When buying used equipment would you prefer to see original paint in fair condition or new paint? I'm going to be putting my 2000 John Deere 310SE backhoe up for sale soon. The machine is in great shape, Everything is strait nothing bent, no leaks, everything works as it should. Only thing is the paint is not up to par, Has quite a bit of surface rust from general use, Chips in the paint, rust around the edges of panels that sort of thing... So question is if you were going to buy would you rather see the original paint to have a better idea of the kind of life the machine had, or new paint so machine looks better?
Unless there is service history to back up major repair work, new paint (the good old Du Pont Overhaul) always seems to me like the seller's got something he's trying to hide.
It's nice to see a machine with fresh paint but I would prefer to see the original paint in good condition. If it needs to be painted anyway then fresh paint is a plus over a rusted, peeling or oddball paint job that would need to be redone anyway. I look as closely as possible whether the paint is either rough or new, for other issues with the machine. Paint really does not make that much of a difference to me.
I always want to see the original paint , so many folks paint to hide things and I would rather paint it myself if needed
Anyone with savvy is going to check the machine over well to see if it is tight and fit anyway.If the machine is everything you say it is you will probably make sure it is well warmed up and put it through the paces for the buyer anyway. Beat paint with a lot surface rust pushing through it is going to deter some buyers when they might just as well find a not so tight but cleaner machine. If you have some time on your hands I would sandblast it and paint it. You are trying to sell the machine and "looks bad" equates to "it is bad" to some and so "I want for cheap" to others.
I want to see it in its original form, no oil changed so I can take samples myself, any maintenance history is a plus, oil sampling is a major plus if you have that, I really don't want to see anything all cleaned up and spotless, makes me think your hiding something majorly wrong, but thats just me, as for the paint not being perfect, its a used machine, and I expect it to look used, a paint sprayer overhaul does not impress me one bit, I actually pay less for any machine painted up, verses one that's in its original form, most paint jobs don't measure up to what I want anyhow, and I need to redo them shortly after buying any machine.
If your selling it as the owner and let people operate it I wouldn't paint it. Anyone worth their salt will be able to see right through the paint if there are any other major issiues. If it's going to auction paint it. There are many people who will buy a POS with new paint over a rusty well maintained good running machine.
I just sold a large farm tractor. It was in excellent shape for its age, low hrs too. I finally came into some money and decided i want to dress it so i had it painted and new stickers. Spent about 2K on a beautiful base clear paint job. Better than new. Then i decided to trade it. I can tell you that 2k was a complete loss. No dealer i talked to had anything nice to say about it. It added no value to the unit at all. Only paint it if you are going to keep it. Me on the other hand, i prefer fresh paint. I figure its one less thing i have to do. I figure if you're buying used, you're buying problems, so it might as well at least look good while its waiting for parts!