I m afraid to say i don’t agree with you as i have the misfortune to own 2 2546 euro 3 and 6 2546/48 euro 5 and the euro 5 's are a complete nightmare, there aren’t many weeks pass without 1 of them
ending up in our workshop with major problems.
You pays your money and takes your chance but i won’t be having anymore, best of british .
I spent 6 months in an ex-maritime 05 reg 2546 on night trunking to the continent last year. Cracking bit of kit to live in, unbeatable. Never had any problems with it but then it was on full Merc R+M.
As you hav seen by my pics I have had 3 actros (company owned) 2 long distance cabs and 1 mega space and I must say out of the 3 I have had fir a while I have broken down once due to ecu on gearbox going but they r very reliable from a driver point of view, I have driven the 2554 v8 which I found good on fuel, I now drive a 2546 auto on an 08 plate comfortable truck well built too, this is only a long distance cab but I ran up from the grain to Liverpool rather light with a high cube container at 54mph and averaged 11 mpg !!
hi harry, we bought a 58 reg actros last august and its been no trouble at all,nice to drive,brillant on fuel will do 9mpg all day long the only trouble is they hold there price well so u end up paying more for them,but there worth it,we would buy another tommro.
I’ve had two Actros 2546…an 05 and a 56, both 6 x 2 Megaspace, both from Mercedes themselves on Merc one-year operating leases, with full R&M included. Had them both when they were three years old until four so both in very good condition when I started and finished with them…got them at about 350k and handed back at 450ish.
No issues worth speaking of from either truck. My mileage wasn’t huge in them - 100kms per year, all fridge work.
Fantastic truck and cab if you like them; you need to like a tall cab as it’s well high from the driving seat which gives a great view. It’s a four-step climb in and out which I didn’t mind but if in and out a lot it could be a chore some days. EPS gearbox is not everyone’s cup of tea either…you need to be gentle with it, relax and drive it smoothly…anything else and you will hate the 'box and truck and it will hate you…oh…and your fuel consumption will be really crap!
Big flat-floor cab is simply superb, very comfortable, plenty storage and no probs nights-out whatsoever. Bunks are very good, as pointed out already the top bunk is wider.
Fuel consumption - excellent if you drive it smoothly.
Up to you what you buy of course but my advice would be to look to buy/lease as new as possible regardless of badge. I have ran all of the current ‘unpopular’ badges…Iveco Stralis, Mercedes Actros and Renault Premium in the last 10 years and all three brands were very good, all had their strengths and one or two weaknesses but I’d run them all again if the price was right.