Education Center

When you own a small business, a vehicle purchase can be a serious and daunting investment. You want to get quality that’s affordable, but you also don’t want to get ripped off. The best way to ensure your financial , and even physical, safety in this process,is to know what to look for in a vehicle ahead of time. Below are a few areas to consider when searching for a new truck. While not comprehensive, these areas are a good springboard for further purchase research:

KNOW HOW MUCH YOU’RE WILLING TO SPEND

As with personal vehicle purchases, it’s wise to enter a dealership or even sales conversation with an idea of the range of money you’re willing to spend. Sales professionals are experts in convincing. While we pride ourselves in our sales people’s knowledge or our product, not every company works that way. Even if you have to bend on what you’re looking for, when you have a price range, you know what you’re willing to compromise on. When you begin the buying process without at least an approximate budget, it’s possible you’ll leave a dealership having spent thousands of more dollars than you ever wanted or need to.

USED V NEW

New vehicles are cleaner and may have some newer updates, but they’re also more likely to see recalls and can be rather expensive. When you’re working with a tight budget, buying used may be your best bet. However, as a seller ourselves, we encourage you to approach used sales carefully and know how to identify a scam.

• If buying used, make sure you are shown and given the following:
• All records or previous testing
• All crash or accident records
• A thorough chassis inspection
• A truck body inspection
• Business reviews by REAL previous customers
• An engine inspection
• A bucket section inspection
• Evidence that the odometer has not been tampered with
• Warranties available

EMPLOYEE INPUT

Unless you’re a one-man shop, it’s likely your employees use your vehicle(s) far more than you do. You may have a clear understanding of their role, but you aren’t always out in the field with them. Before you head to a dealership or sale negotiation, survey your employees on their likes and dislikes of your current vehicle. Ask them for the top three, reasonable, attributes they would change or improve if they could. This process helps you understand your needs in a vehicle better, and may help you gain happier employees.

HAVE A COMPLEX UNDERSTANDING OF YOUR TRUCK’S PURPOSE

Employee input will help you some in this area, but so will personal brainstorming and a bit of time spent researching. When considering a truck’s objective, you want to evaluate the following:

• Size
•  Capacity for lifting
• Max lift height
• Federal or state regulations for your industry
• Gas mileage
• Weather and terrain tolerance

There are dozens of other considerations to be made when buying a new truck for your business, but these are a valuable starting point. If you have questions, reach out, so we can help.