I was working on the same job as our new Daf autos today; I saw firsthand the kangaroo motion of the autos as one of the drivers reversed over a gentle speed bump into a building site, and gently around a mixer on a corner and onto made up ground. My wagon and one our Volvo FEs made the transition without trouble as if they were on asphalt throughout…
When I was a mechanic. I found the DAF a piece of ■■■■ to work on. On a 8 legger tipper, I used to be able to chage a rear road spring in under an hour, and a clutch in two hours on my own. Simple is usually best. None of this electronic crap. I prefer something I can fix with a spanner (or hammer) 
Willy Gofar:
masetheace:
we have two 18t daf LF’s one 08 and one 54 reg, and the rest are atego/axors 14/18tonners and i prefer the mercs hands down. i find the daf cabs are bloody awful-
cupholder is useless as its not deep enough,auto box takes an age to change, flick it in reverse too quick and you end up in neutral, and floor it to pull onto a roundabout/ junction and youre sat there like a plank for 20 minutes waiting for the thing to actually move (unless you hold it on the handbrake and release while on full throttle!)
mirrors arent great and why are they not electric!!! and i dont like the way the bonnet mirror is placed right n the middle of the screen, prefer the merc mirror on the left side of the screen, better visibility
can not get a comfortable driving position and steering wheel does not have enough movement, and driver seat can not recline due to no space behind the seat
no room between the middle of the seat and dash to put your dinner bag! or anywhere else for that matter
cruise control buttons on the steering wheel - many times ive turned this on by mistake, feels wierd accelerating when you take you foot off the throttle to slow down!
door locks are fragile#
54 reg is starting to become quite unreliable
um think theres probably more!
i prefer the mercs yes we only have cheap lorries but i find the mercs more comfortable, better to drive and more reliable.Bad workman always blames the tools. Mercs are crap, almost as bad as Scanias.
I hate the haxor I normally drive which is an 09, but it’s in for service or something, so I’m in an old 05 actross (not a mega space or anything, just a fleet spec one) and it’s 10x nicer to drive, gearbox is much better - if a little slow sometimes - seat’s better, drive is much quieter and just more laid back and relaxing and it’s better on fuel too.
I’d love an Axor when my Foden’s up for replacement next year/year after, but it looks like it’ll be a Naf. I’ve already asked the driver of one of our Volvo FEs if he wants the new Daf and I’ll have his FE (08 reg) instead. He’s agreed as he hates the Volvo, but failing that I’ll kick up to keep the Foden rather than see it relegated to spare.
This man sure likes his 
A “LEGENDARY” delivery driver, who has covered more than 1.5million miles in the same lorry, has been made the feature of a short film by Bridport’s Palmers Brewery.
Palmers have dubbed malt deliverer Brian Wood as an “unsung hero of British brewing”, having been delivering sacks of malted barley to Palmers for nearly 30 years.
By hand, he’s loaded and unloaded approximately 73,000 sacks weighing in the region of 3,650 tonnes.
“Brian Wood is a legend in his own lifetime,” said Palmers’ Head Brewer Darren Batten.
Over the last three decades Brian has worked for breweries nationwide but nowadays, from his home in Essex, he delivers mostly to Palmers in Dorset, Arkell’s in Swindon, Felinfoel near Llanelli, Harveys in Lewes, Elgood’s in Wisbech, Wadworth in Devizes and Fuller’s in Chiswick.
“I absolutely love them,” said Brian. “I’m a bit of an old-fashioned chap and all the breweries I deliver to mostly put the malt up through the loft. It’s a beautiful routine and we all seem to be tuned into the same frequency.
“I’ve always been proud to be involved with the malt; I just enjoy my work.”
Brian is known for taking exceptional care of things. His lorry, a DAF 1900, has done more than 1.5 million miles since he bought it new in 1988.
Brian, his lorry and the whole process of malt delivery can be seen in a new video on the Palmers Brewery YouTube channel.
“I don’t ever see myself retiring,” said Brian. “I feel good, I look after myself, I just want to keep on working.”
The video called “Palmers Brewery People: Maltman Brian Wood” can be found on www.youtube.com
andrew.s:
who manages to get covered in oil by checking a dipstick lol
Then you have never driven a KM Bedford with a box body 
Or tried to climb into an F86 one handed with a gallon of oil while keeping keep the seats & floor clean 
NewBlood:
gunnerheskey:
I must admit that the interior’s not moved on much but as for basic in cab comfort, room and storage i couldn’t fault the XF95 430 i had for 18 months, infact i’d swap it for my R series 480 tomorrow.
FJ06 FBY. Miss ya babe xHi Gunny Heskey.
I assume you work for the company in your avitar. If so, hasn’t your lot just got a “11” plate XF?
NB
Yes i do, and yes we have. We have 2 more on order, another tag and 1 mid lift for the pig wagon. But i’m well down the line for one 
.
Also couldn’t fault the 1st Daf i had the pleasure of driving a 3300 C574 KCA. Had it for a week once when the regular driver was off. came off a high datum roadtrain so it was a bit of a promotion, the daf had a sliding 5th wheel for pulling them new fangled 45ft trailers.
gunnerheskey:
Yes i do, and yes we have. We have 2 more on order, another tag and 1 mid lift for the pig wagon. But i’m well down the line for one
Thanks for the reply. Are they replacing all the Scannies with DAF’s then?
NB
Spoke to our Workshop Manager this afternoon whilst washing my lorry (not much work so needed to kill time on way home) and he said basically the firm’s impressed with the 2 new ones (autos), that they were way better than the 2 Fodens they replaced and get used to seeing more of them. Bugger. No Mercedes then??
We’ve got 2 CF autos and they’ve recently been banned from one site; It’s a private house up a steep, straight tarmac driveway, with 2 pillars at the top. One of the autos went there and couldn’t creep between said pillars as it kept stalling/kangarooing etc. Driver tried the usual slow reverse mode or whatever and it still wouldn’t have it, and tipped halfway up the drive to the annoyance of the builders who have to barrow the stuff around the back…
I’ve been there and got to where the stone was wanted, twice,piece of p*** in my Foden 
Yet our bosses still think autos are wonderful…
axletramp:
And the little CF DAF has it’s roots with the Leyland T45 cab.
Careful, I was riddiculed for noticing that resemblance About time something new came along.
Muckaway:
axletramp:
And the little CF DAF has it’s roots with the Leyland T45 cab.Careful, I was riddiculed for noticing that resemblance
Dare I mention driver familiarisation courses
im quite happy with the xfs i get to drive, the beds proper gid, the new seats are comfy as hell.
even our old 1998 xf95 430 is still decent enough to drive
I love my 08 310 DAF. It’s got a Jamaican auto box (laid back, lazy, maybe tomorrow) but that suits my driving style and my age 
Oh - I have a six month old static seat for sale if anyone needs.
Bickermonky I have had scarrrrnia ,erf, sed atky,foden ,and daf, the daf was the best one as far as putting money into my bank account,easy the best on site and at 8.3 mpg overall when I sold it the best on fuel (no real distance work.The worst one actually I had two were scarnia.I do own a Volvo I shift at the minute but only because I could not get another daf ( 10 month wait) so I got this Volvo it is good but was exspensive.Most of the fleets where I live use daf and I see the replaced with daf so overall I dont think they are a bad tool but at the end of the day you pays your money and you take your choice
I’d quite happily swap my merc axor for a DAF anytime.
My cf 340 8 wheeler is gutless but I put a lot of it down to the massive gap in ratios between gears and it’s only a 8 speed but yesterday I was running with a p340 scania with a 8 speed and couldnt get no where near it.
Our euro five ones also give a lot of trouble with the ad blue system
Well,I now have an 11 plate 105,my 2nd full time DAF…it’s auto like the last one and it’s pretty decent on fuel,gearbox is a bit slow and take off is also slow when trying to move off quickly,it’s a good looking truck and I keep it looking clean and tidy…the ONLY noticeable improvement that differs from my 08 plate is it now has an am rest for my left arm…well done DAF research and development!!!..yep they may be good on fuel compared to other manufacturers and obviously that is a MAJOR consideration when a company buys a truck,but from a driver comfort perspective especially if you’re spending 4-5 days/nights away in one,they are miles behind all the others,it hasn’t changed for years!!
I am ‘fond’ of my motor cause I spend so much time in her,but I stick by what I say…DAF need to up their game.