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I'm writing this complaint wondering if I’m the only person in this situation. I'm a small business owner with 4 tow trucks and a light duty service truck. I bought all 4 of my tow trucks from a place called Beltway International in Baltimore Maryland within the past 2 years. Since The International company is known for its reputation with reliability and warranty I figured this was the best way to go. Since then I have had nothing but problems with the trucks. I cannot even begin to write the amount of times our trucks have been in service for reasons due to mechanical failure. I'm talking about stuff that a Preventative Maintaince check has nothing to do with. Alternators, Water Pumps, High Pressure Pumps, Turbos, King Pins, Wire Harnesses, and Cam Shafts just to name a few. These are trucks that aren't even 2 years old and have already had all of this work done. I have been put in a situation that is very hard to get out of, by having the trucks broken down so often it has begun to cost me more money than they are making. Once I talked with the service department at the dealership they basically tell me that the only thing they can do is fix the truck, even though on numerous occasions the thing that they need to fix, has already been fixed before. Part of my biggest complaint is when the trucks go in for service with an appointment scheduled, it doesn't get looked at for approx. 2 days, then it takes a day or 2 for them to figure out what is wrong with it, then 7 out of 10 times the part has to be special ordered. As of right now I have two trucks down, one of them needs a camshaft (for the second time) and the other needs injectors or a high pressure pump (2nd time on injectors, 3rd on high pressure pump). After talking with one of the service guys today, he told me that my camshaft is "code L" (whatever that means) and it wont be "shipped" until august 5th (today is July 17th). I feel that International should have to take responsibility for their products they sell. There is obviously something being done wrong at the manufacturing plant where these trucks are made or the same thing wouldn't be breaking down over and over on multiple trucks. Another incident I had with International been upon purchase of my second truck (which we had special built for hauling 3 cars at a time). After driving it a couple of miles we realized something was wrong in the transmission and took it directly to the dealer. We were informed that something in the transmission was put in backwards. Before the first payment was made on that truck it was in the shop for over a month waiting for another "code L" part. International fixed the problem with no charge but the transmission has never been right. After getting numerous replies from the dealer saying that there was nothing wrong with the transmission, and after driving it for a little over a year with the transmission acting like it does, International told me that I would have to pay to get the entire transmission rebuilt due to "Driver's Error". I tried to explain to them that I have been telling them since day one that the transmission wasn't right, but was basically told that I have to pay to fix it or get a broken truck back. To this day the transmission still acts like it does. This has put a strain on me, my family, my employees, and my company. Once a truck goes down for repair, it not only affects the company’s pocket, but the drivers depend on that truck to put food on their family’s tables. I'm sure that if I’m going through all of these problems with 4 trucks, there has to be more people out there with the same kind of problem. Please e-mail me with any stories that you have related to this, and hopefully we can come together and hold someone accountable.
Thank You [protected]@aol.com.
Our 2 internationals were purchased new 3 years ago. countless non-routine, non-wear and tear parts have been replaced on both vehicles. The dealer tells me our one truck is a lemon but the other is fine. They have both been in the shop countless times starting week one - and have gone back every week it seems. Our drivers have been stranded many times as well. They are both pieces of junk and cost us down time - our drivers don't even want to take them on the road anymore. Anyone that has any ideas on how to fight international and win on these issues please contact me. We are a small business and can't afford the downtime anymore. I would love feedback if anyone else has had success and would be willing to share. I ALSO will say to anyone thinking of buying an international vehicle - DON'T DO IT! You will regret your purchase; and will receive the worst service when trying to deal with the many issues of these trucks.
We purchased three new International Durastars from 5 Star International in Lancaster starting in May 2011 - only 4 months ago. Since that time all three trucks have been in the shop for one thing and another continually. And, it's like you said Steve - International doesn't win any awards for their speedy repairs, even if the truck is NEW. We have also had problems with having to repair the same exact part time and time again - each time with the truck being several days, if not a week, in the shop. One of our trucks sat in their garage for 3 weeks straight waiting for repairs to be completed. That wasn't the first or last trip to the garage for repairs either. This same truck spent a week in Allentown getting "repaired". This same truck was towed in from New Jersey to PA on August 31. It stayed in the shop for several days that time as well. We had to replace the steer tires at only 20K miles. International did not align the truck prior to delivering it to us. Two of our drivers took this truck to Wyoming last week. They broke down in Davenport, IA and were "repaired" by Hawkeye International That repair lasted approximately 8 hours. They broke down again in North Platte, NE and had to be towed to Cornhuskers International. That was last Tuesday night - 9 days ago. Our drivers finally had to get a rental truck in North Platte, TRANSFER THEIR LOAD, and make the delivery in Wyoming. You would think that the dealer would have rushed the truck through, given the background on this truck. We are starting to believe that it is International corporate policy to delay warranty work as long as possible to irritate their customers to the point of taking their trucks elsewhere for repair so that International is not forking out the $$ for repairs. Our drivers decided to get a rental car and drive back to PA from NE since they were needed here on Monday morning for other deliveries. So - we're all in PA and our truck is in NE. Supposedly International is "keeping us informed" and "staying on top of things". That is just corporate BS to make it sound like they're really doing something. It's not like the other two trucks are working well either. Our drivers are regularly having to crawl under the truck and bang on something with a hammer to get the truck to START. And to add insult to injury, the trucks are getting between 4 - 5.5 mpg - about half of Internationals' advertised fuel mileage for these Durastars. We have effectively doubled our fuel costs by switching to Internationals. These three trucks represent the backbone of our small fleet of 5 trucks, so these issues are very serious to us. The poor performance of these trucks is affecting our reputation with our customers, as we are forced to delay deliveries due to repairs and other malfunctionings. This issue really affects our company morale as well. Drivers are excited at the prospect of a new truck, but quickly come to prefer their old trucks that actually ran instead of their new trucks that keep them out on the road for longer waiting for a tow, doing endless regens, or looking like a fool climbing under the truck at a customers jobsite to try and get it to start. International is covering the cost of the rental truck to get to Wyoming, the hotel for one of the extra nights that we were stuck out ont the road, and the rental car to get home. They have also said that they will cover the rental car to get back to NE to pick up our truck. Getting them to do this much involved lots of time and phone calls, and was never something that International suggested themselves. They would have been content to have our two drivers sitting in North Platte, NE for the past 9 days. We came up with those ideas, and International makes it sound like they're doing US such a huge favor by covering these costs. Besides, all of that is NOT GOOD ENOUGH. International needs to get that truck back to PA themselves, and most importantly, MAKE SURE IT RUNS! And - fix the other two trucks so that they run also. These trucks have @20K miles on them and the OLDEST one was purchased in May. The other two trucks were purchased after that first one. Our mistake. I don't understand why International doesn't want to fix these problems. It is unbelievably obvious to everyone, including International, that these trucks are junk on which we just spent a quarter of a million dollars. Someone from International told me that there is no lemon law for trucks in PA. I simply cannot find words to convey my extreme frustration and disgust with International. To International: When a customer purchases a truck from you, it is generally understood that if that customer is paying you $80K for a new truck, that new truck will run properly. Otherwise, why would we bother? If your product does not perform, it is not our fault. And don't expect us to feel sorry for YOU as you relate the problems that you're having. FIX OUR TRUCKS! And do it quickly and properly. Our old, used Freightliners can run circles around these Durastars and get much better mileage in the process. If anybody reading this review is comtemplating purchasing an International Truck, all I can say is DON'T DO IT! You will be sorry. They might look good, but you'll think they are the ugliest truck on the road as they leave you sit time after time after time. You'd better have a good relationship with your tow truck operator. And you will go ballistic trying to deal with their warranty repair process. I repeat - DON'T BUY INTERNATIONAL!