triple-tango:
I’m driving one at the moment. Comfortable to drive. Seems to average 7.9 -8.2 mpg loaded pulling a triple axle trailer.
Drive take up is very jerky when slow manouvering unless in “low”.
Switching to manual is essential when climbing hills as Juddian said.
I can always outdrag the other trucks going up motorway inclines, so its torquey enough.
Bed is comfortable too!
out drag other trucks on motorways?? you must be on about empty! they couldn’t pull a greasy man out of bed fuel consumption as you say is bang on, aka rubbish. ours are hovering around that mark, before the tappets were done on mine it struggled to get 7, our 16 ltr V8 580’s were getting 8.2 average,
agreed bed is very comfy and wide,
would rather have a new premium then a man tgx/tga
Harry Monk:
Whatever vehicle I choose, giving it back after a few months isn’t an option. I know that I will have to commit to it for a minimum of two years, and four if I go down the route of buying new. I’m still looking at it, but as an all-inclusive deal the maths do stack up.
if you are considering new, you can get a 460 XF105 SSC 6x2 for £70,000
XF DAF,you won’t get a better NEW truck for 70grand,
ady1:
had them when it was corby chilled,very comfortable,went o.k,but even though theyd only done 300k they were falling apart,switches,doors etc,etc the scanias we also had at the time had done 700k + but were still rock solid,as i say they were probally the most comfortable truck ive drove,i liked driving them,but the fit and finish was woefull to be honest.i remember the bloke who was involved in buying/speccing process said we wouldnt be having any more.that said i still see one[i assume its the same truck still about],going after all these years
had a 58 reg on another job ,i always remember it went in too have a repair done to the wipers,they cable tied it,boss was not impressed at all,the truck was basically new.
I thought you said you drove a City Link van and didn’t have an HGV licence?
Harry, why the ■■■■ does this guy ruin every thread! What the ■■■■ man!
Anyway, I don’t find the man that cheap, I like the interior if I’m honest. I haven’t bashed the ■■■■ out of it yet as I’m not always driving it but it seems well made.
It’s all relative though, maybe you have a few small niggles, but it’s cheaper to buy. You pay a lot more for a Scania, but it has less down time, I think it depends on the work you’re doing and the amount you could lose on down time should the worst happen.
MAN are doing good deals on trucks at the moment btw.
newmercman:
Ady1, Mo, Walter Mitty, whoever you are You just admitted on the UK forum that you don’t have a class one, that you’ve never worked for Stobart, Innovate or Corby chilled, yet here you are popping up like a hollow turd, you say the 02 Volvos were before your time, well as you’ve never worked there, did you mean that you never saw any while you stood on a footbridge taking pics so you could knock one out over them when you got home
oh look a zb moderator turning up,what a suprise,noti guess youve had orders from the gaffer,dont worry i wont be on here long,like ricky SAID THERE WATCHING US ,bet its damage limitation for my mob,bet the white coated men are on there way now anyway got to shoot off,heard theres a stobart actross about ,got to get a pic of that
I only moderate the ExPats Forum, so we’re even, I’m not a moderator here and you ain’t a lorry driver
Come on the ExPats, stay within the rules and you won’t get any official attention, but I’ll call you out for being a liar everytime you tell a porkie, that my pedigree chum, is life in the real world
Ta, but I’ve gone off the idea of them now, I sat in the driver’s seat of one for a couple of minutes, and without even driving it I knew that I didn’t like it.
Go to walker movements / fleetex had a few good deals out them over the years
can get some good deals from walkers, but, they are usually very high mileage and generally not in the best of conditions internally and externally, they do, however, occasionally have some clean trucks, usually scottish and been double shifted so the mileage is extremely high
also with Walkers, it is pretty much sold as seen, no warranty given or implied
Fleetex are part of the same company as Walkers, but their vehicles are generally in a better condition and slightly lower mileage, you get a 6 week major driveline warranty from Fleetex
Walkers usually buy single or a couple of trucks from a company, whereas, Fleetex will buy quite a few from the same company
at Fleetex, if you want a truck, and say it has the 3 piece wheel arches, if the top sections are rough, they will let you swap them from other vehicles to tidy up the one you want
the lads at Fleetex are a pleasure to deal with, i have purchased 2 vehicles from them myself, both MAN’s, and had very little trouble with either of them
Pretty much echo what Spanky says, Walkers/Fleetex are cheap, but vehicles are pretty much sold as seen and generally very high mileage. I picked a truck up from Walkers last year for an ex boss, it had obviously been sitting for ages, batteries were totally dead and it broke down at Newport Pagnell services on the way back.
CVME are more expensive, but the truck will have had a major service and clutch/brakes replaced if worn below tolerance, will have known service history and three months driveline warranty.
I still haven’t made a decision yet, but it’s about being able to find the right balance between cost and value. I still don’t have the O Licence, though it will be nine weeks tomorrow since I put it in so I’m hoping to get it in the next week or so.
don’t get me wrong Harry, some of the trucks from Fleetex are very good value for money
in September 2010, i purchased an 06 plate TGA XLX, in that time, apart from general service items and tyres, i have had very little trouble with it
the items that i can think of are the drivers door window regulator, an air valve on the auto transmission and a front cab air bag, but, the cab air bag was not a part failure as such, it happened because someone removed/replaced the lower grille and when they refitted it, they didn’t put the water pipe for the headlamp washers in the correct place and it has worn a hole in the cab air bag
for the price i paid for the truck, i really can’t complain about it, this was why i purchased the 57 plate TGA XXL in January this year
‘probably’ i would look into a little a little further if i was you when i first started i got laughed at by main dealers namely iveco on there 350 a week all in deal told me to come back in 12 months got told probably by some dealers selling some trucks around 15 - 20 k but i would put money on me not getting anywhere if i’d of proceeded any further they dont want to no any risky lending and a new start as you no is just that thank god i didnt go down that route and stayed in the ‘‘economy range’’ there are a lot of restless nights to be had in this game and when you start of a lot of learning to be done i did as you are doing and tried to cost for all possible out goings trust me give it six months look at those figures and you will burn them good luck to you you sound like you have some good work lined up but just be prepaired for what you will be doing you may not like it and may want to get out
I’m not going to go too far into personal finances, because they’re personal.
But I am looking at putting 20k of my own money down on a £35k truck and obviously I am in a strong negotiating position with those figures, particularly as I have a faultless credit history and the loan is secured against the asset. Close Asset Finance have already offered me the money I want at 7% APR but I think I can get that down by a couple of percentage points.
thats a lot of money for your first truck i think you will do what you want reguardless of what anyone says good luck to you but you are going to be in for a rough ride i aint no expert just a couple of years down the line than yourself i thought i knew what i was on about but its been a real eye opener
Well, perhaps I’m mad, or foolish, or naive, I don’t know. I have worked it out to the n’th degree but essentially I am just copying people I know who do the same thing and make a decent living doing it so it’s not exactly “a leap in the dark”.
Anyway, I’ve always found that it’s the things you wanted to do but didn’t that you regret more than the things you did do which didn’t work out quite as well as you planned.
there lies your first mistake follow no one that way if you get it right it was all your idea get it wrong you can blame no one trust no one but good friends will make all the difference never a truer word i owe that man a pint
fuel consumption as you say is bang on, aka rubbish. ours are hovering around that mark, before the tappets were done on mine it struggled to get 7, our 16 ltr V8 580’s were getting 8.2 average,
You just admitted on the UK forum that you don’t have a class one, that you’ve never worked for Stobart, Innovate or Corby chilled, yet here you are popping up like a hollow turd, you say the 02 Volvos were before your time, well as you’ve never worked there, did you mean that you never saw any while you stood on a footbridge taking pics so you could knock one out over them when you got home 
