1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194 
Little sign of a summer holiday
Page 70
Page 71
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Alex Wright, Manheim Auction's sales director for commercial vehicles, takes another look at the secondhand van market.
Deaters seem quietly confident about the used van market.This is in contrast to previous years when the mood has been less optimistic. and that must be good news for everybody.
No-one is whingeing about the lack of people coming onto their forecourts; vendors are receiving sensible bids for vehicles and, more important!), are selling vans.
Looking at the market from the bottom up, the car-derived van sector continues to be rock steady. The first of the new-shape Fiestas have started to come back into the market and these '04-registered vans have been in high demand.
In this sector anything that is diesel and in reasonable condition is performing well,but anything above the 100.000-mile mark is probably being bought for export. This is one of the few sectors where vehicles with over 100,000 miles on the clock continue to thrive.
The Astravan Sportive continues its success in the used market, mainly because it looks so good and at the same time is a practical load carrier for someone like a window cleaner or painter and decorator. However,prices of the standard Astravan have slipped because of the volume of vehicles coming back onto the market they now look an extremely good deal for buyers.
Escort vans continue to be a good budget buy and small firms still haven't fallen out of love with the practicality and low running costs offered by the Ford. But beware —supplies of Royal Mail Escort vans will start to decline very soon and retailers will find it hard to replace them with other budget buys for their forecourts.
The Vauxhall Combos are still doing well with a side loading door: buyers are being very specific about this option so vendors should be aware that it's worth opting for side loading doors on all future vans as they will bring in a few hundred pounds extra come sale time.
We've seen a price drop in the small panel van market in the guise of the Fiat Scudo, Peugeot Expert and Citroen Dispatch, all of which are now looking good value at under £4,000.
Viva Vito!
The popular old-shape Transporter and old-shape Mercedes Vito are also now both comfortably inside the £4,000 bracket,while 12month-old new-model Vitos are pushing the price of brand new Vitos at around .£8,000-9,000.
Buyers of the Vivaro/Trafic or Primastar are insisting on engines with over 100hp so from a vendor's perspective you'll more than recoup an investment in extra horsepower when you buy a new van. Meanwhile sub-100hp examples are now looking good value to buyers.
In the larger panel van sector Transits and Sprinters are still coming back in good numbers. Buyers continue to find that medium-wheelbase versions of models such as the Transit don't always fit into their customers' transport requirements so they are avoiding this size of van in the absence of a guaranteed buyer.
Vendors would be well advised to avoid this class of van at the moment in favour of slightly bigger or smaller option. Residuals on medium-wheelbase versions have slipped back by a few hundred pounds, nearly to the level of SWB versions.
Extra-long-wheelbase high-roof Transits and Sprinters are much in demand because of the lack of Luton conversions now coming onto the secondhand market. Used buyers are looking for the 4.0m-plus wheelbase and the more powerful engine options, preferring the practicality of a high-cube van to the often higher running costs of a Luton conversion.
The edgy economy is helping the tipper market with sub-f5,000 models from Ford. LDV and Iveco in high demand as few operators want to spend more than this on a used vehicle.
Payload compromised
Used buyers still prefer the singlecab models with dual rear wheels for maximum payload. Doublecab tippers are struggling to find buyers as the extra people eat into payload potential.
In the 4x4 sector the Land Rover 90 continues to be in very high demand. while the growing numbers of double-cab pick ups in the used market from the likes of Mitsubishi and Ford mean prices are now sensitive to the right spec and condition, while before everything made top prices.
The used van market's seasonal lull is not as pronounced as it has been for the past 15 summers. •