[rjm522]

I work with a very large used truck dealership as a salesperson. We only sell used trucks....nothing new. Our inventory ranges from 2002 to 2005 and we sell all manufacturers. I would not agree with the statement that it is a buyer's market. At least not in the used truck market. What I will say is that if you have good, solid credit, cash to put down and want to take the truck the same week you look at it....then a good deal can be made. We are not giving our stuff away. We continue to sell at a fair price. Are some deals more favorable to the customer then others...yes. Our trucks are PM'd DOT inspected and reconditioned and detailed. We put a high quality truck on the street that we stand behind with a 30 day engine/trans/rear warranty.

I can tell you that what I am seeing is more drivers that cannot buy a truck but want to. I had a man come to me yesterday with $3,000 in cash to put down on a $40,000 truck.....and he had no credit. Tax, title and tag would have been more then his $3,000 so he really had no money to put down. This guy was unrealistic in his expectations. Business has slowed but not stopped.

Our store cannot lose money on a sale. I have had really low offers on trucks, which I bring to the boss and if a deal can be worked out it is. It won't be at the low ball offer number but rather a reasonable number where the store can make a modest profit and the customer gets a 'deal'. As long as the buyer has reasonable expectations typically something can be done.

To all those O/Os looking to purchase a used truck...be careful what you buy. You do get what you pay for. Good luck out there.

[asdfghjkl]

Merrick, it seems that most trucks are pretty much the same. Add fuel, add driver, hook to trailer, and go down the road. I would recommend establishing a good relationship with a dealer or larger company that turns trucks every few years. If you plan on really growing your business that seems more important than saving a little money. If you demonstrate loyalty to a dealer they may steer you clear of lemons and trucks with poor histories.

[Bigmon]

If you can save 20k from a place like GE that pays for a lot of repairs. One school of thought.

I think if someone has a quality product the warranty should be more than 30 days.

[no_worries]

I don't know, you still get whatever manufacturer's warranty is left. The dealer's obligation should be to sell a truck that's running well and has nothing broken. That should be apparent within 30 days. A new truck dealer doesn't give you any warranty above and beyond the manufacturer's...why should the used dealer be expected to?

[Bandit102]

I've always thought 30 days was a B/S warranty. But on the other hand, you can get some miles on a truck in 30 days and should really have a handle on what the truck might be needing.

[GMAN]

I would not worry too much about a warranty. Just check out the truck. My guess is that with current dealer inventories, many have more invested in the trucks than they are worth. It may take a few more months for them to reduce inventories to the level where they can offer better deals on trucks. At this point, individual owners may be more willing to deal on their trucks. Some may just want to get out from under the debt. At some point, dealers will need to turn their inventories, even if it is at a loss. Tighter credit and high inventories will eventually take their toll. I am not sure that we are yet in a true buyers market, but it is getting much closer. Give it a few months and you can almost buy a truck for what you are willing to pay providing you have either the credit or cash.

[heavyhaulerss]

IMO. truck prices have not hit as low as they did back in 2000-2001. where financial co's were buing acres of land just to put repossed trucks. at that time i wass offered a new demo truck a never titled 99' sterling with 80,000 mi for $50,000. at conquest gmc madison al, by looking at prices now, they have not gone down much. but I believe they wil go down a whole lot more in the next several months.