Moving on from this… how about the mpg■■?
I too am looking at buying - similar price range for mostly motorway work although not running that much at 44t, mostly about 30 - 35t.
Currently running an FM12 on hire that’s getting me about 8mpg (running empty homeward), is that good? Could I get summat better??
we run daf cfs 380s and merc axors 430s on 44 t work, the dafs are 03s and are very very reliable and do about 7-8 mpg.the mercs which are not so reliable do 10+mpg without tryin.even when new the dafs could only do about 9 mpg ,but over the yrs i would have thought the daf would have been the better option.
daf 430 cf for me its got enough room to be away all week in the ones ive driven have been reliable and comphy to drive and they wont cost the earth to by or run
the important word in your post is RELIABLE, taking account of what you want to do any make of truck will work if you follow a few common sense ways.
take a mechanic with you when you go to inspect it, look for an r+m if poss,
take it for a long test run, find out as much history as poss. then decide if the asking price is relevant to age, history, long term RELIABILTY, and with a bit of luck you wont go wrong. dont by the first thing you fancy just cos the price sounds right,
good luck and i hope you find a good un.
weewulliewinkie:
t
take a mechanic with you when you go to inspect it, look for an r+m if poss,
.
just to be different, I would avoid anything that had been on a R&M contract 
in my mind a vehicle on a contract would have had the minimum amount of maintenance possible !!
Imagine a repair workshop working on a vehicle with a contract ( not sure how much but lets assume £500 a month ) After they’ve spent the £500 they’re going to be losing money - so what’s going to happen ■■? the absolute minimum !!! so I would prefer a truck that had been maintained with a long term idea of it’s servicing !!
agree with everything else WWW said though
Denis F:
in my mind a vehicle on a contract would have had the minimum amount of maintenance possible !!
I agree. If a workshop is getting the same amount of money regardless of the amount of work they do then they’ll make the most money by doing as little work as possible and delaying all necessary work as long as possible.
Paul
repton:
Denis F:
in my mind a vehicle on a contract would have had the minimum amount of maintenance possible !!I agree. If a workshop is getting the same amount of money regardless of the amount of work they do then they’ll make the most money by doing as little work as possible and delaying all necessary work as long as possible.
Paul
Wrong 
The dealers don’t make money selling lorries, they make it by charging the manufacturer for R&M packages & warranty work, the more they do the more they earn, The R&M money is paid directly to the manufacturer so it’s in their interests to build reliable motors, when they do go in to the workshops nothing is repaired anymore, they just replace it with a new part, therefore earning the dealer money.
Thats not my experience, I had a 2543 actros autotrans on full R&M and the dealer did as little as possible, infact the only MOT failures I have ever had were when the dealer (Pentagon of Southampton) took it in for test and it failed on brakes twice on the bounce!!! Those failures went down on my O’licence, even though I had nothing to do with the maintanance of the lorry. I would rather have a second hand lorry which had not been on an R&M package, but rather owned by a one man band or small hauiler who looked after their own maintanance. Oh and I will never buy another Mercedes…EVER!
Personal experience says buy something that you can live with for at least 2 years. My first choice was a 380 scania 44ton with an RPC certificate. Had it chipped to 440 and was doing bulk from norfolk to turriff. Good fuel returns, reliable and comfortable. Be careful not to fall into the big horse power trap. My second choice weren’t so clever. 460 FH12. Fuel economy fell by 1.5mpg. Nearly broke me. Although an incredibly strong and reliable truck. Now have 420 scania, fuel economy ok but still not as strong as volvo. Not as great as the 380 (he says wearing rose tints!) Try and avoid something with out a strong dealer network, thats where scania and volvo gain points. Daf 85 appears to be a good tool, altough dealer back up quality varies apparently. I hope this helps,
Tramper:
Thats not my experience, I had a 2543 actros autotrans on full R&M and the dealer did as little as possible, infact the only MOT failures I have ever had were when the dealer (Pentagon of Southampton) took it in for test and it failed on brakes twice on the bounce!!! Those failures went down on my O’licence, even though I had nothing to do with the maintanance of the lorry. I would rather have a second hand lorry which had not been on an R&M package, but rather owned by a one man band or small hauiler who looked after their own maintanance. Oh and I will never buy another Mercedes…EVER!
That IS a problem, some dealers are a shower of ■■■■■ that’s for sure but if the servicing dealer has a good reputation then it won’t be an issue. I have no knowledge of Pentagon but it mainly deals with vans I think, that may have been the problem
newmercman:
I have no knowledge of Pentagon but it mainly deals with vans I think, that may have been the problem
No, they’re a truck dealer, they cover the Maritime and Debens fleets amongst others rsi-cda.mercedes-benz.com/conten … rucks.html
well wat i think is that all people need is when they start is a cheap reliable truck that is good enough for the job its supposed to do and also have a good enough trailer to pull with it and any money left over and leave it in the bank so you can afford a newer and bigger truck later on and if you don’t spend that much on ur truck and stuff if things go ■■■■ up ur not left with as much debt as people are when they try and go adventurous on there first truck
jonnytruckfest:
well wat i think is that all people need is when they start is a cheap reliable truck that is good enough for the job its supposed to do and also have a good enough trailer to pull with it and any money left over and leave it in the bank so you can afford a newer and bigger truck later on and if you don’t spend that much on ur truck and stuff if things go ■■■■ up ur not left with as much debt as people are when they try and go adventurous on there first truck
a think you will be prime minister one day 
I would vote for the Premium. If you have some mechanical knowhow then get a 99 or 2000 400bhp. Look for one that has less than a million ks on it if you can find one. The motors are bulletproof, the gearbox may be notchy but goes on forever. they are light and pretty good on fuel if you drive them right.
I bought a 98 4x2 from Renault and that truck was simply brilliant. It never failed to get me back and the troubles I had were minor but irritating. I sold it after 4 years and the man who bought it from me ran it for a year before selling it on again.
One thing. If you buy from a dealership, watch for the warranty paperwork when you are signing up and hand it back. Most of the time their warranty is worthless and adds to your cost. Find a decent mechanic and stick with them. After a while, you get to know the vehicle well and you learn a bit of how things work.
in a previous post on this topic i said go for the cf daf but looking at the prices of em youd be better off with the premium i drove quite a few and its a good motor i had the early 385,s at city transport and they never broke and ive driven various 420s at differant firms if i were going down the owner driver route it would be what id buy but its like any truck look after it and it wont let ya down
jonnytruckfest wrote:
well wat i think is that all people need is when they start is a cheap reliable truck that is good enough for the job its supposed to do and also have a good enough trailer to pull with it and any money left over and leave it in the bank so you can afford a newer and bigger truck later on and if you don’t spend that much on ur truck and stuff if things go ■■■■ up ur not left with as much debt as people are when they try and go adventurous on there first truck
a think you will be prime minister one day
the day that happens lol is the day that general haulage pays and i agree that premiums are nice motors but buy from a company that you know that the drivers don’t just rag em about. and like most people will tell you don’t use your imagination for what truck you want even if you have the money less money you spend then if everything goes ■■■■ up exuse my french then you will have less debt to worry about