Rant: Had to choose between a new LMI and a used Liebherr last week

I went with the used Liebherr because the price was right at $180k less than the LMI, but man the maintenance log was scary. First week on the job and the swing brake started acting up, now I'm wondering if I made a mistake. Anyone else take a gamble on an older machine and regret it?

3 comments

3 Comments

spencer9811mo ago

@joel_clark37 nailed it, it's a straight gamble sometimes. I saw a guy last year buy a used Liebherr that looked great on paper but the service records showed it'd been through three different dealers in two years. Ended up with a $50k rebuild bill six months in. You got $180k off the price, but that swing brake could be the tip of a deep iceberg. Keep an eye on the hydraulic system, if they skimped on maintenance there, it could get expensive fast. Might end up being worth it in the long run, but those first few months are always tense.

joel_clark371mo ago

Used equipment is always a roll of the dice.

holly_reed551mo agoTop Commenter

@joel_clark37 you're not wrong at all man. I bought a used Cat 320 last year that the dealer swore was "turnkey". First week the AC didn't work, second week the boom started drifting. Ended up being a bad seal in the main control valve. Cost me 8 grand to fix and I was down for two weeks during a tight deadline. I swear these machines get cleaned up just enough to hide the real problems. @joel_clark37 it really is just a gamble every time you buy used, no matter how clean they make it look. Some people get lucky, some of us get schooled.