Anyone running a tgx 440, are they reliable, looking at a 2011 at the moment but trying to convince myself.
Never owned or even driven one, but the advice I’ve always been given is that MAN is a fine truck if you lease it from new and have full R&M on it, but as for buying a “pre-loved” one with 500,000km on the clock, forget it. From what I’ve read on here, the price of spares is HORRENDOUS- somebody recently said £8,000 for a new exhaust?
But like I said, this is anecdotal only so take more heed of those who run them.
Nothing that much wrong with a Man, spares have come down in price a lot and they now do a reconditioned line of spares as well, the only problem is you are looking at the 440 and that is the engine to avoid, horrendous Egr problems , everyone i know who runs the 440 has had problems with, so nothing much wrong with Man in general but the 440 engine is to be avoided
Thanks both, recently been granted O licence so looking for a unit, had a go in a premium and a man yesterday and liked both, but prefer the the man. Both similar price for 2010-11, did they put any other engine apart from the 440 into a tgx ? £8000 for a exhaust 
kitcat:
Thanks both, recently been granted O licence so looking for a unit, had a go in a premium and a man yesterday and liked both, but prefer the the man. Both similar price for 2010-11, did they put any other engine apart from the 440 into a tgx ? £8000 for a exhaustWhat sort of work you going into and what sort of budget for a unit? A Daf would be more reliable than an MAN. If you are insistent on an MAN then definitely go for the 480’s. As previously said the 440’s are horrendous for egr problems.
Matt.
xfmatt:
kitcat:
Thanks both, recently been granted O licence so looking for a unit, had a go in a premium and a man yesterday and liked both, but prefer the the man. Both similar price for 2010-11, did they put any other engine apart from the 440 into a tgx ? £8000 for a exhaust
[/quoteWhat sort of work you going into and what sort of budget for a unit? A Daf would be more reliable than an MAN. If you are insistent on an MAN then definitely go for the 480’s. As previously said the 440’s are horrendous for egr problems.
Matt.
Running a bulker, work lined up to start harvest. A lot of units about for £13500
kitcat:
xfmatt:
kitcat:
Thanks both, recently been granted O licence so looking for a unit, had a go in a premium and a man yesterday and liked both, but prefer the the man. Both similar price for 2010-11, did they put any other engine apart from the 440 into a tgx ? £8000 for a exhaust
[/quoteWhat sort of work you going into and what sort of budget for a unit? A Daf would be more reliable than an MAN. If you are insistent on an MAN then definitely go for the 480’s. As previously said the 440’s are horrendous for egr problems.
Matt.
Running a bulker, work lined up to start harvest. A lot of units about for £13500
I’m on bulk work too mate I run two Daf 105 510’s. Fairly reliable just the same old adblue problems that every truck seems to suffer from. A premium would be a good starter but not ideal if you’re away all week. Definitely lay off the 440 MAN’s though. Nothing but trouble.
Matt.
Thanks xfmatt, will have a closer look at a premium to start with.
kitcat:
Thanks xfmatt, will have a closer look at a premium to start with.
What area are you based in and also are you going to subby for someone or have you got own work lined up?
Matt.
kitcat:
Thanks xfmatt, will have a closer look at a premium to start with.
I run a Renault myself and I couldn’t fault it. Renault main dealer prices are expensive, but nowhere near as expensive as MAN main dealer prices. I have read so many stories on here by MAN owners who have had a £4,000 bill for a new compressor, radiator etc, it seems that MAN have a policy of aiming at purchasers of brand-new trucks only, and ignoring the residual market.
Been looking round myself ,was told by a sales man the quickest way of going bump is to buy an man tgx 440 , hes got about 10 of them for sale which I thought was a strange but honest thing to come out with.I got pointed in the direction of the premium as a good all round cheap reliable truck ,but asking around they suffer from electrical problems and ad blue problems ,got pointed in the direction of daf got told and no they suffer with engine problems I no people who have spent eye watering amounts of money on them. Think the same can be said for other makes problems with this that and the other going wrong .Got told when I started if you like the truck and its the right price you pays your money you takes your chance .has this changed since euro 4, 5 and now 6 .how do you pay say 15 to 40 grand on a decent truck and then get hit with as quoted 8 grand for an exhaust or as someone else said 5 grand for a compressor to .i am assuming with all the sensors on newer trucks the chances are they wont even moved til the parts are changed .Are trucks even worth owning now ?
I find its usually people who dont run MANS that slate them, i have no idea where some of the the parts prices qouted are coming from either, last job i had done was a complete 3 peice Manifold and aTurbo and that was under 1500 quid supplied and fitted, new Intercooler was £650 last year, clutch was £2200 fitted but that was a warranty job,
One thing i will say is that a lot of these 440,s that are for sale with a main dealer are having a lot of work done on the Egr system before sale , my old fella has one and he only pays 10% of any repair bills for 2yrs so if its only a truck to get you started and you can negotiate some warranty/cover on the Egr i wouldnt rule one out completely, however if its from a trader with no back up then its definately a non starter
chaversdad:
I find its usually people who dont run MANS that slate them, i have no idea where some of the the parts prices qouted are coming from either, last job i had done was a complete 3 peice Manifold and aTurbo and that was under 1500 quid supplied and fitted, new Intercooler was £650 last year, clutch was £2200 fitted but that was a warranty job,One thing i will say is that a lot of these 440,s that are for sale with a main dealer are having a lot of work done on the Egr system before sale , my old fella has one and he only pays 10% of any repair bills for 2yrs so if its only a truck to get you started and you can negotiate some warranty/cover on the Egr i wouldnt rule one out completely, however if its from a trader with no back up then its definately a non starter
Well said that man ( excuse the pun ) I know lots of operators who have them and wouldnt run anything else , I think the real answer to most of the problems could be cut dead if you put a Scania badge on the front of any other make of motor this is the key and answer to all problems as anything with a Scania badge never but never gives a minutes trouble .■■?
I’m not an Owner Driver but we have a small fleet of TGX’s.
I had my last 13 plate TGX 26.440 Euro 5 from new & looked after it as much as I could, never revved it up from cold & very rarely used the kick down, did 225,000 km, only problem I had at around 50,000 was a ‘Malfunction Engine Control Unit’ Light came on, to do with the fuel filter, it went into MAN at Northampton, when I picked it up & got back to MK, it was leaking diesel, so it went straight back (Bloody Monkeys [emoji205]) it was used by Night Trunkers once or twice a week but didn’t have too many problems.
When I got my new ‘Fleet Spec’ [emoji57] TGX-26.440 my old one was given to the company Chimp, never washed it, revved the nuts off her from cold, to build the air up, raced every where using kick down at every opportunity, within weeks it was knackered, using water like no tomorrow/EGR problems & just generally abused, he even pulled the internal curtain rails down & left them hanging !!!
What I’m saying is- they seem OK if looked after, but most companies just chuck multiple drivers in them who don’t give a Monkeys Chuff about the vehicle.
All 3 of our 11 plate & 2 X 13 plate TGXs have EGR/Water problems, they’ve all been back to MAN for warrantee work, some on more than one occasion.
I think main dealer support/warranty is a must, but allow for down time & have a back up vehicle plan, maybe a loan tractor from MAN while its in the workshop ? If this is an option.
Just a driver too.
My issued 440 is coming up to 500k now 2013 regd, out of half a dozen its been the most reliable, but as Martin Viking i’ve looked after it from new, allowed it to warm up and cool down, kept the oil and water topped up and always changed gear manually when loaded.
Others use it when i’m not on shift so i’ve probably done 350k of those 500k.
As Martin, not a vehicle to let monkeys out in, they won’t stand idiots like a Scania.
I was going to give a more full report when it goes back in 18 months or so but as you’re asking here goes for now.
We are full 43+ tons when loaded, tipping and blowing gear.
5 year full R&M package.
Others have had clutch packs, mine hasn’t but it does judder in reverse on inclines a bit so we’ll see, it’s had one set of front and rear pads, both about half worn again, mid lift about half worn original pads, no discs yet but they look like they’ll be needed on the next pad change, i use the exhauster to max combined with appropriate revs in manual…others don’t as evidenced by the heavy brake dust when i get it back, i reckon you could drive one of these for 5 years without a pad change if driven properly.
Exhauster gradually loses effort over the year and they fix it each time during a simple inspection/service when i defect it so it either goes out of adjustment or cokes up, you can tell when its gone off boil because hills it normally holds back on without braking it gradually fails to do so.
They all got recalled for bottom end work at around 3 months old, other than that mine hasn’t been any trouble, fuel filter light came on @ about 80k, replaced and they lowered the replacement mileage and it hasn’t been seen since.
Low tension wire broke off the starter, note the starter is buried right behind the chassis and behind a load of plumbing too so suggest getting a second parallel wire to the solenoid fitted when the cab is up sometime in the warm safe workshop, would not be a nice job with your arse sticking out in the road in a layby if and when it snaps.
They all get cooling problems with that engine, mine did too about 6 months ago, probably egr or intercooler related (they don’t tell you much) and then someone at the workshop must have blasted the rads through fiercely as the following day there was horrible rumbling so i called back into the dealer who found the drive belt idlers rattling and the water pump leaking, so probably blown all the lube out with the steam cleaner, hasn’t been a bit of trouble since…early warnings signs are water pressurising and being blown out the overflow on the pressure cap.
The others haven’t fared quite so well to varying degrees, long winded water probs, ECU probs some causing major downtime, weeks, couple of wheel bearings.
Some people call the dealers, but i look after mine and always present it washed with a clean chassis 90% of the time, which the lads seem to appreciate and all the little jobs get done on mine without asking…but thats the case at any workshops, you can’t expect a mechanic to be all that enthused about working in crap, a little mutual respect goes a long way.
Other than that mines been good and i would happily have another, wouldn’t buy a used one without serious warranty package mind cos you don’t know how its been used before.
Interior’s a bit fragile, keep a set of torx screwdrivers so you can screw the various screws back in that fall out.
Compressor can take a long time to blow the system up, could cause probs if the driver isn’t good at manoeuvering.
The gearbox is poor, end of, Arsetronic so the same in any make where used, driven in auto the engine revs its ■■■■■■■■ off at moving junctions and hills, but drive it in manual loaded keep the revs between 1000 and 1500 and its not as bad a lorry as they make out and much better on fuel if you control the revs and not leave it to the bloody box, the engine will happily lug right down to 900 rpm if you control it, would be a better lorry with the comfort manual shift (but that goes for most makes) …i’d plump for a 480 if it was my choice cos the 440 isn’t really up to our weights but we get what we get where i work, they do a bigger one 540 or summat completely different engine, rare to see one and haven’t a clue what the score is.
One useful thing, the small mid lifts we have (weight saving), when you press the weight transfer button after about 20 seconds the axle lifts completely off the ground, this reduces drag a lot for manoeuvering and reduces mid lift tyre and suspension wear considerably, this won’t work above and self cancels at about 20kmh so it could be a useful tool for hill climbing in slippery conditions as well as speed drops.
ASR (TC) off and that air dump valve allowing mid lift to lift fully combine to make it better than some others on slippery surfaces.
Obviously when empty or lightly loaded the mid lift will stay up, you still have control over it via the other mid lift button, which is getting unusual these days.
Bulbs a doddle, three large torx screws and the whole light unit hinges out.
You can turn the DRL’s off completely via the menu if so desired and they don’t put all the side lights on in use either.
Quiet inside, massive steering wheel and fairly low geared steering but once used to it its fine, but that low gearing can see it disliking tyre tram lines in the road but its hardly alone in that, other than that it handles well IMO, comfortable.
Switchgear in an odd place down by your left knee, and red backlighting doesn’t lend itself to easily read but not as badly sited as an equivalent new CF where the switches are all over the shop.
Don’t forget about the Iveco Stralis,
alot of bang for your buck there!!!
Similarly “unloved” like the Premiums but prob a tad better for nights out and good engines too.[emoji6]
Get a quote from an Iveco dealer for that lease deal on a new Highway460 @£299wk but will be more for the PTO.
Check the figures against something@ £12/15k and remember “peace of mind” for a new start with the Iveco ref R&M 2yrs then full driveline cover for 3rd!!![emoji41]
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xfmatt:
kitcat:
Thanks xfmatt, will have a closer look at a premium to start with.What area are you based in and also are you going to subby for someone or have you got own work lined up?
Matt.
Based south leicestershire, mostly subby work but have some direct of my own.
Every other manufacturer builds an engine with air to air intercooling,one variable geometry turbo and one radiator.But not MAN.
They have to have 2 air to water intercoolers,2 turbo chargers,2 radiators and only sold this piece of “engineering excellence” in the UK.
Then you got the EGR heat exchanger that fails for fun.Seems like MAN cant get the air being sucked/blown into the engine into closer proximity to the coolant if they tried.
This engine has cost MAN a bloody fortune due to failed high pressure coolers,EGR exchangers,bent con rods and split liners and smashed engine blocks.
Was talking to a bloke that repairs buses and they “repower” their MAN engined vehicles.
“Repower” means take out the MAN donkey chuck it in the skip and fit ■■■■■■■■
The bus builder actually produces the full swap kit that you can buy off the shelf.
Can only speak as I found from experience of buying 5 second hand 440 engine examples over a nine month period. They had blowing equipment fitted and all were high mileage, but we needed them for their blowers and they were cheap. Two blew their engines, including the last one bought which lasted 2 weeks. The others were problematical to varying degrees and I thought that spares were costly compared with the DAFs we run. They did a job for us in our time of need, but I was glad to see the back of them and we will not be buying any more MANs, either new or second hand. We are firmly in the DAF camp.
Big Truck:
Don’t forget about the Iveco Stralis,
alot of bang for your buck there!!!
Similarly “unloved” like the Premiums but prob a tad better for nights out and good engines too.[emoji6]Get a quote from an Iveco dealer for that lease deal on a new Highway460 @£299wk but will be more for the PTO.
Check the figures against something@ £12/15k and remember “peace of mind” for a new start with the Iveco ref R&M 2yrs then full driveline cover for 3rd!!![emoji41]How much deposit on that deal
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