Older lorries- yay or no way?

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seabiscuit

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I sold my renault master 3.5 tonner a few months ago because it was costing a few grand a year to keep on the road. I then posted about this and everyone seemed to agree that this was ridicolous, and that in general their lorries were just a few hundred pounds a year to get through its MOT and replace body parts etc. So I guess that I was just unlucky with my lorry that it was a nightmare to maintain? Is it luck of the draw that you end up with a good lorry? Cos I know that someone on here had a really good new lorry and she got a horrific bill to get it through its MOT whereas other people just get away with a few hundred £ a year.....so is it all a question of luck?

Have now had a trailer and a 4x4 for a few months and just hate travelling my horses in a trailer and the diesel for my 4x4 is expensive (£20 every 5 days as am having to use it as my general runabout) and so now want to go back to having a horsebox again and just pray, that this time, it will be a horsebox that does not cost thousands of pounds to keep maintained.....

So would you guys say it is possible to have an older lorry that is cheap to keep on the road?Or are all the aged lorries just going to be a liability ( am talking about like B to N reg lorries here- have hardly got any budget!) What makes are good? I think I will try to have a VW or a Ford this time round as I think the reason why Ive always had so much trouble with my lorries is that they have all been Renaults..,which people claim are notorious for frequently breaking down etc?

Thoughts welcomed...
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I think if you get an old lorry and get it checked prior to purchase by someone like the AA you should be okay. It's about 50 quid to have this done, and gives you peace of mind.
Or go for a newer but smaller lorry (ie no living). It will work out alot cheaper. -
 
We have an E reg Ford Cargo 318, we have had it 5 years and it owes us nothing costs a couple of hundred only each year to get through MOT and it is great
 
We had a C reg layland up until last summer but it was dying a bit so we put the back onto a X reg one! We are well away now!

Maybe if you went for one with quite low milage that wouldn't be so bad??
 
Thanks guys, some helpfull tips there.....!

Burtie, what makes/ages of lorries did you have?
And buckybee, was the leyland prooving expensive to replace parts etc or was it ok ?
 
I've got a a C reg Dodge I've had it 9 years, it's only failed its MOT properly once and it cost me £600 to get the brakes done, but I was ripped off as I couldn't use my normal man as he had removed his toe with a lawnmower. The last 2 years its gone straight thru. This year I also had to replace the exhaust £125 but once in 9 years isn't bad. If you get the right one an old lorry is alright.
 
QR.

My little lorry is a C reg. I have no faith in it. It has broken down once, can't remember what was wrong but the guy fixed it at the side of the road very quickly.

It cost us £900 to get it throughs its MOT (due to needing a lot of welding) and it has other "issues" but I cant afford to get them done at the mo.

I drive it convinced it is going to brake down everytime Im in it but it keeps on going. We drove back from "up Norf", it was well over 5 hours and it was fine. Im slowly gaining faith in it!

Saying all that, I'd never go back to having a trailer.
 
Mm interesting! And a Renault Dodge too! We had a nightmare of a time with our old Renault Dodge about 10 years ago.
Definately luck of the draw methinks!
 
my first lorry which i bought in february last year is a 30 yr old bedford tk..i drove it 2 hours to get it home and had to get the radiator and pipes done almost immediately,that cost 250. then i decided toreplace the partitions so cant include that cost.it cost me a grand to get it through its MOT as the back brakes were not working,it didnt fail on anything else..my mechanic says the cab is in very good nick for its age and he has replaced other peoples cabs with ones in worse condition than mine! he also reckons the box itself is worth a grand on its own as thats in good condition as well...it never let me down and a friend had spent 15 grand on her lorry ,half the age of mine,and it broke down twice in so many weeks! i hate driving it though as it has no power steering but easy enough to drive ,and our horse had to be 'wedged' in as he was slightly to long for it. i have recently bought an F reg ford cargo which sailed through its MOT but will need a new floor in the not to distant future but mechanically its sound and i know its history for the last few years so worth buying it regardless.. ill stick my old one on ebay (where i got it from) as it still has 9 months MOT left and is just sitting abandoned outside my house lol. i think as long as you maintain/ look after whatever lorry you get/have they should last longer.. i guess some makes are better than others to.
 
Dodges are generally seen as lorries that never die, they go on and on. Also Massey Ferguson Tractor parts fit them so they are cheap to fix if it does. I love my lorry and I was probably lucky to buy it. This summer my sisters brand new build £19k box broke and who's did they have to borrow...
 
My lorry is a 1978 model Leyland 7.5 tonne. I paid about a grand for her with a year's test and tax. She had bills for some work done on the brakes. In the 19 months I've had her she's had a new battery (£70), two new tyres to impress the MOT blokes(£180), new starter motor (£109), new windscreen wiper blade (under a fiver), she cost me around £200 on brakes for the MOT and because she's been so reliable we've had her fitted with a new ramp (£850) - the old one was a pain to deal with.

I bought her the way I did my other older vehicles and the way I do my horses - did she "feel" right to me. Yup she did - and I think she's been a bargain. She's out on average three times a week and although the furthest we go is about 70 miles she gets us there - and the horses travel comfortably in her (she has Oakley internals for the horses). She has only once let me down - and that was when the starter motor went bang at home.

Mind you she looks appalling. But her special feature is that although she doesn't have fitted living she does have a decent loo.

Thanks for all your hard work Delilah d'Lorry!
 
Thanks Megotto for all that! but wow,a 30 year old lorry that passed its MOT- that is impressive!

DieselDog- intriguing about the Dodges, I was definately very unlucky with mine as have just remembered it was not one, but two renault dodges that we've had a terrible time with!
 
PMSL !! You sound extremely fond of your lorry! Haha! That is so sweet.She sounds as though she has served you very well. I think I should follow your example and try and go by gut instinct this time when I buy my next lorry!
 
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And buckybee, was the leyland prooving expensive to replace parts etc or was it ok ?

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I think the parts were really cheep (that is why dad gets them instead of a cargo, for example, becasue i think the parts are cheeper) but it was so old and tired it got to the point where we needed our own personal mechanic to keep fixing it!

it was a good lorry though, never really let us down. xx
 
I have a 3.5ton Daf cargo (2 x horse, no living) and cost about £200 last year to have serviced and MOT'd, but another £800 for new ramps and floor
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I've got an old V Reg (around 28yo) Bedford TL and it has only ever failed test once - this year - was unlucky for a rear brake hose to split on the way to test centre so when brakes went under strain it burst! Cost £280.

Have had a new exhaust and a few inner tubes, it broke down once on a fuel starvation problem and a mates dad looked at it and charged us £800 to fix - it didn't
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- OH fixed it with a new olive on fule line for 25p!
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I've known 3 people with Renault Dodges, 2 of which were a nightmare and cost a fortune to keep on the road, the other has been fairly reliable.
I'm afraid a dodge would be fairly low on my list of lorries.
 
We have had 2 old bedford TLs (B reg and D reg) and both have been very economical. We buy spare parts from the breaker's yard at Paddock Wood and my father and his friend do nearly all the work so the cost is minimal.

The B reg one failed it's plating once on back breaks and emissions (fixed with a bottle of potion from a pound shop) but apart from that it was a fab little lorry, we were very upset when someone pulled out in front of us and wrote it off. The D reg is much bigger (28ft) and goes through much more diesel. The only issue with it is the radiator which is currently being held together with radweld. It has only broken down once - it ran out of diesel!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Dodges are generally seen as lorries that never die, they go on and on. Also Massey Ferguson Tractor parts fit them so they are cheap to fix if it does. I love my lorry and I was probably lucky to buy it. This summer my sisters brand new build £19k box broke and who's did they have to borrow...

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Another vote here for the Dodge. Mine is an F reg and as long as it has an outing once per week during the winter it starts first time and runs sweetly. Have spent arond 500 per year but that includes things like brakes/service/exhaust/floor/tax/plating. it can be luck of the draw sometimes. it also helps to find a nice man who can can the little things for cash!!
 
Hey I have a C reg Dodge too, it is yellow under the bonnet as it was an ex telecomunications truck. I must admit it needed a patch up job on the cab floor, but I have a OH with a welder. He has tweaked the front gutter strip which was directing the water into the cab- all is dry now. The engine is a pekins diesel and acording to our local garage, scrap yard and the dodge 50 owners club they go on forever!. The box is coach built to a very high standard so should do us plenty of years too.

The probelm with older boxes is that certain things will have a shelf life. This year we had a recon master cylinder and new brake shoes alround, however these will not need doindg for years and years now too. I think an old box (even a dodge) is only as good as its past owners. If it has been well maintaned it should be fine. However no box is ever going to be cheap to run - just like the equine contents.

I love Dodges retro look, modern boxes look so samey. My OH wants to have ours sprayed Black with a red stripe, I said only if he is going to me Mad Murdock.
 
I have a 26 year old Bedford TK.

Starts first time!

In view of it's age I allow about £2,000 per year for servicing and maintenance although the last few years it has been down to about £600 including the MOT for mechanical repairs.

Good practice is to take them out for a run once a week as this turns all the parts over.
 
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