AssetTrader Buying Guide to Forklifts

Buying Tips

New or Used

When looking at the options of new or used, the general factor is usage. If you are using the forklift for more than 4 hours a day you should invest in new equipment. The lower outgoing cost of the used equipment will be quickly negated by the servicing, operating and maintenance costs that will be occurred, without a dealer to guarantee these costs.
Used from a dealer is a good option, as the machine is usually very well refurbished and up to code on all safety requirements. Dealerships
If you are buying new or used, the dealer is very important and there are some things to look for and questions to ask.
-What kind of parts inventory to you keep on site?
-Do you do on-site service and what times are the technicians on call for?
-Do you have guaranteed response times if a piece of equipment breaks down?
-What kind of insurance do you have? You don’t want you’re insurance to be responsible for their technicians.
-Do they do demo’s at your location? Or can they let you test drive the vehicle for a day?

It’s also a good idea to ask for references from other business that use them, or to ask around the area and find out what reputation they have among other dealers or businesses.
Renting
This is a great way to test drive a few different models, or if you just need to use the forklift for a particular application for one week.

Pricing

Pricing for forklifts is usually based on the brand, technology advances, tolerance of abuse and reliability. AssetTrader’s rough guide to pricing is highly variable when it comes to region, dealer and what forklift you are looking for.

The industry standard in forklifts is 5,000 lb, electric these typically retail for $18,000 to $25,000, plus $2,000 to $5,000 for a battery and charger. For the 5,000 lb IC forklifts, cost starts at $16,000 and can increase to $28,000 or more depending on accessories.
The next one up, 10,000 lb diesel forklift range from $28,000 to $45,000, bigger and more powerful lifts that can hold loads of 35,000 lbs or more, start at $100,000.
As we said the daily or hourly operating costs of the electric or IC forklift trucks vary. The operating cost of an electric lift is roughly around $1 an hour. For IC lifts expect to pay $20 or more for the larger vehicles.

You can see that for most buyers, the used option can look more attractive when faced with these high investment prices. When buying used, the general difference for a reconditioned 3,000 lb electric forklift is $8,000 to $10,000. Used vehicles can be less than half the cost of a new one but without a servicing plan or the cost of downtime, these savings might be quickly swallowed up.

Leasing, financing, or long-term rentals

These are the most used options, rarely are forklifts bought outright. Some dealers can help you with the financing, as they work with manufacturers or some work with a third party banks or leasing companies to provide financing. One of the best options are finding manufacturers that subsidize forklift loans or forklift leases. They offer very favorable terms.
The long term rental works well for short-use projects or contractors. The rental is usually for a period over 12 months they also include all regular maintenance and can be cancelled at any time after the agreed minimum.
Service Plans
Service plans are very important for an investment such as this. The preventative maintenance (PM) plan is the most common. An attractive plan it covers oil and filter changes, transmission servicing, and all around check-ups at regular intervals. This is a great option unless you have an in house technician familiar with maintaining forklift trucks.
The cost is higher for a full maintenance plan, but it covers all breakdowns or repairs that are needed. This is not completely necessary for a new forklift.

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