What do you think , are they reliable , thirsty , strong or otherwise . Any good in the soft stuff .
Seem to tick most of the boxes potentially for me ( owner driver ) ie. 410 horses , air con ,euro 4 for London and more affordable than most other stuff . Is there a reason for that ?
Cheers Paul
I drove one for a couple of months. It was a bit thirsty but plenty of get up and go not heard anyone have major problems with them and they are cheap.
Back in 2005 2006 all the big firms round our way were buying them like there was no tomorrow as they were cheap and available and they took over the local foden dealer who had a strong relationship with the tipper game but I’ve noticed Erith group have gone back to scania and keltbray have gone to renault and scania.
Kr 79 thanks for that .I did notice that a lot of big firms had them for about 3 years and then changed. I don’t know if thats for business reasons or the cost of diesel over a fleet or unreliability .
I have heard that Killourghy wasn’t that happy with the Renaults also but these are fleet operators so different requirements I suppose. I do know that Scanias are good from first hand , but I haven’t got Euro 4 Scania money .
My options are 57 plate Hino v 03 Foden , Man , Iveco , Scania and add £4000-£5000 worth of exhaust for the Lez.
Hino seems best option unless I hear too many bad stories.
Thanks
My firm has bought a couple of renault kerax and to be fair they are a good motor and reasonably priced.
i drove a brand new one wen it got delivered to us,was a 57 plate,we were doing topsoil removal was getting tipped in a grass field on a farm,as soon as it got soft,i lost grip,x reg foden was plodding in an out all day without any probs,could have been down to tyre choice tho
I looked at the Renault Kerax because they were cheap , I actually like them and McArdle used to run the old type Kerax and I hear they are a good tipper . There is one in the yard where I park and I always hear the owner complaining about the cost of the parts and the time they take to come . I think anything a little bit obscure will be the same , maybe even the Hino .
Thanks
Thanks Bobbert , tyres do make a lot of difference but I will try to get a go of a Hino in the tip or at least watch some very closely.
driven a couple in the past pretty good off road , go well but parts are pricey and a lot of dealers that took them on when foden packed up dont do them now 
oh and driving positon is ok if you are 5 foot tall 
There was a thread on this not long ago. I bought one (6x4) and I give my opinion here;
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=72366&p=926724#p926724
Specific to what you’re asking about; Off road they are excellent, far better than most and certainly better than the ‘premium brands’ like Volvo and Scania. My uncle runs two on fairly regular landfill work (hooklift) and they’ve not got stuck yet.
Parts are indeed expensive and not always easy to get hold of. However, I’ve been running mine for two years and had very, very little go wrong. It was also cheap to buy.
It is a bit heavy on the juice and the slap-over box is a pain in heavy traffic but in terms of value for money I’m well pleased.
Thanks Hammer
Cheers for that link , I’m in the same boat , not enough cash for what I really want ( Man ) so maybe the Hino will do . I know someone with an 8 legger grab that I will try to get a go of .
I had a 2005 700 for 5 years, it was an 8 legger roll on/off. And I wouldn’t buy another one, on paper they look great but in reality they’re not great at all. I went through six springs on the 2nd steer axle even though I was very careful not to dog her through sites, tips, etc… Seat base wore away after a year and cost €700 to replace (€125 for a seat base for the previous model)! Turbo went at 96000km and had to battle with the dealer to replace it in the end they gave me a 2nd hand turbo but had to get it fitted myself, didn’t complain cos a new turbo was €3500. Towards the end before I got rid of it the gearbox was on it’s way out, only had 200000km on it.
In short they are uncomfortable, thirsty on the open road but not too bad around town, expensive for parts and you will need parts. Not very powerfull either, i know they say its a 420 but it has to be the worst 420 ive ever driven, felt more like a 320. I personally would not recommend them at all.