Which Late Model, 2012 Up Engines Are The Most Reliable?

Personally I would say go with a Detroit. Understand pretty much every after treatment has issues. Cummins is pretty much a catch all. You can get any truck with one in it. Of the remaining engines/trucks Freightliner/Western Star with the Detroit will have the next most expansive service network. Every TA/Petro with a shop is a Freightliner Service Point. Cummins have generally good engines, but they have had their fair share of clunkers. IS13 around 2012 time frame comes to mind. Petes/KWs have their in house engines in the Paccar, Volvo makes their own engine, Mack has their own engine and of course the Maxxforce from International was a Flop.

I would go with a Detroit simply because of the service network.

I hear the Mack's MX-8 TC is just a rebranded Volvo D13. Since Volvo owns Mack it makes sense. It is conjecture though. So don't take that as gospel.

Correction: Mack's engine is the MP-8 TC sorry. MX is the paccar engines. You got to love all the similarities.

The MP-8 and D13 are built on the same production line but are two very different motors. The early model MaxxForce wasn't a horrible motor until emissions equipment was introduced but it still had some oiling issues that International never addressed. You mention that you currently have the N14. Personally, I'd rebuild that one or get a brand new one, they're still available and hands down, the best motor Cummins ever produced as far as reliability. The ISX series Cummins had water jacket issues and sleeve issues which caused massive oil consumption problems leading to early rebuilds. The new X15, well, they aren't much better. I have a good friend who had his let go at 128k. Being so new, there are no rebuild kits yet and Cummins refuses to replace his motor even though it was the bottom end that let go (crank broke in 3 pieces and destroyed 2 cylinders). They want to replace the head and rebuild the bottom end but he's looking at 9-12 weeks possibly before it gets done. He wants a new motor and the dealership is on his side because the measurements for the front seals are out of spec and it will never be a good motor. The series 60 has always been a solid and inexpensive motor to own and work on, good power and fuel economy and live to be wound up.

I really appreciate you guys taking the time to share what you have learned and observed with me. I have already narrowed my focus considerably. I have subscribed to an auction company's service where can look at the results of their sales going back 10 years, if you want to, but just looking at their last several sales, I was at one of them, it really parallels what you guys are saying. You can really see the patterns. The Volvo trucks look good and have not heard much negative stuff about them. They sell for fairly reasonable prices. Any of ya'll anything about them?

Volvos are not a bad deal. Engine wise it is kinda hit and miss. You could get a good engine that never has issues. Or one from the same model and production year that seems to break down every other week. Generally though, Volvo engines tend to be fairly reliable. Shift points and how the engine behaves is very similar to the Detroit DD series. The only thing is Volvo engines lack the low end grunt of the Detroit.

As far as Volvo trucks. Their fairings are cheaply built. Volvos do tend to have good insulation and smooth rides though. They also have some nice amenities. Especially the 770, 780, 860