Over the years, I must have driven every type of truck going, but I have never driven an MAN.
So if you drive one, what do you think of it compared to anything else you have driven?
basically you get what you pay for, i,m on my second now and it does what i need it to do, its comfortable, fairly reliable and easy to drive, but whats its not is a scania/merc/volvo
they are cheaper than everything else for a reason but find a good one and you wont go wrong
I personally really like them, especially the newer ones.
Much prefer them to DAF or Merc. Very nice to drive, always pull well, never driven an auto though. Good comfy bed and plenty of room, well laid out dash and pretty well specced even at fleet level I reckon.
Engines can be a bit noisy compared to some, in a clanking diesel kind of way, but given the choice I’ll take one over a DAF any day of the week.
Alex
Ive driven an 05 plate narrow cab TGA and it was crap, no control over the reversing though if you used it in manual reverse it helped…
Had one most nights for the last 2 or 3 weeks, an 07 plate. Nice drive and very comfy bunk.
53 plate TGA XXL I used to drive was so-so, then I drove a 58 plate TGX XL which I absolutely loved, then a narrow cab 06 plate TGA XL, which was crap.
TGX is still my weapon of choice.
It’s the comfiest motor I’ve driven in a long time. The seating position and adjustments are spot on for me given that I’m 6’3" and about 15 stone. I also like the dash storage and layout. A smaller steering wheel and handbrake on the dash would be a nice improvement. 
Thats all we drive at our place, new ones look good not convinced on the gear box though. A nice load of room in the cab but I don’t like the silly little windows behind the doors I can’t think what purpose they serve. Not quite as good as a Volvo .
Andy smg:
It’s the comfiest motor I’ve driven in a long time. The seating position and adjustments are spot on for me given that I’m 6’3" and about 15 stone. I also like the dash storage and layout. A smaller steering wheel and handbrake on the dash would be a nice improvement.
Now you see I prefer the handbrake down near me left leg next to gears like the MAN is.
Had a 56 plate flat roof which was ok, now on an 11 plate tgx xlx auto,had it from new, fantastic bit of kit, plenty of room and very comfy bunk and nice relaxed driving position. Better than the r series I had before the 56 plate by a long way. Even our drivers with new r-series are wanting to swap to the tgx.
I like them, the comfort button for changing gear is good 
I drive this old girl now and its a really nice wagon to drive even though shes getting on in years
I drive this old girl now and its a really nice wagon to drive even though shes getting on in years
I have one of the newer ones and think its pretty good, asides from the loss of storage space in comparison to older MANs that I have driven and the lack of pulling ability on any slight incline.
I’ve driven a few from 05-59 and i thought they was all a bag of ■■■■ till i drove a merc. now i think they are ok.
i like the man inside for room the gearbox is crap put the i-shift in and it would be a ■■■■ good truck the plastic interior is a bit nasty but suppose the price off them you cant complain. Better than an iveco 
Drove quite a few over the years and found them to be a reliable workhorse.
Used to do Italy in a 320 and it wouldnt exactly storm up the Blanc but it did the job.
410 TGA with comfort shift,narrow high cab, was the last one i drove regulary on distance work and really rated that motor unlike, the 440 auto that i did a couple of trips in,must have been set up wrong- wouldnt pull a ■■■■■■ stick out of a dogs arse !!
Favourite gotta be this ol gal . . . 414 @26t 
Current model with the auto box in fleet spec is the worst truck on the road today; absolutely [ZB] gearbox and the cab rocks and throws you around like you’re on a bouncy castle - no road feel at all. The previous TGA with manual comfort shift was okay in a ‘meh’ kinda fashion, ie. didn’t dislike it but didn’t particularly like it either. Both models suffer with no storage space, just a huge cavernous cab. And they’ve still got the fridge in the worst place ever, ie. blocking your entry and exit from the bunk without major acrobatics to climb over it. The only people that like them are those that haven’t driven the competition. As you have Harry, I don’t think you’ll like it.
I’ve driven an 03 Daf XF SSC Manual, 07 Daf XF SC Astronic, a Merc Actros 06 auto with the clutch pedal, and a Volvo FM with I-shift.
The 07 MAN XLX TGX we have at the moment, is the best of the lot. Same autogearbox as the DAF but seems to work better. The only complaint with it, is its lack of urgency in selecting a gear straight after starting, you sometimes have you give it a second or two, and flick back and forth a bit to get it to sort itself out.
Comfortable driving position, good mirrors and visibility (although after the Volvo FM it felt like driving a four poster bed), and I personally like the massive steering wheel, pulls well for 440, and the exhaust brake system is the best i’ve used apart from the Volvo I-shift. Although on my TGX the exhaust brake has just broken, but no one believes me because i’m 26 and couldn’t possibly know anything about anything, so I reckon that will never get fixed . In my opinion, i’m the only one who ever uses it properly, and thus the rest of the guys can’t tell when it doesn’t work. In normal driving, with proper use of the exhaust brake, you need barely ever touch the brake pedal, much like on the I-shift.
Build quality is a bit ropey, but I like the cab very much, comfortable bunk, and cross cab access is good. But it is fitted with the most pointless fridge/coolbox in existence. It can be removed, but if you do that, you lose the quite useful table, so that is a real pig of a design decision. Some of the interior lights are a bit temperamental… sometimes requires a thump or two to work, which is irritating for an 80k vehicle,
They don’t seem to have a pollen filter, so keeping the cab clean is a daily chore, and you end up with a layer of dusty crap on everything.
The engineer responsible for the seatbelt and door open alarm, should be lined up against the wall and shot. And the lack of radiator cover is a bit of a joke (even if it loooks nice), as MAN promised us they have never had a radiator broken, and yet we busted our first last week thanks to a stone straight through, and it was off the road for 2 days, because they ordered the wrong radiator. Something a 10 quid piece of plastic would have solved.
the silly little windows behind the doors I can’t think what purpose they serve.
You can look out the window and see when you might be next on the bay or queue, without having to move from your sleeping positions. It is a genuis idea. However the curtain rail doesn’t quite go far enough to cover them properly, so on late summer nights light can come through a bit, which is annoying.
MAN curtain rail stoppers are the worst thing in the entire world.
WildGoose:
I’ve driven an 03 Daf XF SSC Manual, 07 Daf XF SC Astronic, a Merc Actros 06 auto with the clutch pedal, and a Volvo FM with I-shift.The 07 MAN XLX TGX we have at the moment, is the best of the lot.
Yeah right whatever… “The best of the lot” then you go on to list 300 things wrong with it . The 03 DAF manual ■■■■■■ all over it, closely followed by the FM. It’s clear you’ve never actually driver either of the latter as there’s NO way you’d have said that if you had. Another wannabe trucker.
Couldnt stand up in the FM, and I like being able to stand up in the morning. The auxillary sockets also don’t work without the ignition keys, nor can you open the windows without them. In the MAN you can, for both.
It’s all a very personal thing, based on the work you do and the experiences you’ve had, so try and open your mind a bit.
I also like to climb into a truck, I like the bigger trucks because i’m sad, sue me, and the FM was less of a climb and more of a hop. Bit like an Isuzu. On the stumpy trucks like the CF and FM, you get the winter grime all up the side including on the door handle and side lockers, on the taller ones you can avoid it, and stay relatively clean. I’ll give you the I-shift though, by far the best box. No doubt the FH would address all my complaints but i’ve never driven one. The FM has more storage space than anything i’ve driven since. The 400 was gutless though, and in my service it munched 2 starter motors, returned poor fuel consumption, and was hopeless in the snow. I have no understanding of Volvo obsession for a sloped windscreen, it just irritated me personally.
The DAF SSC annoyed me because it could never be relied upon to shift between high and low ratio first thing in the morning, and i’d sooner not have the stress of wondering whether I will be able to join the motorway, or have to lap the roundabout endlessly before it sorts its life out. It also rattled like a bag of spanners because the cab mounts failed often.
I have a soft spot for the 03 DAF because it was the first truck I ever did some proper tramping in, it had a lot wrong with it though, and the super space bit although nice, wasn’t particularly essential.
DAF caution and warning alarms are the most irritating sound known to mankind.
Despite being the same physical size, the visibility on the blindside is not very good on the XF whereas the MAN has no such problems.
I won’t bite to the rest, as i’ve posted at length on here in the past, experiences with all the trucks i’ve driven including pics, and I certainly haven’t a thing to prove to you, sir.
In my experience you climb out of the MAN with the minimum of stress.
We’re both entitled to our opinions I guess. I just don’t agree with yours . I reckon your 03 SSC must have been seriously ■■■■■■ for you to dislike it. Never had any issues changing between high and low range in the XF or CF (same box) but if you try to rush any manual box when the oil is freezing cold then you will have problems. The warnings on the DAFs are in fact some of the better ones from a ‘sound’ viewpoint. I like the “pock-pock” sound they make 
. Try opening the door to stick your head out when reversing a Stralis and then tell me which warning noises you prefer. 