ive just spent a week out in a DAF CF65 that had 900K km on the clock since 04 the cab was cramped for getting dressed in because some halfwit spec’d the day cab with sleep not the space or super space cab with sleep
as regards to issues the ■■■■ thing appeared to have never been idle more than 10 hours a day to rack up so many KM so there were a few issue temp gauge wandering well up the range dodgy fuel gauge (pump ok) and a lack of power (then again the halfwit also spec’d it with a 220 engine for ■■■■ heavy work so not really the trucks fault)
I think a week in the garage for some TLC and she would of been able to do another 900K km with a half decent driver who looked after her but i certainly dont think he would want too many nights away in it too often.
as regards to your reliability question never had an issue with them as long as they are looked after but then again that can be said for anything look after it and it will last you longer
We have a CF85 380 4 wheeler as seen on the one show which i made in to a high roof it dose 13mpg all the time at 18tonne and 8.7 when running at 40 tonne the euro 4 lez exhaust blocks up less at 40 tonne than it did before we had the trailer its 03 reg and is not much trouble,the only thing i can fault on driving it is the vibrations through the gear stick, if it was bracketed to the chassis and not the engine it would be great.ooh and it wants a twin splitter fitting !
shugg:
For a brand of truck which outsells most others and many repeat orders , this is despite a question mark over reliability particularly the electrics , I would be interested in comments from drivers / and operators as to they rate the make .
Bit like saying all white van drivers are ■■■■■.
The more there are about . . only notice the bad points
Drove a DAF CF 85 410 since March 2010, one of five which all came to our depot brand new at that time. and are serviced regularly by our local DAF agent.
Since day one they have been plagued by electrical problems for example headlight main beam stays on when you flash, wiring shorting due to rubbing away along the chassis, wipers failing, computer giving false readings such as brake fault, ABS fault, engine stop fault, windscreen washer piping rubbing away and leaking, radio reception totally useless, the list goes on.
But the most frightening problem that has occurred a couple of times is the failure of a brake pipe on the rear axle which resulted in the vehicle coming to an instantaneous stop, once in the yard, but the other time at 40 mph on the Dudley by-pass, the resulting skid marks were there for weeks after.
I think the build quality is appalling not a patch on the Volvo FM 380’s they replaced and hopefully next year, when they are due for replacement, we will be going back to Volvo.
We run 8x4 tippers. 360 with ad blue. They are a very difficult truck to keep running.
Mx engine burns oil, requiring pistons and liners.
Turbos go pop and hydraulic the engine with oil if you don’t turn them off immediately.
Ad blue is nearly impossible to keep working (we bought a brand new ad blue tank and use a reputable supplier), NOX sensors fail regularly, injectors block and they are always trying to derate - so we disconnected it.
Main bearings spin in the block at 500k kms - engine scrap.
The wiring loom is a total joke. ENDLESS warnings on dash - when it rains they all start to light up. The rear brakes go to an emergency valve when the loom rubs through - out of the blue you have no rear brakes!
Syncros wear out on box - but that is a ZF unit so maybe not DAFs fault.
Starter solenoid wiring rots off and leaves you stranded - usually without warning.
Spring eye bushes are a pain to change.
Prop shaft is fitted with non grease able U/Js which started failing after 6 months and drop the main prop onto the road.
Hub seals and pinion seals constantly fail - they rarely last past 9 months.
They ride and handle well and have good traction in off road situations. Not bad on fuel.
But they are untenable to run on an economic basis due the constant downtime they suffer. I suspect resale will be weak due to reliability issues.
We have ran DAFs for 12 years now, but these will be our last.
Their reputation far exceeds their abilities.
I have seen more DAF’s on the hard shoulder than any other truck.
Also, had many problems with error messages “Engine Falling Out” “Gearbox Malfunction” “Air Dryer Fault” and that ZB beeping sound goes through me, especially when it will not shut up…
We have 10 xfs autos which we got brand new 59 plate and have covered 500 to 700 thou kms and every one has been trouble the list includes 7 turbos 3 ecus umpteen air valves,cracked/leaking screens,wiper linkages,alternators x5,constant dash warning lights for no reason,4x starters,cracked steps etc but as a driver I find them ok but wouldn’t like the repair bills ours are getting replaced with MANs shortly
Hmm on the agency ive driven LOADS of DAF’s… everything from 7.5t to 26t 6 wheelers.
Post 2010 seem ok, A bit better put together and a nicer drive. the PRE 2010 ones are shocking! bits of trim hanging off, all sorts of warning lights on the dash, dodgy transmissions (auto boxes), I had 1 where the ENTIRE dash shut down completely while driving, I had another where the suspension was going up and down like a yoyo every time you stopped at lights! TBH the older ones are a pretty poor machine…
That said, i’ve also driven an 09 plate Axxor… and would have a dodgy DAF over it EVERY time!
I have run both scania and volvo they are both over rated over priced ect ect The Daf I owned put far more money into my bank ,the worst one by far was the Scania,the Volvo I have now is poor because of the false warnings of this and that I would not buy another,
We have six 09 plates not the best truck, most of us dont like them as they sent the wrong cab !!! was ment to be the CF with the high cab(skycab??) anyways they sent the wrong one , second the engine is a 360bhp but screams its backside out after 50mph.
Even a 50mph its way outside the green band,great for city work but poor for motorway . Daf have never been able to address this , they where bought on the grounds we would get 13mpg (26t six wheelers) havent even got close to it , its got to the point the Daf drivers have a lower fuel bonus to achive than the merc drivers .
Recently one of them was in to Daf 13 times !!! trying to fix a suspension fault it would suddenly rise one side , then drop or jam then it would do it another side the next day or both sides would go up?down.
Last monday i was out in one the exhaust brake jammed on , whilst on the M8 , total loss of power and thick black smoke , i actualy thought it was on fire !
Daf called fixed in a hour , someone mentioned servicing , ours are done by daf on a R&M Contract so by any rights everything should be done to spec
Totally agree with you think salesman over reached 13mpg bit out of reach our better drivers are getting a average 11mpg in the Merc’s
I think the Dafs are at least 1mpg down on that
Fallmonk:
We have six 09 plates not the best truck, most of us dont like them as they sent the wrong cab !!! was ment to be the CF with the high cab(skycab??) anyways they sent the wrong one , second the engine is a 360bhp but screams its backside out after 50mph.
Even a 50mph its way outside the green band,great for city work but poor for motorway . Daf have never been able to address this , they where bought on the grounds we would get 13mpg (26t six wheelers) havent even got close to it , its got to the point the Daf drivers have a lower fuel bonus to achive than the merc drivers .
Recently one of them was in to Daf 13 times !!! trying to fix a suspension fault it would suddenly rise one side , then drop or jam then it would do it another side the next day or both sides would go up?down.
Last monday i was out in one the exhaust brake jammed on , whilst on the M8 , total loss of power and thick black smoke , i actualy thought it was on fire !
Daf called fixed in a hour , someone mentioned servicing , ours are done by daf on a R&M Contract so by any rights everything should be done to spec
DAF would have sent the vehicles as they where specced …if the cab and the diff ratios are wrong ,then that is the spec the customer required,DAF build to order ,they don’t have a vehicle park of built trucks …Only time that happens is at dealers when trucks are built and customer cancels or goes bust
Have no doubt in my mind that DAF built it to spec what am saying is the sales man spec’d it wrong and to add insult to injury OUR man also signed off on the spec !
Basically he took salesman out side should him our fleet at the time Merc Long haul can versions , told him we want same basically , cab, engine etc (have no idea if gears where discused)
Price was agreed sale was done and we are left with them for 7 years !
Daf then offered to sort them for us so could be doubled maned over night, what they done was butcher the cab , sunk the bottom bunk as low as it can go then make a makeshift top bunk out of wood !
(I have pictures below) an used seat belt material and attach it to sunroof to hold it in place . Basically a fubar .
I know we got them at a VERY good price as Daf salesman was trying to get in to a MERC only fleet so don’t know if that was a way of them recouping some cash , doubt it thou,they wouldn’t want to upsetting a new customer I think.
I have had many DAFs over the years, and been everywhere you could think of, from a 2600..2800..3300.., gave them a miss for a bit, then 5 yrs ago the firm got CFs with 460 engines, they wasnt too bad, but what followed was a disaster, still the CF, but with 400 engines, absolute crap, more problems than british rail,on a sunday, even the service garage said they were a 2 yr motor, and they wasnt far wrong, there were all sorts of problems, electrics, computer glitches, adblue probs, gearboxes, you name it, they suffered, but we did get 5 XFs as well, now those are a different animal, and very few problems. The company now have 17 new Mercs and 12 new XFs on order ( to add to the 5 weve already got,) and that should make a decent fleet, along with around 70 new trailers.
So my advice is…stay away from the CF range, for any kind of heavy work, ok for furniture, and light loads, they will run hot with a heavy load, and the intercooler will scream its head off, but will bring the temp down…eventually.
From the perspective of a fleet not so well maintained I would say DAFs cope very well. We have Volvos too but I find I’m forever defecting them with electronic faults like ‘engine system warning visit workshop’.
Found out today that we are getting a fleet of new CFs to replace our Premiums very soon. Not looking forward to them at all. Even the trampers are getting the CFs to replace their Stralis’s. They were meant to be getting XFs but they were apparently £40 a week dearer to lease. Gaffers obviously put price above drivers comfort in their list of priorities.
They always do Damoq, Our Transport man told me the company was keeping my 10yr old Volvo as it costs nothing to repair and run. I asked him if that’s the case why not replace them with like trucks. His said that the inital cost was dearer. I replied that it must be cheaper in the long run to spend a bit more on a truck that doesn’t break than buy a fleet of mixed DAF and Scania that are requiring repairs. He had no reply, just shrugged and wandered off!
Fallmonk:
Have no doubt in my mind that DAF built it to spec what am saying is the sales man spec’d it wrong and to add insult to injury OUR man also signed off on the spec !
Basically he took salesman out side should him our fleet at the time Merc Long haul can versions , told him we want same basically , cab, engine etc (have no idea if gears where discused)
Price was agreed sale was done and we are left with them for 7 years !
Daf then offered to sort them for us so could be doubled maned over night, what they done was butcher the cab , sunk the bottom bunk as low as it can go then make a makeshift top bunk out of wood !
(I have pictures below) an used seat belt material and attach it to sunroof to hold it in place . Basically a fubar .
I know we got them at a VERY good price as Daf salesman was trying to get in to a MERC only fleet so don’t know if that was a way of them recouping some cash , doubt it thou,they wouldn’t want to upsetting a new customer I think.
FFS Mick. I didn’t realise they had done that to the cabs to try and sort their mistake. Those wee cabbed CFs are bad enough for one guy to sleep in never mind 2 of you. I’m not claustrophobic, but there is no way I’d do an overnight in that. There’s only just enough room for your rucksack!!!
I didn’t realise they had done that to the cabs to try and sort their mistake. Those wee cabbed CFs are bad enough for one guy to sleep in never mind 2 of you. I’m not claustrophobic, but there is no way I’d do an overnight in that. There’s only just enough room for your rucksack!!!