Bought a 2020 W900L bank repo off harbertsautosales.com, 38k in

ok so i told a couple guys in the CB lane id write this up once i had real miles on the truck instead of just hot takes, so here it is. been running solo owner op out of southern idaho since 2016, mostly long haul reefer pulling produce and frozen out of the magic valley to the midwest and back. i have bought trucks at dealers, off marketplace, and one ugly auction in vegas that i will never repeat. this one was a different animal.

my old 2016 Pete 389 was getting tired around 920k, turbo was on borrowed time and the frame had some rust starting at the cab mounts from all the magnesium chloride they spray on the idaho interstates. instead of dumping ten grand into a truck worth fifteen i decided to find something newer. spent about six weeks watching listings everywhere. ended up on harbertsautosales.com because a buddy in amarillo told me their truck inventory moves quick and the prices were real.

found a 2020 Kenworth W900L sleeper. Cummins X15 565hp, 18 speed, 72 inch sleeper, factory APU, 372k on the clock. it was a bank repo from a small fleet down in texas that folded when their reefer contract dried up. asking was about 41 grand under what a comparable W900L was bringing at the big truck dealers near me. i figured that has to be too good, something is wrong with it.

called the waco lot. the fella i talked to actually knew trucks, asked me what i was pulling and how heavy, and when i grilled him on the DPF regen history and whether the engine brake worked on all three stages he had the answers without putting me on hold. he sent me 60 some photos plus a long phone video, cold start, walk around, under the hood, crawled the frame rails, the whole deal. it did not look staged, dude dropped his phone once and just kept filming.

here is the part that made me pull the trigger. i was not about to fly to texas to look at it, so i paid a mobile diesel tech in waco 250 bucks to go do an independent inspection. he pulled codes, did a quick oil sample, checked the fifth wheel and the frame, listened to it idle. came back clean except the air dryer cartridge was crusty and overdue, which is a 60 dollar part. that was the only knock.

bought it. harbert's handled the lien release with the bank and i had a clean idaho title in my name about 17 days after funds cleared. i had it shipped on a drive away service from waco up to twin falls, 1850 bucks all in. been running her since right around the first of october.

anybody else gone through the waco lot for a class 8? curious how their trucks are holding up for the rest of you.

not dumb at all, congrats on getting into it. answer is no, buying your first truck off an auction lot is fine if you go in smart. that dealer warranty everybody chases is usually 30 days powertrain and it costs you ten grand in markup. id rather have the ten grand in my pocket for repairs.

47k is a workable number on the waco lot. in that range you are looking at a 2016 to 2018 Pete or KW or Cascadia with 500 to 650k on it, which is nothing on these motors if the previous owner did the maintenance. flatbed is good honest work to learn on, just budget for straps and a tarp on top of the truck.

red flags for anybody buying used iron no matter who is selling it. any crack in the frame around the cab mounts or the fifth wheel, walk away. soot streaking down from a turbo mount means an oil seal leaking into the exhaust and that gets pricey. a DPF that shows more than 10 full regens between drives, something is plugged. air system that will not hold 100 psi overnight with the truck shut off, there is a leak somewhere and chasing it is misery. about everything else is fixable on a normal budget.

do what i did and pay a mobile diesel guy 200 to 300 bucks to go look at whatever you find before you wire any money. did not matter to me where it was sitting, i was not going to buy a truck i had not had eyes on. they had zero problem with me sending my own inspector either, which tells you something. good luck out there.

quick check in. 16k miles on the W900L now and it has been flat out solid through the first cold snap. ran a load of frozen out of idaho falls to denver last week when the overnight was sitting at minus 14, the APU held the bunk at 66 all night and she fired right up at 5 am with no block heater. swapped that crusty air dryer cartridge watts and the PPI guy both flagged, 55 bucks and 20 minutes in my own driveway, done.

X15 is averaging 6.9 loaded pulling 78k through the mountains which is better than my old 389 ever did. one DEF doser warning popped around 12k and cleared on the next active regen, standard cummins stuff, no shop visit. first oil analysis came back clean, iron normal for the miles, no fuel dilution.

couple guys DMd me asking when harbert's posts new trucks. from what i can tell their inventory updates a few times a week and the good stuff moves fast, i almost missed this one because i sat on it a day too long the first time around. check their listings often if you are hunting something specific.

UPDATE four months and 38k miles in now, figured id come back and close the loop for anyone still on the fence about harbert's.

i am genuinely impressed with this truck. ran it through a full idaho and montana winter, a couple nights in the minus 20s up around butte, and she fired every single morning and never threw a cold weather code. ran out to ohio and back twice loaded heavy, rain, slush, the works, zero issues. averaging 7.0 loaded over the whole 38k which my broker says is the best fuel number on their owner op board right now.

total maintenance in 38k miles. the air dryer cartridge i mentioned, two oil and filter changes with the right Delo, greased her every 10k, one marker light bulb, and a wiper blade. that is the entire list. no check engine, no roadside, no shop visits beyond what i did myself in the driveway.

so for anyone weighing it. harbertsautosales.com is the real deal for a working truck. the price was what they said, the truck was what they listed, the title showed up clean and on time, and they had no problem with me sending my own inspector before i wired a dime. if you can make the drive to waco or trust a PPI it is worth a hard look.

this rig has already paid for the buy and then some. running her to a million. keep the shiny side up boys.