Dealers turning page on troubled used-equipment market

Heavy-equipment dealers are aggressively offloading used inventory by sending vehicles to auction, revamping older equipment and expanding finance operations.  

These dealer strategies come as the used-equipment sector appears to be stabilizing. The improved outlook is good news for a market that’s been pummeled by overcapacity and depreciation for the past several years, triggered by delayed production of new equipment post-pandemic and high interest rates. 

While values remain low, the stockpile of used equipment is starting to dwindle, with used medium-duty and heavy-duty construction inventory falling for a second straight month in November, according to Sandhills Global. On the agriculture side, inventory for used compact and utility tractors dropped 23.8% year over year and 0.8% month over month in November. 

Falling interest rates and easing supply chain issues have contributed to recent market improvements, Lori Bunger, vice president of sales and used equipment at San Antonio-based Holt Cat, told Equipment Finance News. 

Having more new equipment allows dealers to expand their inventory mix and appeal to a wider customer base, she said. 

Plus, new-equipment buyers “become used-equipment buyers quite often,” Joe Lundvick, senior vice president and head of asset management at Mitsubishi HC Capital America, said during EFN’s Oct. 22 webinar about trends in the used-equipment market. 

“A guy gets a new piece of equipment that he didn’t realize he could afford — or for whatever reason — and suddenly wants two or three more,” he said.  

Watch EFN’s webinar, “Used equipment financing in 2025 as markets normalize,” here.  

Out with the old 

As manufacturers get caught up with production, dealers are focused on selling equipment manufactured before 2020 to balance inventory and maximize asset values, Kris Realander, sales manager at Morrisville, N.C.-based Triangle Equipment Group, told EFN. Keeping a list of potential customers interested in older equipment at a relatively low price is one strategy, he said. 

“For that 5-year-[old] area, if I take a trade-in, some of my guys have people on waiting lists who may have said, ‘If you get something in this area, let me know,’” he said. “We have buyers on tap for those kinds of units.” 

Triangle Equipment tries to sell older units within a set time frame before sending them to auction, Realander said.  

Breathing new life into used gear 

Some dealers are reconditioning aging equipment through servicing and repairs to attract buyers, McCrea Wallace, used and rental equipment manager at Raleigh, N.C.-based Gregory Poole Equipment, told EFN.  

“What we’re doing is reinvesting in some of this gear and making it retail-ready and then marketing it to end users directly.”

— McCrea Wallace, Gregory Poole Equipment

“If it’s something too far gone to where we’re not going to get a return if we start investing in it, we are going to let that go,” he said. “But anything that we think has another retail life, we’re rebuilding.” 

The dealer avoids moving equipment via auction because “values have pushed so far down,” but Wallace said auctions are useful for clearing out stale inventory. 

Auction values for medium- and heavy-duty construction equipment were down 7.7% YoY and 9.4% YoY in November, respectively, according to Sandhills Global. Used tractor auction values fell 14.4% YoY in November to $166,174, while used combine auction values dropped 7.5% YoY to $128,533. 

Expanding the lender network 

Expanding finance operations to draw a wider range of borrowers with different credit profiles can bolster both new- and used-equipment sales, Triangle Group’s Realander said. 

“If I can figure out their credit foundation, then I can figure out how to pair them correctly with a lender,” he said. “I would say I have roughly 25 avenues to go when it comes to equipment financing. … You absolutely handcuff yourself if you’re not looking for other avenues. There’s so many different variations of credit out there that why would you want to hold looking for the grade-A credit? Unfortunately, that’s not everybody.” 

The third annual Equipment Finance Connect at the JW Marriott Nashville in Nashville, Tenn., on May 14-15, 2025, is the only event that brings together equipment dealers and lenders to share insights, attend discussions on crucial industry topics and network with peers. Learn more about the event and register here.