kindle530:
richmond:
When i bought my two man trucks, i thought i had just got two cheaply priced mercedes benz trucks, two years later, it has come to pass that i just bought two expensive ivecos…thats a brilliant post richmond! funny as [zb] PMSL
Agreed!! Very funny & seems to sum up the majority of comments made on this and other posts.
Curtains designed by Mr Maggoo.Too narrow that do not meet in the middle.
Weak ring holders.Nothing to stop them flying off the rails with the windows down.
Daft cool box under the bunk that gets torn out and binned to make more room.
No radio/night heater controls from the bunk.
Big gaps behind the drawers that lose things forever if they fall at the back or under the drawer.
Scannyfanny:
I’ve had two Merc Actros, 05 & 56 plates, both 460 with the semi-auto telligent box…it’s definitely a certain type of driver’s gearbox/truck…needs a very relaxed driving style to get the best out of it, I agree. If you drive like this you’ll like it and bonus is the Megaspace has silly room and is bullet proof…in my experience they both felt very well built. I averaged 8.2-8.4mpg in both Mercs, which for my work was good. Dealer service not the best.After that ran an Iveco Stalis 500, 08 plate, also very good but built to a price, no doubt. No major issues but dealer service excellent when needed. Stralis averaged 8.2mpg, couldn’t get it up any higher which dissapointed a little although a comfy big truck.
Curently running a 60 plate Renault Premium which, despite the flak it takes is proving to be a peach! Cab smaller - no doubt about it - than the Mercs and Iveco but well laid out inside with a faultless drivetrain brakes, retarder/exhauster and steering, better to drive than both the Iveco and Mercs in many respects.
Early days with only 35K up now on the Renault but now returning 8.7-9.0mpg on exactly the same work I’ve used all the other trucks on so up already. Couple of very minor issues so far and dealer fixed promptly…so far so good. Not sure if I’d like 5 nights out in the cab though given the size. Price for the truck is great though and economy thus far the best I have tried/ran.
Have driven a few MANs with Comfortshift box, great box and driving position. Haven’t driven enough to offer any advice on them though.
Wash your mouth out with soap and water !!! , how dare you suggest that any of the trucks in your post are of use to the transport industry . Can you at least have a go at the size of the cup holders , or the radio`s for not being able to pick-up north pole f/m etc etc ,the badge snobs will be crying in their beer !!! . For once its great to read a sensible post from someone with some practical and sensible knowledge for once .
,
Anyone run a TGA with the D20 engine and care to comment on them? There seems to be a few tidy ex-fleet examples around at the moment, and at 12k cheaper than an equivalent Actros they have to be worth a peek!
I’ve heard rumours that they like to munch through a turbo every 3-400k, is this typical? What’s the cost of a turbo assuming you change it before it goes (Ex fitting, I do all maintenance in house)?
Are the auto’s much good? I had a go in a comfort-shift manual a few years back and thought it was pretty good - any comments on which is the better choice?
Has the build quality imroved from the early models? I seem to remember the cabs fell apart (literally!) quite quickly on the earlier builds.
I typically do motorway and A-road work using 4m tauts and sheeted flats, no real off-road or site work, just nice clean tarmac running on the cruise control.
i have got a 2006/06 plate XLX with the 430 D20 commonrail engine coupled to the ASTronic box
it is the same box as what is in the DAF, but, it feels smooter than the DAF
it pulls well considering it is the 430 engine, it is ex-Reed Boardall fleet spec truck with 650k KMs on it, nice, quiet, comfortable with plenty of room, although it does lack a little on internal storage space
the build quality is a lot better than the earlier models, but, i have only had it since october last year
get pretty good fuel out of it running various weights on containers
hope this helps
Thanks Shuttlespanker,
Have you had any experience of MAN breakdown service, or the dealer network in general for parts etc?
Not had to call out dealer breakdown as yet, only problem I had with the truck was a chaffed wire in the drivers door causing it to blow fuses, a local leccy sorted it for me.
Parts can be expensive, depending on what is required, air dryer £800 compared to Daf £300
I have a TGA 460 with the D26 engine. This is (supposedly) the better choice but the D20/440 bhp is a good enough truck.
As Rob says, nice quiet with plenty of room anda realistic price 
Haven’t heard about any turbos going but I know a local firm who bought quite a few later model D20’s and have had a couple of oil pumps going, with the inevitable consequences! (cranks & main bearings) They’ve also had 1 or 2 clutch problems.
I get excellent service from the local dealer & have had good service from other official MAN dealers but never had to use the breakdown service
Well worth a look in my opinion 
A know of a company with 2 MAN units,both are parked up as 1 needs an oil pump the other needs an engine,both are '06 model 480hp. They also both had head gaskets after 500k’s. Go Italian at least the engines are good in them …
ellies dad:
A know of a company with 2 MAN units,both are parked up as 1 needs an oil pump the other needs an engine,both are '06 model 480hp. They also both had head gaskets after 500k’s. Go Italian at least the engines are good in them …
true, but it is a shame that everything else that is fitted around them has more holes than swiss cheese 
and if you go for IVECO, get plenty of gaffer tape 
shuttlespanker:
ellies dad:
A know of a company with 2 MAN units,both are parked up as 1 needs an oil pump the other needs an engine,both are '06 model 480hp. They also both had head gaskets after 500k’s. Go Italian at least the engines are good in them …true, but it is a shame that everything else that is fitted around them has more holes than swiss cheese
and if you go for IVECO, get plenty of gaffer tape
Of course Iveco are recalling 450 E5 engines at the minuite for piston replacement 
,the TGA is starting to sound better 
we run 2 6x2 man xlx with d20 engines & comfort shift pulling curtain siders, have had pretty much no problem with them both now have over 700k on them, 03 & 04 plate both have had egr coolers 04 plate has had a water pump aswell. other than that no problem with them we also have 2 man xxl’s with d26 engines & astronic gearboxes pulling tankers. the 55 plate has had a turbo @ 500k but had no other problems with it & the 56 plate has had a water pump & that is it. the tankers are worked hard & running full 44t 90% of the time. have a erf ecx aswell (same cab as lx cab man) the bulid quality is good from our experiance, parts are hard wearing & they seem to be good hard trucks & well worth a look at.
we have a very goodd man dealer network here & parts from them are cheaper than most spurius parts
weve got 10 ‘08’ plates… 2 have already had cracked heads… only got 300km on them… 10 ‘56’ plates… cost a shead load to fix… break down often… ok they are cheap… FOR A REASON more trouble then they worth… stick to sweedish
seems like a mixed bag of reviews, not realy consistant, if you get a good one there good, if not you will be throwing money at it, a bad truck is a endless money pit
i recomended a iveco stralis once to a friend as i had one at the time i ran it for about 3 years no real major issues reliable truck.
my friend took my advise same truck as mine same year/model everything. wow big mistake he had nothing but trouble with it turbo, radiator, water pump, injectors, the list went on and on this was in only a three or four month period.
so i never recomend a truck to anyone specialy when your running out the same yard (it became embarrising)
sounds a silly thing to say but they are all the same if you buy a good one your ok buy a bad one it will cost a fortune this applies to new trucks too there is bad ones out there
john
Ya not wrong there mate!
I know of a brand new car on the way home from picking it up from the garage, track rod end ‘fell apart’ apparently. Luckily there was only the driver in the vehicle which ended upside down in the central reserve. He had to have medicals to prove he hadn’t blacked out or anything whilst the car was shipped back to Germany pretty sharpish by the manufacturer for ‘tests’! Brand new (with better spec of course) replacement delivered next day FOC and all money refunded!
Vorsprung Duch Teknic
Hi Mate - running two 6x2 TGA XXL 430’s - Lost a turbo on one after 380k - had to have compressor, intercooler and air dryer replaced as well as the turbo.
MAN prices are ridiculous but my (MAN trained) mechanic can source parts at around half price at Imex, HGV Direct etc. I replaced the turbo on the second truck as a precaution at 370k at a cost of £800.
They DO have a reputation for eating turbos!
That is the only maintenance issue i’ve had.
Oil type is critical and i only use the MAN approved oil which is expensive but for the peace of mind is worth it.
Fuel is amazing, often getting up to 12.5 mpg but i do not carry much weight. Saying that, this week it has dropped to 10 - 10.5 mpg due to the high winds which really seem to affect the high cab - didnt have that problem with my previous XL cabs.
Drivers like them, lots of glass make the cab feel very ‘airy’ and the interior space is perfect for my lads as they very rarely do nights out.
A quick update: I viewed (and test drove) a couple of the trucks in question this week …
Build Quality
To be honest, I was still pretty dissapointed in the build quality. The trucks I tested were both 57-plate and had around 350k on them, and whilst the cabs were still physically intact, the plastics felt unnecessarly cheap and there were some distinct rattles and squeaks which I fear would be a sign of things to come - the actros is light-years ahead in this respect. Mechanically they seem very similar in design to the Actros, though I doubt they would cover the same sort of mileage between spannering (that’s just a hunch though).
Gearbox
I tried both a comfort-shift manual, and an auto. Both seemed perfectly capable (I had them hooked up to a 45ft flat with a full load of sawn timber, to get a feel for them with a decent load on), my preference though was certainly for the manual - I’ve always loved the comfort-shift box, and after driving a more modern one I still do! Probably the best box I’ve ever driven. Wasn’t overly taken by the auto, though I am not saying it was bad, just that the 16sp manual suited me better and coped better at high weights. Also, the auto seemed increadibly slow to change into reverse.
Engine
Both trucks were 440bhp Euro4 D20’s, and I have to confess they both pulled like a train! Plenty of grunt, and far better than the 2546/2548 actroses that I run currently (which contrary to some of the rumours aren’t exactly lethargic!). I can’t comment on fuel consumption as I only did short local runs, but I’ve never heard any complaints about the TGA in that respect.
The long and short of it is that I’ve decided not to take the gamble - the TGA’s seem like decent trucks at a fair price, but I’ll stick to what I know this time.
ellies dad:
Go Italian at least the engines are good in them …
shuttlespanker:
and if you go for IVECO, get plenty of gaffer tape
I did actually run a couple of Stralis on 04 plates - they were decent reliable trucks as long as you ignored the dashboard warning (which more often than not were spurious!), but the drivers weren’t keen and the local dealer were useless on anything bigger than a Daily-van!
Thanks for the input everyone …
i love the actros the same as you, if i could have one with a manual gearbox i,d get one tomorow, that clicky semi auto box did my head in, but i cant, so i now have a MAN
chaversdad:
i love the actros the same as you, if i could have one with a manual gearbox i,d get one tomorow, that clicky semi auto box did my head in, but i cant, so i now have a MAN
I actually really like the Telegent box. I’ve always described the Actros as a ‘lazy mans’ truck which won’t be rushed - the Telegent box fits that role well, and that suits me fine!
I had a go in an MP3 with the new Powershift box a while ago, and to be honest I would still prefer the Telegent if I were driving it myself.
ellies dad:
Of course Iveco are recalling 450 E5 engines at the minuite for piston replacement
I have pics to prove that! 