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It's a sellers' market
Page 70
Page 71
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British Car Auctions reports strong demand, even for trucks that don't run, says business development manager Duncan Ward.
Alot of industry insiders have been predicting that the changes to the licensing laws will drive down demand for 7.5-tonners. But judging by recent sales figures from British CarAuctions (BCA) it hasn't happened yet.
At one recent sale ex-Grattan Iveco 75E14 boxvans dating back to 1996 were selling for around £3,000 apiece, with 1997 examples from the same stable going for £3,550. "In both cases this was over £1,000 above market value." says Duncan Ward,BCA's UK business development manager,commercial vehicles."What's more, 1997-vintage Daf 45.130 boxes were making nearly £1.000 over guide price, at £3,700 a time."
The Royal Mail is a reliable source of 7.5-tonners, and it's been disposing of some relatively new examples."Daf LF45.130 boxes on 0151 plates have been fetching £11,500, and that's £1,700 ahead of CAP," he points out. In fact all this activity has led to a shortage of 7.5-tonners at sales. "It's only temporary though." says Ward.
Moving up the weight scale, he describes demand for I8-tonners as "very patchy... 18-tonne box vans are certainly selling, but they've got to have 24ft bodies at the minimum, and be in good condition. Skip loaders and anything with a crane attracts a lot of attention from buyers."
There's no apparent shortage of tractors, but at least older examples don't appear to be sticking in the way they've done in the recent past:"ERF EC11.34 6x2 units dating back to 1997 and R-registered have been going for about £5,000, some £1,500 above guide prices. I suspect the. axle configuration overcame any reservations buyers might have had about the relatively low engine power."
A 6x2 configuration and a 420hp engine obviously boosted the appeal of a 1995 M-plate Volvo FH12 tractor that came under the hammer."ft went for £6300," says Ward."It's interesting to note that an older high-horsepower unit will often do disproportionately better at auction than a younger lowhorsepower one."
Popularity
BT tractors have been finding at appreciative audience; R-registered 1998 Daf 85.360 6x2s have been selling for £6,500.There's even a market for non-runners: "We recently disposed of a number of FL10 4x2 nonrunning units — M registered, and going back to 1994— for ove £1,500 a time.That was twice tin market expectation."
A lot of older trucks are being bought for export. "They're going to various places.includini Eastern Europe and Africa," say Ward. Elderly and middle-aged tandem-axle curtainsider trailers are in great demand: "Increasingly they're no longer viewed as poor relations to the more popular triaxles.They're good value for money. and very useable."
Remember the year when Harold Wilson quit 10 Downing Street and Concorde made its first commercial flight? That was 1976: the year that also produced a tandem-axle Scammell curtainsider trailer that BCA has just managed to sell for a remarkable £1,250."It benefited from having a long MorWard remarks.
A relatively youthful 1987 York tandem-axle curtainsider fetched £600:"Curtainsider values have increased as buyers look for something else apart from the large number of box trailers in circulation."
But there's still plenty of demand for boxes:" We had severa11993-vintage tandemaxle Cartwright step-frame boxvans in a recent sale, and they averaged around £5.050 each. The fact that they were step-frames clearly enhanced their value."