"Initially I was considering the 400hp model but the 420hp
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version had come along by then." he says. The price, including a package for three years full maintenance, was very good—it had to match what I was paying for a Mega Space Cab Actros. It was delivered in October and covered more than 48,000km by Christmas, We travel all over the UK as well as doing international work. We have some double-manning on long journeys."
Our operation is not weight sensitive," his son Paul explains. "Our average payload is between 15 and 18 tonnes and we never need to go above 21 tonnes." Picking up a computerised spreadsheet Rawlings senior shows us the fuel returns for the past quarter; they average out at 10.0mpg. "That's about the same as for the Mega-cabbed Actros." he says. "We expect to keep the Scania between six and eight years. It will be replaced as it starts to cost us downtime. Franchised dealers are not really interested in trade-in deals with vehicles that old and residual values are not very high then so we trade them out. Top-of-the-range vehicles do hold their value a bit better.
''For now service and parts are covered by the
dealer." he reports. "We run up to Heathrow and they provide the driver with a courtesy car. After three years we'll look after it in our own workshops. So far it's been virtually trouble-free: we've only had to have a light switch relay replaced. The truck was delivered on the day it was promised and up to now the dealer has delivered everything that it said it would."
Paul concludes: ''The driver likes it. The cab feels like quality; it's comfortable with plenty of space to put gear away. That encourages the driver to take a pride in looking after it. Mercedes service has gone downhill, On the basis of the Scania's performance so far we will be buying another—if the price remains competitive."