Buy, rent or lease new or used commercial vehicles?

All fleet operators are faced with the question of how best to organize the refreshment of the fleet. Should new or used commercial vehicles be purchased? Or is renting or leasing the better solution? According to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, 365,232 commercial vehicles were newly registered in 2022. But the used car market also plays a major role in commercial vehicles. Last year, almost 3,000 used commercial vehicles went under the hammer at the buchbinder-sale.de auctions alone.

Buying a new truck has its pros and cons. The purchase is usually only worthwhile from a certain fleet size. And it depends heavily on the company's financial capabilities, bank line of credit, and write-down strategy. Even if commercial vehicle dealers like to offer attractive discounts, the purchase means investing a five to six-digit amount per vehicle. So a lot of capital is tied up. At the same time, the vehicle appears on the balance sheet and is subject to depreciation. Ownership also means that all costs related to the vehicle such as taxes, insurance, maintenance and so on are borne by the owner.

The first advantage of a purchased vehicle is that it is in top condition. Another advantage of purchasing is that there are no conflicts with rental and leasing companies. In addition, your own truck or van can be used for advertising purposes. And should the business situation require it, the vehicle can be resold at any time.

Rent commercial vehicles

Some fleet operators prefer renting to buying. This approach has the advantage that the responsibility for the vehicle remains with the rental company. In addition, all vehicle-related costs are often covered by the rental price. And if the vehicle ever breaks down, rental companies offer replacement vehicles. Renting also has the advantage that vehicles can be booked at short notice depending on the order situation, i.e. there is no longer any obligation to rent.

Lease commercial vehicles

Similar to renting, leasing means that the commercial vehicle is only used for an agreed period of time. The difference to rent, however, is that the lessee assumes all rights, risks and obligations. However, commercial vehicle leasing usually involves new vehicles. And with these, the costs for repair and maintenance are low. In some contracts, the inclusion of repairs can also be integrated.

With leasing, the vehicle remains the property of the leasing company. It does not appear in the user's balance sheet. It also protects liquidity, since no larger amounts have to be financed. The bank's line of credit also remains unaffected. Instead, the monthly leasing rate can be claimed as an operating expense.

Buy used commercial vehicles

It has been shown that both the purchase of new vehicles and the rental and leasing offer a wide variety of advantages and disadvantages. However, especially in economically tense times, one should look again at the purchase of used commercial vehicles.

Fleet operators who would like to have their own fleet but do not have the means to purchase new commercial vehicles will find a wide range of used vehicles on the market. An approach that has not yet been used by all fleet operators is the auction.

An example of this is the buchbinder-sale.de auctions. Commercial vehicles of various categories such as vans, light trucks and special vehicles are offered there in different price ranges. The Buchbinder offer is not only used by fleet operators, but also by dealers who want to refresh their range of commercial vehicles.

The great advantage of the Buchbinder offer is that there is comprehensive information and photos of the vehicles, created by independent experts, for all vehicles that have previously run in the Buchbinder or Europcar fleet. All information about the offer and the dates of the auctions can be found on the website. After processing, the vehicles are ready for collection at the logistics center in Neunburg vorm Wald in der Oberpfalz. After purchasing a vehicle, buyers receive the purchase documents free of charge. You can read about the other advantages of the auctions here.