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Buying a Truck Fleet for Business? Do You Buy New or Used?

If you’re expanding your business or starting a new one and require a fleet of trucks, a big question will be new or used? Business finance and leasing arrangements are available on both options, so which should you choose? Let’s look at some pros and cons of buying both a new or used truck fleet.

New Trucks

Obviously buying new trucks is more expensive, but it comes with significant benefits which have to be weighed up against the extra cost. There’s also the interest on loans to calculate and registration fees to take into account.

The benefits are clear though, extensive warranties, built-in service plans, a guarantee (almost) that there will be no issues, but also you’ll get newer technology increasing fuel efficiency and improving driver comfort.

A good example of this is Freightliner Cascadia, which comes with a 4 year /800,000km bumper to bumper warranty, 5 year / 500,000km free servicing and the option of a guaranteed buy back at the end of your finance term. Our other brands also offer similar packages (ask us more!)

Benefits like these should definitely be considered when considering a new truck.

Used Trucks

There is can sometimes be an increased risk when buying used or second-hand trucks, but much less so when buying from a main dealer as opposed to private purchase. Reputable dealers will have checked the truck and valued it accordingly and it may well have been purchased from them from new so they will know the full service history. Again, you’ll have to weigh up the cost savings against (likely) less fuel efficient models and what the need may be for maintenance on older vehicles.

How to Choose What’s Best for Your Business

Choosing between new and used will come down to a few major important factors, and not only cost. You’ll need to decide on things like what is needed for your business and what priorities you have regarding things like fuel efficiency of new trucks against used ones, and maintenance. Of course, only slightly used trucks will give you a better combination of all the pros and cons. For a start-up business, it probably makes more sense to go for new as reliability and warranty must be high on your priority list, but only if budget is not a concern.

Conclusion

There’s obviously no obvious right or wrong when it comes to buying new or used when it comes to a fleet purchase. But for more advice on how to choose for your business then call our team on (02) 6672 6159.