When confronted with the purchasing cycle, it is a big decision for anybody to choose whether to purchase used or new. When it comes to buying a forklift and trying to choose between the two options, the best thing to do is know the application needs for the lift truck. For instance, figure out the type of equipment that is required, the number of hours per year or per week you would use it and how long you intend to keep it.
Expensive forklifts will normally hold its value over time. It is good to remember that an inexpensive brand new lift truck might not have the overall ability, value or dependability of a second-hand unit of an expensive model.
When considering a purchase of a brand new or used lift truck, there are 3 aspects that you should take heed of: seasonality, utilization and duty cycle. If you are thinking of using your lift truck for 4 or more hours per day, it is recommended that you purchase a brand new unit, specially if you will have a high-duty cycle. A high-duty cycle means moving a lot of loads per hour that are at or near the capacity truck.
If you only need your lift truck for around 4 hours per day or on an irregular basis, a lower cost brand new unit or used lift truck may be optimal. Several of the newer models are available at lower costs which are made for lower-duty cycles. Furthermore, if you think that you would expect to use the forklift just during particular times of year on a seasonal basis, then a used lift truck or a rental program might best option available and can potentially save you lots of money.
It is vital to anticipate if the forklift is going to be in nearly constant use or not. This would mean determining the amount of uptime and dependability required for your certain application.