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Oh Lord won't you buy me a Mercedes-Bern
Page 70
Page 71
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We see what makes clients happy at M-B dealership intercounty Truck and Van.
Give Ian Hamilton a yard full of clean, low-mileage, second-hand old-style Mercedes-Benz Vitas to sell and he'd be a happy man. As used sales manager at Peterborough Mercedes dealership Intercounty Truck & Van, he's well aware that demand for them remains buoyant, despite the launch of the new model."Fmding examples with a sensible mileage is the big problem though," he reports. "Our customers tend to want vans that have done fewer than 100,000 miles.
"The 110CD1 is the most popular. although the 108CDI is a good seller too. Most of our stock is W or X-registered and has covered 60,000-80,000 miles, although we have got the odd one or two witl 51 registrations and lower mileages" The Sprinter is in demand too: "We can't get enough of them." Hamilton sighs;a1though Sprinter customers don't seem to be a mileage-sensitive as their Vito counterparts.
A high percentage of buyers are after the 4.0m-wheelbase 311CDI van.About 0,000 will get you a 2000-2001 example on a W or X plate, and vehicles of that vintage make up till bulk of Intercounty's Sprinter sales.
"We'd like to get hold of some Sprinter tippers and dropsides, but they're just not around," Hamilton remarks."We've got a list of 10 people after Sprinter tippers. Sprinter Lutons are much sought after too, although w don't get all that many enquiries for fridges."
Setting up
About 90% of Intercounty's light commercia are sold locally but truck buyers often come from much further afield.
Vans are something of a novelty for Hamilton, who worked for Volvo Truck &Bus South's Kettering branch before he joined Intercounty. Set up just over a year ago, Intercounty is still busy getting itself established, but can boast a sound pedigree.
Part of Ballyvesey Holdings -which also owns Montracon and Commercial Vehicle Auctions it's a sister company to Scania dealer West Pennine, and Northern Ireland Renault truck distributor Coulter Truck & Van.As well as its Peterborough HQ it has depots at Wellingborough and Milton Keyne: Moving up the weight range,Hamilton regularly stocks used Atego 7.5-tonners of the same vintage as the Vitos and Sprinters with either curtainsider or standard 20ft box odies.The boxes are ex-rental fleet:Hamilton ; selling them for around £12,000 apiece and 8-torme Atego 1823 curtainsiders are good ellers too.
A rather more unusual Atego on display luring our visit is a 2628 6x4 26-tonne rigid rith an all-steelThompson tipper body and a 'alfinger Epsilon E93 grab. Dating back o 1999 on aV-plate it's covered almost 10,000miles.
There was some surface corrosion on the ubframe. body, and cab steps, but nothing o get too excited about. For a tipper the cab nterior was surprisingly clean and tidy. "We're tsking £33,000," says Hamilton.
kxor power
vlore and more second-hand Axor tractors ire coming onto the market. Hamilton has everal in stock, including an 1835 4x2 with a ;2-registration plate. a standard sleeper cab ind a roof-top aerofoil. It's covered 70,000 niles and looks tidy inside and out, apart from ; minor dent in the bumper on the driver's ide. "Small hauliers are buying second-hand kxors they're good, solid trucks hut they end to prefer the more powerful ones," ie says.
Looking rather more impressive than the kxor is a 2001 Y-plated Actros 2540 6x2 midift tractor, resplendent in a blue and yellow ivery. Complete with the Long Distance leeper cab and a full air-management kit. it's :locked up just over 136.000rniles and is priced it £25,500.
Like the 6x4Atego and the Axor, its cab nterior is stain,scuff, and cigarette-bum free. 'It's 6x2 Actros tractors that buyers want," iamilton remarks.
Does Intercounty make use of Mercedes3enz's Signature approved used commercial vehicles scheme? "We do,but many of the vehicles we sell are covered by a three-month driveline warranty that we stand ourselves," he reports. "We don't sell vans that are more than five years old, or trucks that are more than seven or eight years old."
Much of Intercounty's stock comes from Mercedes-Benz' Wentworth Park operation and from part-exchanges. "We don't buy at auction." he says.
As well as Mercedes, the part-exchanges include Volvos, Scanias, and Renaults. 'We retail perhaps 20% of the nonMercedes trucks we get in," says Hamilton.
He aims to sell 200 vans and 150 trucks this year, and is expecting to see an improvement in prices in the coming months.
On the truck side he's also expecting to see more drivers accompany the hauliers he does business with:-Drivers definitely have an influence, and operators often won't commit themselves until the driver has seen the vehicle and is happy with it." •