Well I went and......didn't do it.......
#11
05-06-2009, 12:41 PM
I could probably make a case for either side. But I still think that keeping an older truck is the most cost efficient way to go, at least starting out. Save your money and buy new later. I did start to rethink my decision last year. I had a truck that blew a turbo the first part of last year. Parts and labor cost about $2,700. Around October of last year the transmission went out. With the tow bill, parts, labor, paying my driver to sit for a week the total cost came to about $8,100. So my total cost for major repairs for this truck came to just under $11,000 for the year. A new truck should have monthly payments of around $2,000+-. If I had the new truck I would have spent $24,000 for the year on payments. The savings is roughly $13,000. The payments go on regardless. The older truck has been paid off for a number of years. Granted, similar repairs on the new truck would likely have been covered under warranty, but not necessarily. More than likely I would still have been liable for the wrecker or tow bill which was almost $1,000. The main argument that I hear as to why some prefer to buy new is the warranty. The warranty is good if it covers what is broken. If not then you not only have to pay for the repair but will also still have your payment.
I am very thankful that I don't have big truck payments in this economy. I have replaced most all of the expensive things on this truck other than the engine. It has almost a million miles on it and is still in good shape. I hope that I can break a million miles before having to do an in-frame. A rebuild on my other truck with the same engine cost $18,000. That is less than one year of payments on the new truck. The new truck will depreciate every day. The older truck has most of the depreciation behind it. It can be aggravating dealing with a truck that breaks. It can also be stressful thinking about making monthly payments. I will continue with my older trucks. Those who wish to have that new truck smell can buy the new truck. I will go the the parts store and buy some new car/truck spray.  Yeah I agree, and right now it's nice not to have a payment, other than the one to myself. I think what pushed me over the edge was the Power steering gear box going out. Sometimes I think I shouldn't have done some of the things I did to the truck and saved that money for now, for instance new fuel lines, power steering fluid lines, hoses.....etc. I really shouldn't complain about the truck though because this is the first time it's given me major problems and I have been down. Of coarse if I wanted too I could chance it and put PS fluid in everyday but if I get inspected I'm probably OOS and that bill would be much larger. I'd rather not chance it. 
#12
05-06-2009, 12:56 PM
I replaced the power steering box on one of my trucks a couple of years ago. It started leaking, so rather than just repairing it I decided to just replace it. If I had paid someone to rebuild it the cost would not have been much different than buying a new box. With the new box we just had to unbolt the old one and bolt up the new one. Any major fluid leak could put you out of service. To me it wasn't worth the potential hassle.
#13
05-06-2009, 01:08 PM
I hope you can continue to stay in business, Chris. Hundreds of thousands of owner operator and carrier trucks were repossessed this last year. I heard some figures the other day that said something like 33,000 more have lost them. I don't recall if that was during the last quarter or month. In either case it is a lot of trucks. Most owner operators could not afford to keep their trucks if they sat too long. Most could not make the payments on a new truck working for another carrier, even in good times. If you buy an older truck that is in good shape you could possibly make those payments driving a company truck should you finance it. It is good to plan for contingencies. It is difficult to plan for every contingency, but you can plan for most things. One thing about business is that there will always be something to challenge you. It would be foolish for anyone starting out in this business to buy a new truck, especially with this economy.
#14
05-06-2009, 01:14 PM
I replaced the power steering box on one of my trucks a couple of years ago. It started leaking, so rather than just repairing it I decided to just replace it. If I had paid someone to rebuild it the cost would not have been much different than buying a new box. With the new box we just had to unbolt the old one and bolt up the new one. Any major fluid leak could put you out of service. To me it wasn't worth the potential hassle.
I think a new truck is the way I'm going to go but just later on down the road. I want a big down payment and smaller monthly payments, because like I said above, I'll have it for years and know what I have. Another thing I think about too is just keeping this one and modernizing it some. I know I can get the rear suspension upgraded. I'll have to see about getting the front upgraded to have the turning radius of the new ones. That really was nice about the newer one I drove. It's funny my wife says I'm too young for a new truck it'll just spoil me, she says I need to get beat around a little.
#15
05-06-2009, 01:23 PM
And oddly enough, I've begun to rethink my position as well. Now that my truck is out of warranty (the engine is still under warranty, but the truck isn't) I am responsible for paying repairs as well as the high monthly payment. At least for the next year or so. GMAN's argument about being stuck with the payment even if work slows down is very true, and wasn't something I considered when I purchased the truck.
Ultimately, I really think it comes down to personal preference. The price you are quoting on that 389 is very low (about $10K more than I paid for my 379 back in 2005), and there is a reason for that. The economy. In this economy, I wouldn't consider buying brand new equipment unless I was absolutely sure that what I was doing was recession-proof, and even then I would seriously lean away from doing it.
#16
05-06-2009, 01:35 PM
I've bought new trucks for 30 years,keep them 3 and trade in. I couldn't imagine putting a driver in a 8-10 year old truck. I have never had a problem of letting a truck sit because of having a payment. Never had a problem of freight to cheap or slow either. Maybe because i run a business instead of a bought and paid job.
#17
05-06-2009, 01:46 PM
I also wouldnt buy a new truck. In the near future when im ready to buy a truck for myself i wouldnt pay no more than 35k. looking at some trucks on truck paper one can get a nice truck with like 400k miles on it for that price range and have no payments on it.
#18
05-06-2009, 02:52 PM
And oddly enough, I've begun to rethink my position as well. Now that my truck is out of warranty (the engine is still under warranty, but the truck isn't) I am responsible for paying repairs as well as the high monthly payment. At least for the next year or so. GMAN's argument about being stuck with the payment even if work slows down is very true, and wasn't something I considered when I purchased the truck.
Ultimately, I really think it comes down to personal preference. The price you are quoting on that 389 is very low (about $10K more than I paid for my 379 back in 2005), and there is a reason for that. The economy. In this economy, I wouldn't consider buying brand new equipment unless I was absolutely sure that what I was doing was recession-proof, and even then I would seriously lean away from doing it. Really that 2005 is still a baby considering the miles you can get out of the newer engines. Your trans and rears should hold up a while as well so the other stuff isn't that expensive to replace compared of coarse to a payment. Some guys (like Chris) trade them every three years, but a well built truck can last a long time if maintained. I personally wouldn't do that, but to each his own. If I bought a new truck and didn't have any problems out of it for three years, I'm keeping it. Your right that is a decent price on the 389 which is why I was thinking about it. Now that price though is without their program, you have to have a minimum 15K down payment. At nine percent, which is just a figure the salesman used we didn't run a credit check (but I have good credit) and 15K down on a 6 year note the payment was 1800.00. Funny thing though, I was there Saturday for a couple hours, and showed a lot of interest but haven't heard anything from the dealer as of today, maybe that's their final price I don't know, usually you get a call back with a better price. I kinda hope he don't call, if my wife has to hear about this truck one more time she'll shoot me, I think she really will. You make another good point too, flatbed freight is extremely turbulent right now. Three weeks ago I couldn't catch my breath then it slowed the following week and last week was a struggle. I would imagine with all the rain around here this week is a little slow as well.
#19
05-06-2009, 02:56 PM
That's a good point too, and I've thought of that as well, however now I'm starting think differently, you can check them out all you want but you might still get some one else's problem truck. Of coarse you can get a brand new problem truck as well so.......
#20
05-06-2009, 03:05 PM
A family that I have known all my life owns a Custom Harvesting business. Their trucks are 20 years old. They have 2 359's and 2 White (the brand, not color) GMC's. They keep all of their equipment in Mint condition, and clean. If you didn't know anything about trucks, you'd think that their stuff is brand new. Kinda like Snowman said, if I was an owner operator, I'd want something that's new, and shiny. Who wouldn't, but I grin from ear to ear whenever I get to drive one of their older trucks.
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