# Mercedes Benz vs Cat C7



## pahvantpiper (Apr 25, 2006)

Back in the truck hunt. Looking at a couple 2007 freightliner m2 class trucks. Any experience with the Cat vs the Mercedes? The Mercedes has 260 HP vs 210 HP for the Cat. I've always loved Cat for our loaders on the dairy but have heard some negative things from a trucker about these newer Cat engines in trucks. Anyway, comments welcome. BTW, broken down (again) in Cali with my F550. Gotta love it.


----------



## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

Rob, Do you have one of the old ford Diesel engines? If its giving you issues have you considered a truck with the newer 6.7 engine. We have a newer one. Has the power of a rocket and tows well. Reviews on engine problems seem to be negligible to nonexistent.


----------



## RAK (May 2, 2010)

Phil, how many miles on the 6.7's so far and any repairs?


----------



## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

30k +- , O on the repairs although we need to get it checked out because an idiot light came on after my son pulled a car out of the ditch in the Yukon territories while coming back from AK a month back.

If you look at the milage some people have gotten hassle free on the new ones it is way better than the previous Diesel engines.


----------



## mathesonequip (Jul 9, 2012)

from a mechanics view you could not pay me enough to own a Mercedes powered m2. I have seen them so rusted that to change a starter on one less than 3 years old we had to lift it off the ground with a jack under the starter and hit the hit the truck with a sledge hammer to get the starter loose. lots of stuff tucked inside the frame rails awful to get at, have to take the whole nose off to get at 2 condenser bolts. a total fiasco of a computer controlled lighting system, take one light bulb out anywhere everything works fine put it back in drive 100 feet everything shuts down and locks up until you do a complete computer re-boot, that is everything shutdown, totaly dead brakes locked. a new radiator air freighted from Germany that had to have metric fittings recut due to poor quality machineing.... the sprinter series is about the same deal...they run nice, ok until you have to fix them.


----------



## pahvantpiper (Apr 25, 2006)

Thanx Math for the advice I'll avoid the Mercedes. Any advice on the Cat c7? Phil, Yeah my 6.4 has been a dog. But, have a buddy with new 6.7 and has almost 100k not a single issue yet. Also have another acquaintance that has had several 6.4's with big issues but now has a few 6.4's that he loves. I think they finally got it right after the new regulations the government forced on them. Anyway, probably going to get a newer Ford at some point but for now I still need a bigger truck like a Freightliner.


----------



## mathesonequip (Jul 9, 2012)

I have some friends that have some light 10 wheel dump-trucks ,chevy and gmc with dura-max [issuzu] engines in them. they have been worked real hard and have done real well. I think they are around 210 hp. these trucks have really been worked hard... personaly I have leaned toward fords or internatiol in the past. I used to have good luck with the ih 345 small block gas motor.


----------



## RAK (May 2, 2010)

Rob, Is 07 the first year trucks got the CA sticker? I bit off topic, but how is that Californian law working so far? Did it get delayed another year or is that rumor?


----------



## JessL (Feb 5, 2014)

I actually work for a CAT dealer (we do service all makes and models though). We have a Mercedes in the shop right now with 35,000 miles on it and it is here for a rebuild, this is standard on these trucks so that should tell you plenty.

A 2007 C7 is an Acert engine which meets 04 emissions ratings (but is not an engine which has a regeneration system that has been causing so many drivers problems - thanks EPA). The C7 is a great engine as long as you provide regular maintenance (especially fuel filters) and replace the regulator at the back of the head at regular intervals.


----------



## Yvesrow1 (Jan 27, 2013)

I strongly suggest you stay away from Mercedes, The CAT engines which are unfortunately discontinued now in Canada for failure to meet emission requirements are rock solid, have exceptional support through the OEM as well as 3/4 of truck shops who train their techs by the OEM & actually are not all that bad on fuel from what I hear... Mercedes on the other hand takes the prize for Google's automatic "drop-down" word fill in system at the search query for helping you to find fault codes when you type in " mercedes truck engine" Stay away, they're riddled with issues, just look at my profile as to what I do for a living...


----------

