Repair Downtime, How do you Handle it? - Story Included

His an acquired taste and I don't want to tell anyone to suck eggs. But his an engineer who makes a living educating and telling how it is around motor vehicles. Its about diesel cars but the same principals apply to trucks. 6.20 is where it started to bemoan more specific.

 

Yeah I know what your saying, but I thought the nexus was still the best for a DD15, if the OTR is better happy to give that a go.

As long as it can successfully force a DPF burn, that's the most important thing IMO

 

Okay, got 2 issues going here, downtime and dealer shenanigans. 1st, downtime is inevitable in trucking. There's too many variables for it to run smoothly, and you had better be prepared for it. The way some are forced to run their business today, one begins losing money the minute it stops. "Running on a shoestring", my old man called it. I actually looked forward to downtime, got the "other"projects done. 2nd, you did what many think, old truck bad, newer truck, the answer to all your problems, and there was time when that was true, however, today, it's all about the almighty buck. Biggest problem I see was taking it to a dealer in the 1st place. Like healthcare, once they got you in, you can bet they will find something wrong. It perpetrates their existence. The dealer is a business like any other, they know, if they don't do the repair, someone else might, so you are being held "captive", as it were. Today, new trucks aren't selling, and dealers are forced to gouge existing customers to stay in business, and you, my friend are on the tail end of that. Few places more pronounced in ripoffs than vehicle repair, of ALL KINDS, not just semis. What to do? Too late now, and why so many are going back to their "older" truck, the dealer couldn't care less if your truck isn't moving, it's making money for them just sitting back there, and why private , smaller firms are simply overwhelmed.
Bottom line, you want to play, you have to pay, and it's the repair folks that are calling the shots, and if it's any consolation, it will only get worse from here on in,,,

 

Take care of what ever errands and small projects I have and drink beer, sometimes together, usually get the cat to help with some recipts/paper work too.

no way I’d ever get rid of an old truck I know for a used truck I don’t know, brand new or bust

 

If you can't or won't DIY there's 2 options. Sign the truck in and go home for several days while it sits in their parking lot with nothing being done. Or go wait in the driver's lounge all day long for it to maybe get done but if they have to freight parts add another half or whole day to that. Added bonus if there's a driver in the waiting lounge running that mouth nonstop.

 

I've lost count on how many nights I have spent in the dealers lounge. Its easier to stay sometimes then return from home. Dealers nightshift is meant to finish at 9pm, but they have gone through to 11.30 to get the job done, and more than once. Guess its not every case or night, but I feel that is some of the upside of getting along with the guys in the workshop.

My dealer has a two week wait on servicing and bookings, they can fit small emergencies in but really its get in line. They must have 20 guys on the shop floor during the day and 10 at night. Probably could do with double that.

 

I have a few mechanics from dealer to shops with 10 staff. I imagine they all run a bit the same. Mon-Tue the auto sparky comes, if you fall outside those days you wait of go elsewhere. Radiators go to the radiator work shop Wednesdays, fall outside that you wait or go elsewhere, gearbox.....repeat, diffs....repeat. Welding.....repeat.

The ol mechanic is not a mechanic anymore, just a fitter. I've even had one mechanical shop where the owner came from surveying. The business was just something he purchased for an opportunity to do something different. Nothing wrong with that, but there is a lot of missing knowhow.

 

The actual DD software is only $550 a year from the dealer plus the adapter. That’s a bargain compared to a week off. Anyone with a Daimler truck should get the free DTNA Portal which will let you look up parts by your vin, wiring, etc. If you link Excelerator to your local dealer you can view pricing and availability of those parts.