after yet another breakdown and more down time i’ve decided to bite the bullet and put something decent on the road, pondered over another globie or maybe a daf95 both 03’s but based purely on dealer locallity, back up, fuel ecconemy and finance deals available a MAN seems to make the most sense but i know very little about em, fairly obviouse if your gona buy one of this age it’s gona be the xxl 460 with all the trimmings, anyone shed some light on what they’re like to run, the comfort shift which seems standard and if the backup is as good as it looks?
thanx
paul.
I run 3 of the XXL’s, 2 are 460, and the other is a 480 with comfort shift.
Comfort shift is exactly that, a nice smooth box in my opinion.
the 460’s are both auto, which I personally like and prefer above the comfort shift
Average consumption across all three motors is around the 9.6mpg,
I dont have any issues with the backup, but saying that, in 2.5 years only needed to call upon it once when an alternator decided to let go.
I like these motors and would be hard pressed to buy anything else right now.
Only downsides I have with these motors are
oversize steering wheels
curtain track prone to dropping
fridge that wants to be a freezer 
hope this info helps you
TC
Hi Paul, I’ve never owned one, but I did take a 460 demonstrator to Luxembourg and back, It had the comfort shift on the manual box, it pulled very well, smooth and quiet, fuel in the high 8’s and I got out of it after a full on 9 hours drive feeling the same as when I got in. The only downside that I came across was the huge windscreen made the cab a bit like a green house.
What they asking on an 03 plate?
would’ve been 25-26k plus r&m BUT theres none available at the minute not through man approved anyway, been upto wentworth park today to look at the mercs on a simular deal, mp2 megaspaces are a nice truck but come a bit pricey if based on a realistic yearly mileage,also looked at an 03 mp1 that had come straight from merc which was also a nice thing but no backup as i’ts from a sell anything dealer, also looked at an 03 daf that had been on the post office but looked more like an r reg!
as someone pointed out today the main dealers will sell/lease you a high spec wagon and tell you it will never let you down etc but then want 400+ a month maintanence which makes it a very expensive six weekly inspection if it’s as good as they claim, which might be fair comment.
Sounds cheap enough, but personally I’d be wary of the R&M. Have a look at the driveline warranty they offer, covers all the big bill parts,. I was always under the immpresion that R&M was a cover all policy but the truth is that they do as little as possible for the money, not replacing worn parts until absolutely necessary. And as for the Mercedes, well, you know what trouble I had with mine, and the dealers in the south are awful to deal with. Good luck.
May be worth your while looking at the ERF’s of the same vintage, they are basically the same wagon as the TGA
Why not look at a Renault Premium 
Any Renault dealer will give you a helluva deal+finance on a 2003 model and they’re light,easy on fuel,reliable and service parts are dirt cheap 
I am very happy with my 03 Opti-Driver equipped one and since it pulls like a donkey on steroids because it was “re-mapped” (475 horse 
) by the dealer and I also got 12 months full “driveline top-up” warranty as part of the deal. 
A Man XL 460 works out of the same quarry as me and I can beat him on payload,fuel and push him up the road every load.
i did toy with the idea of a magnum with manual box but like most i’ve not had anything to do with renaults and know absolutely nothing about em other than they used to have a rep for very weak electrics, no doubt the newer models are on par with anything else.
think really you’ve got to put any preconceptions out of your mind and talk to all the dealers for the best deal, can’t convince myself that r&m is the way to go so maybe an extended driveline is the best option?
what is suprissing is just how few wagons of this age are available from main dealers, you’d think that there’d be be hundreds out there that had come off their first three year contract but i’ve talked to 4 or 5 main dealers that have nothing available at all,
MAN have no xxl’s on their system this week, merc have only two mega’s, and thats at wentworth who supply all merc dealers nation wide! who’s buying them all?
paul b:
who’s buying them all?
The poles ?
Don’t know if it helps but i saw about 4 or 5 man xxl’s in man erf dealer in leeds. chatfields dealer used to reliance off the m621. think they were either 03 or might have been 53’s. hope this helps.
Darren:
paul b:
who’s buying them all?The poles ?
Maybe owners are extending them to 5 yrs or keeping them a bit longer due to the expense ot getting a replacement which therefore makes them sparse and also puts their retail price up as they are in demand.
Have you thought about going the auction ? You can take out the warranty yourself and maybe save yourself a few hundred if not thousands!!
try smiths, theres a few 03 plated vehicles in , funnily enough , some DAFs from the post office
try EVS at sandtoft ind est doncaster he has an 03 (53) plate xxl in , saw it whilst looking at xl globby the other day
Big Truck:
Why not look at a Renault Premium
Any Renault dealer will give you a helluva deal+finance on a 2003 model and they’re light,easy on fuel,reliable and service parts are dirt cheap
I am very happy with my 03 Opti-Driver equipped one and since it pulls like a donkey on steroids because it was “re-mapped” (475 horse
A Man XL 460 works out of the same quarry as me and I can beat him on payload,fuel and push him up the road every load.
My 460 (the old type roadhaus, never pulled particularly well, unless you really kept it going, I much preferred my DAFs and Renaults.
And Big Truck, I’m glad she’s ganning well for you
jerz:
try EVS at sandtoft ind est doncaster he has an 03 (53) plate xxl in , saw it whilst looking at xl globby the other day
looked at that but wasn’t particularly taken by it, ended up buying the yellow actros next but one to it on a 53 plate, it’s come straight from merc off of contract and looks straight enough although obviously you don’t know what you’ve got til you’ve got it, thought long n hard about the actros after hearing some horror stories on the earlier ones about the gear selection and fault codes flashing all the time but the general consesus seems to be that by this age all the problems had been solved, only time will tell.
paul b:
ended up buying the yellow actros next but one to it on a 53 plate
Good luck with it. I know Tramper had a load of grief from his, but I also know that the company I’m doing a lot of driving for at the moment have a fleet of about a dozen Merc units and they have very few problems with them even though some of them are a few years old now.
What warranty/R&M arrangement have you gone for?
Paul
Looking at the pic of the Man on their web site , it looks OK, but pics can obviously be deceiving.
Good look with the Actros, hope it serves you well and trouble free motoring. What spec did you get ?
I think the new ones are well and truly sorted, and everyone I know who has one rates em!
Good Luck
repton:
paul b:
Good luck with it. I know Tramper had a load of grief from his, but I also know that the company I’m doing a lot of driving for at the moment have a fleet of about a dozen Merc units and they have very few problems with them even though some of them are a few years old now.What warranty/R&M arrangement have you gone for?
Paul
comes with the standard three month dealer waranty but will look into taking out mbi, side stepped r&m, just couldn’t get my head round paying top money for a unit thats supposedly perfect then signing up to pay £450 a month to maintain it, may live to regret that but looked like a very expensive six week inspection if the wagons are as good as they say?
what actually swung me was the fact theres a lad who parks in our yard who turns out to be an x merc fitter, now runs his own hgv recovery and service outfit and has the diagnostic kit for the actros so he’s gona take on the inspections/services etc.
routier:
Looking at the pic of the Man on their web site , it looks OK, but pics can obviously be deceiving.Good look with the Actros, hope it serves you well and trouble free motoring. What spec did you get ?
the MAN just didn’t look right, like it had seen a lot of work and not been particularly well looked after although that might just’ve been me and my suspicus mind.
ended up going for a 53 plate megaspace mp1 460, really fancied the mp2 with all the new gadgets but at 8-9k more on the same plate found it hard to justify, for whats basically the same wagon. very tempting when getting into finance to say stuff it and buy something proper flash for no reason, but i’m hopeing i’ll have the best of both worlds with a decent unit thats not going to break the bank.