BCA’s UK business development manager - commercial vehicles Duncan Ward comments: ‘Remarketing panel vans needs a lot more thought than just taking vehicles off-fleet and selling them. It is a process that begins with the purchasing of the vehicles coming into the fleet.

‘Specification means power in the shape of a big engine – it means capacity, usability and, of course, it means versatility for the second user.

‘Some volume van operators fit their vehicles with side loading doors even though these are rarely used in service. Often the interior face of the door is covered with plywood and it could not be opened even if you wanted to. These side doors are there for one reason only – the secondary buyer in the used market places a value on them.

‘Make sure solid rear doors fitted. Rear windows are seen as a security risk by many van drivers.

‘Increasingly the used buyer expects driver comforts like power-steering, decent IVE (that’s In Van Entertainment) and even air conditioning.

When choosing colour, white is fine, as is silver, green or blue metallics. If you have to dress your vans in the company colours of salmon pink and orange, consider keeping the van in a sensible base colour and applying vinyl graphics with the company logo on. Also make sure vans are ply-lined to protect from ‘inside-out’ damage.

‘Pre-sale vehicle preparation is vital and can range from a simple powerwash to ‘settle the dust’ to specialised preparation to ‘ready to retail’ condition. It is important that the vehicles’ condition is commensurate with its age and mileage, and pre-sale preparation and – where appropriate - trade name deletion is critical to this.

‘High-mileage remains a turn-off for buyers, while condition remains more important than age. There is an oversupply of poorly presented MWB/LWB panel vans and buyers working to tight budgets will focus their attention on the best examples.’