I can't speak for the people of this board, but I'm a big believer in painting equipment if you going to sell it. I haven't seen much of the topic on the internet. Generally, I speak with people who buy and sell equipment and they all say put a fresh coat of paint on before selling for a number of reasons. 1.) It doesn't necessarily mean your going to get more of a return if you paint it, but it does mean if someone is in the market for a machine that you have, your odds are better of selling the machine quicker. 2.) It does bring a greater price when your ready to sell. 3.) They say 3 or 4 thousand dollars is a small price to pay if your getting ready to spend 70G or more. It's like buying a pickup, why not go ahead and get a diesel if your going for a new one, its only 2 thousand more than a gas and the engine will take you twice as far. Most of all, I think that newer looking equipment says something about your business. I'm a believer in painting a machine even if your not planning on selling it. One, to keep rust of the machine. Believe it or not, I've gotten jobs over others because of looks. I know, it sounds stupid, but true. Anyone who has bought and sold, or is interested, put your 2 cents in on this thread. Thanks in advance.
There is no doubt that a freshly painted machine at auction generally brings in more money, there are many studies that verify this. My own personal experiences also show this to be a fact in many cases. Fresh paint on machines still in production also help in that they show the operator and others that the company cares about it's equipment and is willing to make the commitment of time and money to keep it looking good, which also implies that the mechanics of the thing are likely to be kept in good condition too. There is a lower dollar value however at which point it is useless to do much other than to clean the unit up a bit before sale. Painting a pickup say, or a very small or even a niche market machine, maybe an implement. This likely would be a waste of time, paint and money. There are too many other factors to list that may also lower a sale price, lack of new paint may not enter into the equation on that particular day. It's not easy to paint equipment in most places anymore with air quality regulations being what they are today. Spot painting small areas might be gotten away with if you aren't caught and accused of being a graffiti artist. Doing a whole machine may require using an enclosed paint shed with all the pollution controls, an expense few are prepared to make. But you can always outsource the job to someone who does this kind of thing for a living and is up on all the regs and has the proper equipment.
Grubber, I always paint my dozers every 2 years. I know that sounds ridiculous but I do a lot of heavy brush clearing, it doesn't take long and all the paint is gone off of the limb risers, cylinders, and the stickers are almost non existent in two years. My other equipment gets paint regularly so it always stays looking good. I am a firm believer that if people think your machines look like junk then it must be junk. Besides it is a gook winter project when everything is ready to go for spring
as previous posts in the pictures forums show, we have an aggressive painting program and believe it is very important to image and equipment value