I would value fellow members opinions please.I run a daf xf95 which has just turned a million km on the whole it has been a bloody good truck and has made me in the last two years i have fitted starter alternater air compressor had night heater done up and it has just had a new radiater all done at the daf main dealer who i can not fault at all i can honestly say the truck is 100% and wants for nothing.I must say i still really like this truck.I have had a price on a new 105 which is very keen and it comes with 2 years maintence which i could get paid off in 3years by getting the new one i would save a fair bit in tax at the moment work is nothing special but it is ok.The main problem the market price as a trade in is £6750 but they will give me £8000 because of the condition it is in but to me it is worth a lot more.I have no worrys while i own this truck if i loose a days work i just stay home and walk the dog which i like.The question is do u by the new one while the prices are keen or do u but a new set of tyres on this one and run it another 2 years and just pay the tax
Get the new one and sell your one to me! 
You don’t say how old your Daf is, but if it were me I’d be inclined to hang onto her as your probably getting a lot less for it than the trade in price, if you got a straight sale price you might find that realistically your only getting 4-5k for what is a good truck that you know and trust, I’ve been in the same situation with a 91 scania so I kept working it up to 2 years ago and for 8 years longer than the 124 400 that was meant to replace her!!
i remember the night we all sat in the pub in Fxto telling you to get another motor Prof, best thing you did mate, have you been back to the place you got it and got a price on maybe a 58-09 reg? or is it not viable pricewise. Chassis-Cab offered my dads boss there demo a couple of weeks ago, not sure of price, but Gnomee got a 58reg(ex Goldstar apparently) to go on the road 1st Feb, spotlights in the roof/fridge etc and its a manual, i think the price was around 45k or just under, dont know about warranty etc from another Daf dealer. Hanbury Davies have got some as well so i believe, or are you thinking of a brand spanking new one?
Carl (NORFOLK)
sorry i took so long getting back trouble with internet.
Equitran it is a 54 but is on private plates.
Kindle how can i forget that night one of the best i have ever had down the dock if i remember right there was about 6 of as all old skool great meal and great company, any way the price is for a new one as i fancy one with the new 12 speed manual box as u now my last lorry came from hanbury and has proved to be a really good buy it to was ex goldstar. I am not sure about a 08 58 as i now someone who has 2 of that age and both engines blew but according to daf all them problems have been addressed now so i do not wont any thing older then a 10 plate if i do not get this new one i will run this one for another 2 to 3 years then get a new one or another one of hanbury who u can not fault
It’s a tough one that. I like my shiny things but to be honest there’s nothing better than having cash in the bank, you’re king of the world when work is going well but if your work dies a death, well i’m sure some of us on here know what that feels like, including me.
If you’re happy with the current motor, ask yourself if you really want the added pressure of those big finance payments and/or being that much closer to having zero in the bank account. Is there not some other sneaky way of getting out of paying the extra tax on income, go ltd perhaps and do a cheeky bit of share magic or some such?
If you’re set on a new motor, what about getting a price for the new Merc Actros that you should be able to order now, i’m sure you can test drive one soon, they look mighty advanced & I would definitely give it a look if I was in the market for a new truck.
If the current motor starts to play up though, that makes your mind up for you.
Silver_Surfer:
ask yourself if you really want the added pressure of those big finance payments and/or being that much closer to having zero in the bank account.
Just run the thing into the ground until it goes bang in a big way at which point you’ve probably already saved more in finance payments and depreciation on the new one than the old one is worth.
Carryfast:
Silver_Surfer:
ask yourself if you really want the added pressure of those big finance payments and/or being that much closer to having zero in the bank account.Just run the thing into the ground until it goes bang in a big way at which point you’ve probably already saved more in finance payments and depreciation on the new one than the old one is worth.
We’ve got an 03 reg 95XF in our yard, we bought it a couple of years ago (from the Grimers closing down auction) for one of our customers & for 18 months it was faultless, it had only done 500,000ks with full history from one owner. Six months before we ‘laid it up’ it started to give some air problems & in the following half a year we spent £6,600 on it!!! It had an air dryer, steering box, power steering pump, air con compressor, EBS valve, multiple air valves etc, etc!!! Then it started jumping out of gear, what would you do? Keep on spending & put a re-con box in or cry enough?
Had we replaced it before all this sarted we could have P/X’d it for something new/newer & (with the benefit of hind sight) had £6,600 to throw at it!! Sometimes it’s better to move a truck on while it’s still going OK because you never know what’s around the corner.
Ross.
bigr250:
Sometimes it’s better to move a truck on while it’s still going OK because you never know what’s around the corner.
True, but sometimes it’s a case of better the devil you know. It is just as easy to buy a new (or nearly new) motor that is a bigger lemon than the one you’ve just moved on.
The fact that the newer motor has a warranty is besides the point, as in my experience the most expensive part of a big breakdown is not the cost of the parts or labour to fix it, but rather the lost revenue and idle driver while it is being fixed.
There is nothing more expensive than an idle truck and driver, regardless of whether it is broken down or not. This is compunded even more if the truck is new(er), as the finance payment and/or depreciation is the same whether the wheels turn or not. 
thank you all for your replies, i have decided to keep the old one it was a tough call the price was right on the new one and over the three years with the tax saving on paper the new one looks the way to go but i am loosing a day a week at the moment and gut feeling plus the way i feel about my old motor i just can not part with it i will review the situation again next year and i might evan look at the merc as i to really like the look of them they seem so far ahead of the rest
I think you made the right choice to be honest, anyone with a bit of experience of 80% of the owner driving out there would agree. When you’ve enough in the bank to pay for it outright then pull the trigger. 
It’s still nice to day dream though!
Silver_Surfer:
When you’ve enough in the bank to pay for it outright then pull the trigger.
But that’s money you’ve already paid tax on and could be earning you £5,000 a year (assuming 50k) invested elsewhere and you would still have the capital once the new truck is paid up. If on finance the payments are off settable against tax as a legitimate business expense.
new slant to the problem.I broke down friday spent 4hrs on side of a1 at grantham daf aid got there in an hour the pully they needed was in lincoln they sent a man from newark ( depot attending) to lincoln to get it but being friday he got stuck in traffic when the bit got to us job was done in 20 mins so really good job done every body was helpful and u can not blame them for friday night traffic.The thing is because of the time factor it cost me another night out plus a bill for an arm and a leg off daf so may be bigr250 was right and it is time for it to go.I now the trade in price is not what i wanted but how many call outs do u need before u loose a couple of grand I will be phoning sales man monday for some negotiations to see if he is willing to move a bit.I also phoned the director of the company i work for explained the situation to him about the quotation and work in general he said go for it. I now any company can go bang in these times but i would be putting enough down so i would not be in neg equity that one breakdown has really got me thinking will keep u all posted about out come thanks
chatfields in manchester have a 12 speed manual s/s in stock now, top lights, bumper lights, fridge, slider, 2yrs servicing etc, qouted me under £70k for it and you can have it now…
Lrm
LRM:
chatfields in manchester have a 12 speed manual s/s in stock now, top lights, bumper lights, fridge, slider, 2yrs servicing etc, qouted me under £70k for it and you can have it now…Lrm
Sounds reasonable for a new lorry that does & in stock too 
Professor I understand how you may have become attached to the current motor and that it has earnt you a lot of money, but it may have just got to the point, that always comes eventually, where you will be chasing your tail all the way around the motor replacing things that give up the ghost one after another, just as in Bigr250’s tale. At what point do you stop spending on an older motor?
You are definitely right to speak to the MD of the co. you pull for about the reliability of work availability going forwards, but remember his word is no guarantee.
IMO, you have to time it correctly so that you gain the absolute maximum out of your truck before it starts giving lots of problems. I ran a Daf 75 6x4 tipper and, although in decent nick and fairly low mileage just started getting a few problems, little niggles here and there. It cost me days off and lost earnings - day here, two days there. I made the decision to get rid before it cost me a lot of money. I didn’t spend massive money on its replacement and I bought at exactly the right time when the market for tippers was totally rock-bottom, so its not the same as buying a totally new-un i appreciate that.
I’d ask the following questions;
How good are you with the spanners? If you’re good then you can run your old one longer and keep your garage bills down.
How good is the work that you do? Is it well-paying, long-term and plentiful? If it is all three then it would be well-worth getting a more reliable replacement in case your customers get ■■■■■■ off with all your breakdowns. If timed-deliveries are also a factor, I’d seriously consider changing.
How long do you see yourself in business for? If you are going to be an o/d for the next 5 years+ then you will need to change your truck sometime in that period, maybe now when the market is depressed and a good price can be had on a newer one might be the time?
Good luck whatever you do.
Professor:
just pay the tax
^This^ You said it yourself mate, you have a decent lorry, you’ve earned enough that you have a tax bill to pay, all good so far.
So you buy a new lorry at say 75 grand to save on a tax bill that’s likely to be considerably lower than that (unless you had a REALLY good year) that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever, pay the tax on the profit and the rest is all yours, buying a new lorry means you don’t pay tax, but give a much bigger chunk of change to the Daf Dealer, no point being in business if all you do is make everyone else’s money for them 
newmercman:
Professor:
just pay the tax^This^ You said it yourself mate, you have a decent lorry, you’ve earned enough that you have a tax bill to pay, all good so far.
So you buy a new lorry at say 75 grand to save on a tax bill that’s likely to be considerably lower than that (unless you had a REALLY good year) that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever, pay the tax on the profit and the rest is all yours, buying a new lorry means you don’t pay tax, but give a much bigger chunk of change to the Daf Dealer, no point being in business if all you do is make everyone else’s money for them
Buying a brand new wagon for £70,000 + seems a bit of an over reaction just because the old one got stuck at the side of the road for a while with a zb’d drive belt pulley 
. 
We replaced our 95s with 105 xfs,12 of them and there is hardly a day goes by without some fault appearing starter motors on 6 off them,5 windscreens cracking,sunroof seals,air dryers,constant false warning lights on dash,heated mirror elements and 2 that the steering idler arm fell off jamming the steering lucky in the yard at the time these were delived new to us as 59 reg and have now covered between 430,000 to 500,000kms in fact we still have a old 95 we keep as a spare to use when the 105s are off the road 