Finance tight on old trucks
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• Hauliers are finding that finance on used trucks aged six years old or more is almost impossible to obtain now that General Guarantee Finance has dropped out of the market. So says Don Mitchell, general manager of Leek, Staffs-based independent dealership Cross Commercials. -Previously the decision to extend finance was based on the strength of the customer's business, and how long he had been established," he says. "Now it's the vehicle they tend to look at, and if it's an older truck they don't want to know."
Anybody looking to use an older truck as a deposit on a finance deal is in for a shock too. "We often come across situations where the vendor thinks the vehide is worth 11,500, and we have to tell him it's only worth 1500," says Mitchell. Many F and G-plate tractors are worth so little that they're being assessed for their scrap value at a rate of £25 a tonne.
By contrast, late-registered, high-horsepower tractors with good specifications are fetching decent money. "I've just sold an 18-month-old T-registered 6x2 Iveco EuroStar at 47ohp and with everything on it for in the region of /35,000/136,000," Mitchell condudes.