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Used truck sales peak in autumn
Page 53
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• Used truck sales are booming according to Exhall, Coventry-based independent dealer Geoff Sipson. "We've sold 40 lorries in the last four weeks, and we've had the best autumn that we've ever had," he reports. The only problem we've got is getting the right stock."
In his case that includes 4x2 tractors with plenty of power and big cabs. "A year ago you couldn't do anything with 4x2 tractors, but things are very different now," he adds.
There's plenty of interest in late-registered 17-tonners too, he adds: "Curtainsiders at that weight are in great demand, and it's impossible to get hold of 17tonners with fridge bodies. Six and eight-wheel tippers aren't about either—the construction industry is still very busy."
How about the trailer side of the business? "Good fridge trailers make terrific money," he replies. "We've been selling 1995 and 1996 26-pallet Gray and Adams fridges on air for between 18,500 and £10,000, depending on the fridge units they're fitted with. Flats are in demand too; even old ones. We've just sold a dozen 1983 40ft Crane Fruehauf triaxle flats on steel suspension for £1,200 each."
The buoyancy of the market is giving him the confidence to invest in a new five-bay workshop and offices. "It's not all doom and gloom," he smiles.
If Sipson has any concerns, it's the number of private buyers who are now bidding at auction rather than purchasing from dealers. He warns that private buyers don't have the redress on auction purchases that they have with a dealer.