Used van buyers just can’t get enough decent quality vans to meet demand — that’s the conclusion of Manheim’s head of LCV, Matthew Davock, who says:

“”This October we’ve witnessed the highest average van sale price since our records began. There is an insatiable appetite for good quality stock.”

Mr Davock also commented that older, higher mileage vans, which had been fading away from auction entries, are re-emerging in each major segment — especially the key large panel van segment, where 38% of vans over 3 tonnes sold in October had an average age of 87 months and 120,140 miles, while 40% of car-derived vans were more than five years old.

The run-up to Christmas always sees peak demand for large vans, as couriers take on extra staff to meet demand for Christmas deliveries. Manheim believes supplies of used vans may currently be contracting, saying that the volume of vans sold by a representative sample of vendors fell by 13% in October, compared to the same period in 2013.

Record prices

The average price of large panel vans over 3 tonnes rose by £312 to £5,647 in October, compared to September. Average milsage was 99,962, up by 6,437 from September.

A similar trend was seen with small panel vans, where the average value rose to £4,986 in October, 5% higher than in September, despite the average mileage rising by 5,706 to 86,366.

It all adds up to a possible portion of humble pie for me, especially if Mr Davock’s forecast for next year proves to be correct:

“I’m not convinced that van de-fleet volumes will increase over the next 12 months, so this landscape is likely to remain the norm for some time to come.”

Demand for used vans is almost certain to remain strong in the run-up to Christmas — we’ll have to wait until February to see what the New Year brings.