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18-tonners in demand
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Page 93
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Two-axle rigids are in short supply. This month, CM scours the ads looking for a late-year product for local multi-drop work.
0 ur remit is an 18-tormer, as new as possible, for local dry-freight work, predominantly multi-drop with pallets. That means side access, which means curtains. A sleeper cab is preferred but not essential. Our budget is a reasonable £15,000-£20,000 including VAT.
The problem is scarcity. If dealers can find them,18-tonners are worth their weight in gold. Specialists in this and lighter weight categories will probably find it easier to source them than those who sell them as part of a heavier range of trucks.
Even franchised dealers with exclusive access to contract and lease portfolios have reportedly struggled to meet demand and sourced from the open market. For independents that means greater competition.
Our search begins with an independent and a Volvo FL6-18 curtainsider. It's on a 1999 S-registration and meets all the other criteria. It has the added bonus of a foldaway tail-lift and 12-month MoT Mileage is quoted as average.
Under budget The guy wants £10,500 for it, which seems reasonable and well below our budget. It's a good start but perhaps we can find something newer.
Another Volvo FL6-18 soon attracts our attention, and this time it has the Euro-2 220hp driveline. It is nearly identical to the previous vehicle in terms of spec but is on a 2001 Y-registration and is by all accounts 'in mint condition'.
The asking price is £15,750 (ex-VAT), so if you include the VAT that would take our budget to the limit at £18,506. There is no talk of extras, road fund licence Or MoT, but our man does sound as though he might come down a little on the asking price. He even mentions 'finance options' before we do. He sounds a little desperate when he shouldn't be.
Either way, we hang up and continue to shop. Finding a suitable 18-tormer from fellow Swede Scania proves fruitless but Mercedes-Benz appears to have plenty up for grabs. An Atego 1823 curtainsider with a sleeper cab and tail-lift on a 1998 S-registration is available. his one of the first off the production line.
Unfortunately it is price on application (POA) — and despite pushing, no price is forthcoming. We even point out that travelling so farjust to be disappointed was not an option. "Try it and see," he replies, standing his ground — and we find this psychology even more bewildering.
Frustrated, we move on. Finding a number of SE day cabs, we decide to check one out.An SE 2001 (51-registration), with a near-identical spec to the sleeper cab version with no price tag, comes in at £14,450 (ex-VAT). But it might do the trick as a sleeper isn't a necessity, only a preference.
We hear it in mind. With a £20,000 budget we realise that something dating from about 2001 should be ideal. Iveco, a strong player in this field, has more than enough to offer at 7.5 tonnes from franchised and independent alike. But at 18 tonnes we draw a blarik.There are a couple of boxed vans available but no curtainsiders.
Keep on running
Daf Trucks too provides plenty of boxed examples but no curtainsiders. We make a speculative call and are told that there are 'none about' at the moment. Operators, it seems, are holding on to them; in some cases, they are extending deals with rental and leasing companies to keep running them a little longer.
Renault Trucks, our last real opportunity, has several boxes, and a 1999 V-registration with a day cab. It has a 210hp engine, no tail-lift and 12-month MoT. This one wasn't directly advertised and it came after an older version that had, provisionally, already been sold.This version at £8,500 (ex-VAT) was well within our budget. r