Buyers want power
Page 46
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Buyers of used tractors now want at least 385hp and sometimes as much as 475hp on tap. What they do not want is 35ohp or less, says independent dealer Malcolm Harrison, of Stone, Staffordshire.
"The less-powerful tractors are ex-contract vehicles, very often have low specifications, and it is difficult to find a home for them," he adds. "Few are going for export, and the rest aren't going anywhere."
But those desirable 385hp-plus units have to be fuel-frugal-"fuel is the biggest thing people think about"—and cheap enough to per
suade the customer not to lease a new one instead.
"We are competing against new trucks all the time, and we have to pitch ours at just the right price," Harrison says. "We have to offer a significant saving."
He has detected a resurgence in the demand for 02 tractors after a dramatic drop in interest earlier this year. "More 6x2s than 4x2s are still being sold, though, at a ratio of about 60:40," he says.
Chris Wright, managing director of Commercial Vehicle Auctions (CVA) at Doncaster, says there are three essentials for a used tractor: big cab, big engine and 6xz. He has noticed demand slipping for latemodel 4x2s although they are still generating interest.
CVA recently sold two 12-registered Scania P124 400 4x2 tractors for 128.750 each with just under 3oo,000km recorded. "If they had been 6x2s, they would have made an absolute fortune," he says. "The 4-Series seems to be fairly well accepted, although you still get people saying 'I wish I could keep my 3-Series going for another five years because I don't like the truck that has replaced it'."
One reason for this is wariness of electronics; many drivers are not keen on acquiring a vehicle they cannot easily maintain themselves.
The tipper market seems healthy, and Harrison would like to track a few six-wheelers bodied to move aggregates or asphalt.
Independent dealer Alan Pugh, of AR Pugh Commercials at West Mailing in Kent, reports a strong demand for steel-bodied muckaway eight-wheelers in a busy sector of the industry.
Wright says: "We are finding that the prices commanded by older F, G, and H-registered eight-wheelers are improving by about goo to LL000. New ones are expensive; but there are plenty of people with 14,000-8,000 to play with."
Late-registered I7-tormers are selling well, too, he says.