AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

"The XF has been extremely reliable, and

25th May 2000, Page 28
25th May 2000
Page 28
Page 28, 25th May 2000 — "The XF has been extremely reliable, and
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

the cab is a reasonable size." Chris Long Is: Chris Long is a director of J Long & Sons Haulage, which was founded at the beginning of the last century. Operating out of Leeds with a depot in Hull, the company has a mixed fleet of 8o trucks

which includes Mercedes-Benz and one Volvo, but is dominated by Dafs.

"The Daf 95 has proved to be reliable and costeffective," says Long. "The XF has been extremely reliable, and the cab is a reasonable size with good living accommodation. Our drivers travel about r3o,000lu-n a year and spend four to five nights out a week "CliatfieIds is our local dealer," he adds. "We took our first XF's with a two-year contract maintenance package. Then we reverted back to our own workshops but bought a third-year warranty on the drive line. The later ones are on a three-year contract. We now have 29 XFs fitted with the Space Cab, and we expect to run them for seven years and change them before they need to be repainted. We have one 480, but all the others are rated at 430, which is adequate power. The early ones were all 41(25, but the last 15 we have taken have been 6x2s. They are not the cheapest trucks on the market, but we feel they give value for money. We like to do cost comparisons, but it's important to compare like with like. We are operating at 38 and 41 tonnes and return between 7.8 and 8.2mpg."

Most of Long's XFs are fitted with an engine brake, and the company has had no braking problems. Most faults occur after the first two years, when the warranty has expired. Long had problems with starter motors and with exhaust pipes cracking, but Daf helped with these problems. He also found clutches did not last as long as on ear her models, but believes this will improve with the assistance of Daf driver training. The only other electrical problems he has encountered are caused by corrosion of the contour lamps in the side skirts where he believes they are not sealed properly.

Long uses only genuine Daf parts, because they are covered by a national warranty and, he says, they compare well on price with those of the non-standard suppliers anyway.

If the trucks suffer accident damage some cab panels are more expensive to replace on the XF than earlier models; mainly because they are bigger," Long reports. "One thing that is poor for a modern truck is that the cab must be tilted to replace a headlight bulb. The labour cost is several times more than for the cost of the bulb."

Tags

People: Chris Long
Locations: Leeds

comments powered by Disqus