Attention, Shoppers: Expect Younger & Cleaner Pre-Owned Choices

If you're in the market for a pre-owned heavy-duty truck right now, you're in luck: recent industry trends are solidly in your favor. Namely, you can expect lower prices on younger vehicles with a lot less wear-and-tear.

One reason for the abundance of great young trucks on the market: sales of pre-owned class 8 trucks leveled off in 2015, even as the average age of inventory fell to 91 months and mileage on these vehicles decreased 6% year-over-year from 2014. What does that mean for you? You now have the pick of a great crop of available trucks.

Demand will be on the rise

You can also expect increased competition for these trucks in the coming year. As Steve Latin-Kasper wrote in the Monitor Daily, "There are good reasons to expect North American sales of commercial trucks to continue growing throughout 2016. The most important reason is the expected growth of the U.S. and Mexican economies."

For the 2016 pre-owned market, sales trends will be heavily influenced by the increased presence of newer emissions systems and the availability of other enhanced technologies, in some cases for the first time.

Trucks.com recently noted that overall demand for pre-owned trucks is a bright spot in the sales picture. "There's just a higher percentage of people coming down off the fence on the side of used trucks," said ACT Research vice president Steve Tam, who analyzes the commercial vehicle sector. And many desirable 2012/2013 models just now hitting the market.

Today's pre-owned class 8 inventory reflects the amount of new equipment that came to market between 2011 and 2013. Production rose sharply in that period, with many experts predicting that it would culminate in 2016 before orders began a cyclical drop-off.

What's hot now? Truck with tech

Pre-owned trucks hitting the market in 2016 are bringing hot technology systems from their model year still very relevant to today's driver. Among them:

• Engine tech like EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) and SCR (selective catalytic reduction), both of which reduce oxides of nitrogen (NOx) in diesel exhaust, while improving fuel efficiency and some aspects of engine performance.
• Fleet telematics, such as onboard wireless, remote monitoring and diagnostics, and cloud-based functionality like mobile app integration.
• Idle reduction technology for cleaner running during rest periods

Anyone buying post-2007 equipment with better emissions controls can take pride in the fact that they are contributing to a cleaner and greener America.

According to The Diesel Technology Forum, heavy-duty trucks-the ones that move the vast majority of goods throughout the U.S. economy-have made enormous strides in environmental impact, especially with regard to reducing the atmospheric pollution.

"These new trucks are so clean that it now takes more than 60 of today's clean diesel trucks to equal the emissions from a single 1988 truck," noted Allen Schaeffer, the Executive Director of the Diesel Technology Forum.

The Takeaway: Pre-owned truck shoppers right now should expect a broader selection, better deals, and more modern technology when considering their pre-owned buying options.