Why Buy a DAF Truck?
The most important part of the mix is the truck itself. DAF spend their R&D money wisely – they have not thrown money away on developing brand new cabs – they are essentially just square boxes. The XF cab, for example originates back in 1987!
What they do is work on realistic improvements to their driveline and aerodynamics. They are rarely first to market with a brand-new invention, but when they bring new technology on board, operators can be confident that it will work.
Who Owns DAF Trucks?
DAF is owned by American Fortune 200 corporation, PACCAR. They sell plenty of trucks under their other brands worldwide as well, including Kenworth and Peterbilt.
This is a company that has NEVER made a loss in 80 year trading history and has brought DAF back from near extinction in the late 1990’s to become a European truck manufacturing powerhouse.
Brief DAF History
DAF is a Dutch company, founded back in 1928 and has made buses, cars and trucks over the years. There were plenty of ups and downs, but after the low point of bankruptcy in 1996 after a failed run with the UK’s Leyland (remember Leyland DAF trucks?).
Since this time, the business has thrived with a straightforward range of three cabs, but thousands of variants – lengths, weights, axle configurations and driveline choices.
Even during the 2020 Covid pandemic the company managed to increase market share in the UK.
DAF Trucks Model Overview
DAF’s lightweight truck from 7.5 tonnes to 18 tonnes GVW. The smaller models can be driven on a car licence (if the driver is old enough to have Granddad’s rights…) The LF shares a cab with the Renault Midlum/ Range D – in fact, the DAF LF cab is made in the Renault factory in France. Assembly takes place in Leyland in the UK for our right hand drive models.
Older pre-Euro 6 models in the LF range had an extra set of numbers in the model, so a 7.5 tonne LF prior to 2014 would have been called an LF45.180 instead of simply LF180 as they are today.
In addition to the LF45 there was the LF55 which used the same cab, but the larger engine and went from over 12 tonnes to 18 tonnes GVW. Read more about the LF and its variants on the DAF LF Pages.
The mid-range cab which is used mainly for local distribution but can also be configured as a sleeper cabbed tractor unit with a high roof for distance haulage. The CF is a favourite with tipper operators thanks to the reliability and payloads that are available when configured as an eight wheeler.
Prior to the introduction of the Euro 6 range in 2014, the CF had additional numbers in the model (an easy way to tell if the truck you are looking at meets the Euro 6 standard). Prior to 2014 you would be buying a CF65.220 instead of a CF220. There were also CF75 and CF85 variants. These extra numbers originally determined the engine sizes, but with the simplification of the ranges of engines, this has no longer become necessary.
The largest truck cab in the DAF range – usually seen on UK roads in tractor unit guise, the XF cab originally started out in the DAF 95 back in the 1990’s – although you would never realise it from the modern look of today’s 44-tonne tractor units.
As with the smaller cabbed models, the XF had a name change for the Euro 6 (new shape) versions in 2014. Prior to this, the XF105 was the main model number – giving you an XF105.460 that was replaced by a more simple XF460.
The XF now has a choice of Space cab and Super Space cab (high roof sleeper version). You can read more about these models on our dedicated DAF XF pages.
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