Late models in demand
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Demand continues to rise in the used truck market with the three-year-old tractor top of the list
Words: Steve Banner Demand is rising for three-year-old tractor units with a good pedigree; and Matt Hammond, used vehicle sales manager at West Thurrock, Essex-based dealership Harris DAF, is not in the least surprised.
"An 07-registered DAF XF105 460hp Super Space Cab 6x2 that's done around 300,000km to 350,000km with a full-service history will set you back £40,000 to £45,000, and that's good value," he says.
Steep price rises mean that brand-new units with equivalent specifications can cost as much as a wallet-numbing £90,000, he points out, so it is no shock that many customers are opting for the older rather than the newer.
"They seem to be especially popular with some of the smaller fleets that might not have bought a truck for a while,he says
Desirable vehicles
The sort of desirable three-year-old vehicle Hammond has in mind will have come from a reputable fleet that, for example, runs training programmes in defensive driving and rewards drivers who remain accident-free. In other words, it will have, been driven carefully and any damage will have been promptly repaired.
"Some of the units of that age we've had in stock came from an operator who has each one of his trucks inspected once a month by a senior member of the management team," he observes.
While not impossible to obtain. Hammond admits that such attractive trucks arc not easy to come by. Dealers continue to be plagued by a shortage of stock at a time when enquiries are increasing.
"August was quiet, but we're now getting a lot of calls," says Lee Smith. a director of independent dealership Hanbury Riverside, also based in West Thurrock."I'm getting people ringing me late into the evening to find out what we've got."
Repeat business
He adds: "Fortunately, we happen to have a decent number of 57,08 and 58 high-specification tractor units — we've got 50 trucks in stock in total and they're all top-of-the-range models — and we're picking up a lot of repeat business.
"Having battened down the batches for a while, hauliers are unbolting them and sticking their heads out to see what sort of state the market is in," he adds. "Enquiries are coming in but locating stock is really difficult at present," says Andy Mackay, used truck specialist at Manchester DAF dealership Chatfields. "In fact I think the situation is getting progressively worse."
"Late-registered rigids can be difficult to get hold of," says Hammond.
"Everybody seems to want 18-tonne curtainsiders and the ones we've got coming back at present are pre-sold," says Paul Evans, director, used vehicle operations at Iveca
Continuing shortage
"Some operators are still extending contracts and hanging on to their existing vehicles," says Adam Day, business development manager at Market Weigh ton, East Yorkshire-based independent dealer and exporter Britcom International. As a consequence, they are not appearing 01 on the second-hand market, exacerbating the shortage. "We're seeing quite a few fleets going for 12-month extensions and there certainly aren't the umbers of finance house repossessions around that there were," Evans says.
"I don't think stock availability is going to get any better in the near future," adds Day. •