JIT Toyota-Lift Blog

Buying Used Forklifts on the Web Can be Risky Business

  • July 17, 2013
  • Joyce Schwob

You are in business to make money and sometimes that means shopping for a forklift bargain. You might open a web-browser and search for a reliable forklift brand, like Toyota and see a list of forklifts at prices way below what you found at the local dealership.

 

Before you put that cream puff in the shopping cart consider this:

  • OEM dealers keep the best trade-ins for their resale stock and wholesale the ones that are “too far gone” to economically fix.
  • Sometime forklifts endure floods, they can work in salt mines or in other corrosive environments. The dealer usually knows the history and wouldn’t sell them to a valued customer. The ones that don’t go to the scrap yard usually find their way to bargain sellers and onto sites like eBay. Remember, a fresh coat of paint won’t fix what’s going on under the hood.
  • What about a warranty? Wholesale and auction truck are typically promised to work for 30 days or 30 feet, whichever comes first.
  • What if you are simply not happy with it when it arrives, will the seller work with you or are you on your own?
  • And don’t forget to factor in the freight cost to get it to your dock.

 

When you buy a used Toyota forklift from a Toyota dealer, you will pay a little more. But you will get one that you’ll love and one that will help your business make money by working reliably with no surprises.