Financing used equipment, including private sales

Buying privately is not a problem

This is the question we are asked most often about used equipment, and the answer is straightforward. A private sale can be financed. You do not have to buy through a dealer to get funding.

The one requirement is an inspection. Because there is no dealer standing behind the machine, its condition has to be established independently before it is funded. That is a protection for you as much as for the funder, since it is the same check you would want before handing over your own money to a stranger.

What the inspection is for

It confirms the equipment is what the seller says it is, that it is in the condition described, and that it is worth roughly what is being paid for it.

For vehicles, that means an inspection by a registered inspector. For other equipment, the check depends on the machine. Tell us what you are buying and we will tell you what is needed before you commit to anything.

Age is the thing that catches people

Age limits on used equipment work at both ends of the term, and that surprises people. It is not only how old the machine is when you buy it, it is how old it will be when the term finishes.

Printing equipment is a useful illustration. Typically the equipment cannot already be seven years old when the term starts, and cannot be older than twelve by the time the term ends. Choose a longer term on an older machine and you can run past the limit without realising.

Limits differ by asset, because a machine that works hard for fifteen years and one that does not are treated differently. If you tell us what it is and roughly when it was bought, we can check before you make an offer.

What to check before you commit

Ask whether there is finance owing on the equipment. A machine still secured to someone else's loan cannot simply change hands, and it is better to find that out before you have shaken on a price than after.

Ask for the serial number, the year of manufacture and the service history. Those three things do more to establish what a used machine is worth than anything the seller says about it.

And get the age check done early. It is the one question that can rule a machine out entirely, and it takes minutes to answer.

How it is financed

The same structures apply to used equipment as to new. See the difference between a chattel mortgage and Rent to Own if you are deciding between them.

Figures are ex GST. How the arrangement is treated in your accounts depends on your circumstances and your accountant is the right person to confirm it.

Which lender do I go to

You do not. Someone from our team looks at the equipment and your situation, compares lenders and arranges it. Nothing is settled until a funder has assessed it.