Cost of ownership with a Volvo

I think the biggest mistake was not getting a D13 in your 2012. I share your pain on D16 parts availability and I'm in the process of ordering a loaded '17 780 iShift with D13-500 on 2.64s.
The D13 generally has less long term issues than the old ISX, not sure how the redesigned one will be.

 

Why would you change the oil every 12000km(8000 miles)? You can safely do more then 5 times that.

 

Umm, no, even on synthetic you dont wanna go that much

 

Who told you that?

 

I've had just about everything changed twice on this 2012 D-13. harness, injectors,EGR valves, EGR coolers, doser modules, venturi tubes, oil pressure sensors,fuel sending sensors, and the ISX I had in my '06 was a boat anchor as well. Not knocking Volvo per se, I think all these emission trucks are a piece of junk.

 

Let me offer my 2 cents worth. Which may turn out to be a nickel or more. As I am very familiar with both the operating a fleet of trucks as well as how a dealership operates. From the standpoint of owning a truck a number of things are considered. Purchase price, length of haul, type of loads, desired fuel mileage, resale value, reliability, comfort, and list goes on. As you purchase a new truck, the powerplant is a current in production platform so I am willing to bet the farm that the last, if even at all, thing you considered was parts availability. When I was running C16 cat motors. I knew that these engines were not the popular C15 or even c12, so with that I knew that the possibility of having every part I needed in stock when I needed it was a pipe dream. I needed the big torque/HP engines due to the nature of the loads hauled..up to 810K lbs. So I expected down time due to repairs, within reason. That is the nature of the beast. You want the big horse, sometimes you pay the price. Now from the dealership standpoint. As you well know many fleets have adopted the Volvo as their fleet truck. With that the majority of these trucks are equipped with the D13 engine. Some fleets have a small percentage of Cummins. But Volvo produces approx 88% of it's entire production with the D13. That leaves just 12% to the ISX, D11, and the D16. Volvo truck production was a shade over 39000 class 8 units last year. Mack uses the same platform Volvo does. The D11 is the Mack MP7 the D13 is the MP8 and the D16 is the MP10. Mack uses the MP7/D11 more than Volvo does primarily in cartage trucks. Although more and more vocational trucks are coming out with the MP7. Very rarely do I see a Mack with an MP10 but they do exist. Add into the mix Volvo and Prevost buses as well as however many UD trucks and I am willing to bet that total US production of the 13 liter platform coasts in near the 70000 units in the US alone. As you know the parts department warehouse at most dealers is fairly small that being said dealers stock common failed parts. Also note that if a dealer does has not sold a certain part for 12 months Volvo requires them to return it.. Now what that means is dealers primarily move 13 liter parts. When an occasional 16 liter strolls in more times than not if a part is required it won't be in stock. If you want the best parts availability then you need to opt for the platform that is most popular. Even then we run into shortages and common failed parts for which production can't keep up with. Last year was oil pressure sensors.vrhis year injectors. And now for the 2017 model year Volvo is going to common rail injection and quite possibly compound turbos. As for the transmission. The autoshift is a very nice but realize the more automated features on a vehicle that will most likely see 700000+ miles in it's lifetime some thing is going to fail. If it happens to be the transmission that runs approx 12 grand just for the part. Needless to say the friggin oil costs 3 times traditional synthetic transmission oil. Nothing is cheap for that gear box. An Eaton RTLO 18913 will give you 2 million miles if you don't bang the hell out of it. You have to pay for convenience, you have to pay for creature comforts. And actually an i shift degrades resell/trade in value. So, if you made it this far, you see I got about 86 cents worth. But realize there is more to the cost of operation that your choices influence be they bad or just plain overlooked. In short you want to run out there in the hammer lane with the big trucks with your big chicken motor don't be surprised when it breaks and you gotta sit a few days cuz parts for you big chicken motor ain't in stock.. Congrats if you made it this far

 

I don't have a chicken motor I have a rooster motor lol

 

Volvo is piece of junk!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not only trucks. Everything Volvo is BS. Design, customer service, parts availability, price, mechanics. If I could find someone so dumb to sell my 2009 will never even look at Volvo.
If you have decent running truck knock on wood, it same as got lottery jackpot

 

What led you to believe that it was a good idea to buy a new truck after only a year had passed with the new emissions mandate?