger truck payment to meet. On a used one, we all know that getting any used truck will involve a maintenance expense larger than most of us would like the first year you own it. It is rare to find a really superbly maintained used truck.

Unless your truck is downright falling apart and rusting away, I would keep the old girl running. You could totally rebuild that older truck for way less money than the cost of a new truck.

Well.... what would be the value of your older truck? Take that off of the price of a new truck. Let's say, for arguments sake that there was a $40,000 difference (probably more). How many repairs would $40,000 get you on the older one? You can still deduct expense either way. And there is no guarantee that you will be ahead with the new one. Let's say the ECM went out, the DPF doesn't work like it should, the EGR needs replaced, a million little sensors crammed everywhere that seem to quit working at the most inconvenient time, whatever. Now look at the downtime and lost revenue getting that crap fixed, even under warranty. I know a lot of owners that wish they had just spent the money and fixed up the older truck. Man, I could really do a lot with an older truck and that $40,000 and have one reliable ride.

Forget your friend's advice on a truck. Something like that, you would be farther ahead talking with an accountant or financial advisor. There are no friends when making sound business decisions. You are on your own and you have to suffer the consequences. That is unless you friend is willing to front you the cash when things go wrong.

Nah, I don't his advice too seriously :) He's a company driver for one, and secondly, he decided to buy a new house first and "maybe later" buy a truck. He's on the other side of the fence.

In my experiences I have found it to be a wash between old with breakdowns/repairs loss time off work(lost revenue) and the extra taxes as it is to have a newer truck w/payments.

So I just decided if thats the case if I am gonna be spending the majority of my time in the truck that I might as well have a newer/nicer truck. Do I lose some flexability? Yes.

Well, if you listen to big carriers - like USA Xpress - they all claim their maintenance costs go up when they start keeping the trucks longer than 36 months. So, there is something in your method.

OLD truck ? mine is a 95' and it is in the shop now having engine inframed. with over 1.3 mil miles. I would not want to have a expensive repair done while still having payments on it. having a truck paid for to me is like having your home paid for. I would not not to run out & sell my home to purchase another one at a higher price & use my home's sale for a down payment. peace of mind for me are no more payments. there are times where it makes sense to upgrade. you have to consider comparable repair cost. example, one had to have a turbo on a cat replaced. it may have been 2, this was 2 weeks ago. $3900. I can get one for $575.00 sensors, & all kind's of other stuff may cost 4-5 times as much on a newer or different truck. I know mine, I like mine, Mine is paid for. going on long runs, being gone all week ? I would lean towards considering a upgrade. I stay close to home.


if it cost me a grand every month to keep truck going, than I would rather have a 1,500 a month payment. if that were the case. I know one thing I hear of more truckers upgrading & regretting it than drivers keeping there own & regretting it. how many times over the years have you heard of a driver that had an older truck & just had to have a newer one & lost it? mor than

if you don't upgrade, you can always still do it later. once you sign on a newer one. it yours. lot easier to change your mind if you keep what you got.

Another thing to consider is that the emissions junk on the newer trucks will cost you a lot down the road either in lost revenue, actual cost, or both. Of course, if California a requirement, you would have to get a newer truck. If not, then it is far less expensive to rebuild and maintain the older engine.

You could get the best of both worlds by buying a new glider kit truck, put in a rebuilt pre emissions engine and get the new truck you want with a rebuilt engine that will need little repair work in the near future. About 20,000 - 30,000 bucks cheaper and no Federal Excise Tax.

Good used trucks are cheap now. You can buy a 2007 with under 400,000k miles on it for around $33,000 dollars from the major fleets. Warranty still on them. I bought a 2006 last year this time and the rear end went a few months ago. Repaired under warranty, under a load yet and still made on time delivery. (Did put driver in hotel for night).

I'm actually moving now to Ryder leased trucks now anyway, no more worries about repairs. $.065 a mile and they fix everything. I'm up to 9 trucks now (and hopefully 2 more cominig shortly) so I would need a mechanic anyway.

No used truck should cost anyone a $1000 a month in repairs unless you really have a POS and you are paying a mechanic or shop to do all your repairs. One thing about owning your own truck is to learn how to do most or all of the repairs yourself, unfortunately alot of drivers, Company and Owner/Ops don't know the difference between a Phelps screwdriver and a Flathead.