Essentially, I am exploring every avenue, from paying top dollar for a truck direct from a main dealer to paying bottom dollar at auction and factoring in potential problems, and everything in between. At the moment I’m favouring buying from somewhere like NNVS where there will be a compromise between the two extremes.
But this will all be several months away at the earliest, I don’t even have my CPC results yet. There’s plenty of time to keep on doing my homework. As always, all input is gratefully received.
It’s a chance you take could get a bargain or a lemon. If it is late and is a liquidation or retirement sale it could be genuine but if not why has it gone to auction not to the dealer approved used network or to the trade who specialise in late stuff.
routier:
Same as buying a £30k car from an auction is it ?
You can buy a lemon anywhere inc a dealer
But…You can perform due dilligence checks at a dealer, you can’t at auction
With Harry looking at buying an LEZ compliant lorry there are a number of factors that should be checked before splashing out the cash, number one being all the emission control crap that’s been added to the engine, EGR has a lot of problems, they don’t shut you down like SCR problems, but they will murder mpg, SCR problems will derate the engine and they’re bloody complicated and complicated means expensive, a simple ECU download will advise of any previous issues with either system, if there’s been problems then there will always be problems, that’s the way those systems are
It’s called it the Loony Engine Zone for good reason.Either the customer pays the daily charge or it don’t get delivered.
Essentially, I am exploring every avenue, from paying top dollar for a truck direct from a main dealer to paying bottom dollar at auction and factoring in potential problems, and everything in between. At the moment I’m favouring buying from somewhere like NNVS where there will be a compromise between the two extremes.
But this will all be several months away at the earliest, I don’t even have my CPC results yet. There’s plenty of time to keep on doing my homework. As always, all input is gratefully received.
If you’re looking towards the higher end of your choices then Riverside is not a bad place to go, nearly new good spec motors with low miles, they haven’t worked hard at all, but they are expensive, I’d still do the checks I outlined in the earlier thread, I’d do them because I never did them before and ended up with a nightmare, I had four similar motors, all bought new, this one was the same year as my earliest one, had similar miles and number plate aside looked exactly the same, poxy thing wouldn’t go more than a week without having to be towed in, I come very close to setting it alight it was that bad, if I’d done a little bit of homework I’d never have bought it, so I’m like a reformed smoker on this subject
As an often bitten quite shy buyer of vehicles I would now go for a well maintained fleet disposal motor that is being replaced rather than from a liquidation sale.
If a company starts to go skint, the panic mode clicks in and they spend little on maintenance and repairs
Harry Monk:
Thanks for the advice Ross, ideally I’d like to be going to an auction at a fleet that has gone bust, I know that sounds a bit mercenary but it isn’t. I do feel sorry for the drivers who have lost their jobs, have been there many times and got all of the T shirts!
But someone has to buy those trucks.
I wasn’t aware that there was a private buyer’s premium, so thanks again for the info. What kind of amount are we talking about for that?
Harry most firms tend to know they’re going ■■■■ up so they tend to miss the bits that matter in the death throws, you know servicing etc…Why not come & see my lorry you know its out working daily & is everything you’ll ever need & more, if you can live with the colour that is
Could do that, would certainly ask on here when the time comes, although it seems that the economic situation in general is deteriorating more rapidly now, the roads seem to have been very quiet since Christmas. I may well hold off to see what develops this year, it doesn’t look very promising.
sorry to but in harry, saw this today, wondered if it was one of your old steed’s, K2 KEP euro-wheels.com/index.php
This picture will be changed sunday, so i hope you get to see it tonight!
Ta, that was in a lay by about 100 km south of St Petersburg on the way to Moscow, we’d stopped to cook up a breakfast out of the trailer boxes, much as the much maligned eastern Europeans do now. We’d caught the Friday night crossing from Harwich to Turku, Finland, which used to arrive on a Tuesday morning and crossed the border at Vaalimaa. We would have arrived at Moscow that evening.
routier:
ye can get a bargain but may take ye a few visits to find and get ye price.
As always there is alway a buyers premium or % and its sliding scale… if ye buy from BCA, you have x amount of time to verify all is ok… so take a mechanic, if ye are not sure and win. he can check it out to verify… ye will get your money back if its a dud.
Also have a look at Malcolmharrison auctions not just BCA…I’d also check the CM to see who has lost their O licence or is about to go pop… ye may get a bargain!
Best of luck to ye.
BCA are sold as seen and private buyers premium is eye watering plus they dont sell many units most of the desirable stock never sees a auction
Harry Monk:
Could do that, would certainly ask on here when the time comes, although it seems that the economic situation in general is deteriorating more rapidly now, the roads seem to have been very quiet since Christmas. I may well hold off to see what develops this year, it doesn’t look very promising.
Thats the best idea you’ve had on this forum for the past three months
I would hold off for another FIVE years if I was you.
richmond:
Dont go to saturday auctions, full of people who told the wife there going to buy a bargain and feel they have failed if they come back empty handed…
fools and their money are swiflty parted… I’ve been to a few auctions on a Sat and did ok… but once witnessed 2 mates spread in the crowd biddin against each other on a blown utility fridge and didnt realise! sold for 5K+ more than it should have…Comical
can do better than that - when TSL Vanguard had their auction back in 2003 (RWC Final day when we beat the Aussies!) there were two BROTHERS from a now very large heavy haulage firm bidding against each other, but they didn’t realise until somebody shouted out
Big Truck:
Thats the best idea you’ve had on this forum for the past three months
Ah, but with all due respect, I disagree. Taking the CPC was not a bad idea, whatever happens, and I have always had one eye towards the opportunities which might be presented due to the changes in O licencing by getting this qualification.
Big Truck:
I would hold off for another FIVE years if I was you.
Well, I could make a reasonable living at it now, although things may deteriorate from here. I think your estimate of five years is a little pessimistic, I would say that by 2014 there will be fairly strong growth. But I can just bide my time and see.
Big Truck:
Thats the best idea you’ve had on this forum for the past three months
Ah, but with all due respect, I disagree. Taking the CPC was not a bad idea, whatever happens, and I have always had one eye towards the opportunities which might be presented due to the changes in O licencing by getting this qualification.
Big Truck:
I would hold off for another FIVE years if I was you.
Well, I could make a reasonable living at it now, although things may deteriorate from here. I think your estimate of five years is a little pessimistic, I would say that by 2014 there will be fairly strong growth. But I can just bide my time and see.
Doing an Int CPC course myself on 22/23/24th Feb and taking the exam on 2nd March.
My reckoning it will be 2015 (at least) before our neighbours and to a certain degree ourselves get the whole debt crisis in order.
If another worldwide downturn, 5years it will be.
I can also see the € currency heading “down the swanny” altogether
Big Truck:
Doing an Int CPC course myself on 22/23/24th Feb and taking the exam on 2nd March.
Good luck with the course and tests then. Can’t really offer much advice as yours will be the first course under the new format, although I am provisionally expecting to have to re-sit the International module myself- this being the only module from the December 2011 exams which can be re-taken if failed (for a further 12 months period of grace).
Because of the importance of passing the National exam, where there is no chance to re-sit a failed module this time around, I focussed my revision time almost entirely on that.
As for the length of the depression, who knows, although as a very rough rule of thumb I would say it will last until property values and average earnings are back to the long term mean of a multiple of 3.5.
Now then, if you want to buy at an auction, and i would never do this…, but i have heard the trick might be, to choose your motor start her up before the auction do your checks, then get underneath her and check it out, while there accidently pull of the small wire that feeds ignition pulse to the starter motor, thus ensuring it dont start, then it goes through as a non starter, dont neccesarily bid on it, wait for the next sale, which it will probably be re entered in, also by then the seller, probably abig fleet seller will have been informed, and probably have lowered the reserve as well,Worse case scenario they will have had it fixed, but i doubt it, cos if its at auction they just want shot of it without the hassle of sorting it.
Get real. Stay away from the truck auctions mate…they are not for the inexperienced, foolish or faint-hearted. Auctions look attractive but are only for those who are auction-savvy and even they get shafted from time to time! Every vehicle in a car or truck auction is there for a reason, the tough bit is figuring out what that reason is and whether you can minimize your exposure to the risk. With no experience, put simply, you can’t.
I’ve bought literally dozens of vehicles from auctions and I know it’s very easy to lose your shirt there. Given you need the purchase to be a good reliable truck, it’s too risky for you in my considered opinion.
Go and lease a brand new motor with a full R&M, they’re cheaper than you think and no hassle for 3 years…no spanners needed, no worries, liability all on the dealer as long as you have maintained on time as needed and been a careful ‘owner’. The harder part is finding a good dealer who will look after you.
