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■ !iii 1 I1 iTi Operators are repairing their trucks rather than
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trading them in for new ones Rather more cautious about the used market's prospects is Mike Curtis, who used to work as the used truck sales manager at Worcester-based DAF dealership Watts Trucks, until he retired recently. He has since started working for the Forest of Dean-based dealer group again, but in a consultancy role.
"Things are still quiet out there and enquiries are thin on the ground," he says. "Even if operators do have the money, many of them are afraid to spend it in the current economic climate. They're repairing their vehicles, rather than renewing them."
As a consequence, prices have come down with a bump, with late-plate tractor units that might have sold for £38,000 a year ago now going for as little as £22,000. 'Hauliers are well aware there are bargains to be had," he remarks.
On the flipside, Paul Diamond, used sales specialist at Mercedes-Benz dealership Road Range, which has sites in Liverpool, Llandudno and Deeside, says: "The domestic side of things is slow, but exports remain buoyant."