The used coach market has been strong in recent years, with vehicles often fetching prices that would have been considered impossible before. Stretched lead times for some new equipment worked in favour of mid-life purchases, and the further influence of Euro VI and PSVAR gave an additional boost to late-model stock seeking a new owner.
But the landscape for new coaches is righting itself, according to many in that field. As it does so, there might be an expectation of the supply and demand equation easing prices of used vehicles.
A handful of people involved in rehoming mid-life coaches tell routeone that some parts of the market are indeed evolving, but that demand is still generally strong – and that the high-capacity 3+2 field is as buoyant as it has ever been.
Increasing unpredictability in the used coach market?
John Hill continues to sell used coaches in addition to operating G&G Travel in Melton Mowbray. He says that good money is still to be had by sellers, although a degree of unpredictability now exists and some vehicle types do not perform as well as others.
In the core 53-seat private hire and tour segment, a slowdown was followed by a recent sudden uptick, although evidence from others suggests that demand there may have eased somewhat.
“When we list vehicles, we get interest, including in higher-end coaches that continue to bring good returns,” Mr Hill adds. “But it is impossible to tell a seller exactly what they will get. Values are unpredictable. Nevertheless, the market is not in a bad place.”
Mr Hill notes how high-capacity coaches with 3+2 seating are popular, something that BASE Coach Sales General Manager Nick Dodgson agrees with. An end to Plaxton production is suggested as a prime influence there; in previous years, its Leopard recorded strong volumes at 3+2.
“We have seen a very good summer overall, and high-capacity coaches with between 70 and 85 seats are hot property. We could have sold some of those several times over,” Mr Dodgson says.
He underlines how operators in the market for 3+2 are buying a function. That should be remembered when shopping. “A customer’s preference may sit with a particular manufacturer, but is the consideration what the vehicle is, or what it does?”
A good future for 3+2 school coach demand?
With a planned end to the medium-term exemption (MTE) regime around PSVAR in the coach industry now less than a year away and a recent rise in compliance levels as part of that mechanism, albeit with subsequent steps still lacking clarity, accessibility is back on buyers’ agenda after a lull, Mr Dodgson suggests. Mr Hill’s G&G Travel recently added a further PSVAR compliant coach to meet MTE requirements.
From another operator’s point of view, Edwards Coaches Commercial Manager Simon Ingham observes that in some local authority areas, double-deck buses are less favoured for home-to-school (H2S) services that they once were, further bolstering demand for 3+2 coaches that can also work school private hires.
A question around future provision of double-deck buses for H2S was previously raised by Odyssey Coach Sales Director Darren Critchley. Markets that have traditionally supplied large numbers of those at mid-life are moving to zero-emission. The flow of diesel examples with life left will thus ultimately dry up, he believes.
That suggests the outlook for 3+2 coaches is good. Mr Dodgson predicts that 2026 will see a similar position on demand to this summer when operators come to resourcing new contracts.
On PSVAR, Mr Ingham believes there will be a market influence when MTEs expire. He suggests that some operators could hand back in-scope contracts if the plan for all such services to comply after 31 July 2026 sticks. That would also influence the market for accessible coaches.
Mr Dodgson adds that such is demand for 3+2, some new builds are using models that may previously have been considered unlikely candidates. BASE has supplied several factory-fresh Beulas Cygnus coaches like that, although they are not the first vehicles from the Spanish manufacturer to be specified in high-capacity format.
A benefit in those cases is luggage capacity, but in perhaps the ultimate reversal of what has gone before, there is scope to convert those 3+2 coaches to a 2+2 layout in later life.
Shifts in the market for standard used coach stock
School coaches aside, Mr Dodgson suggests that a shift in the wider market is ongoing. Valuing a part-exchange against a new vehicle with a multi-month lead time is increasingly challenging, as predicting the market in six to 12 months’ time is difficult.
When 3+2 coaches are excluded, the used market is now cooling, Mr Dodgson believes. “It is supply and demand. The reason things went ‘boom’ in 2022 was because availability of new stock was minimal.”
He adds that there was thus “a false vacuum” from then. The landscape for used tour and private hire coaches is slowly returning to where it once was, although like Mr Hill, he acknowledges that demand remains good. However, “it is now not unusual to see vehicles advertised with the price reduced.”
Mr Ingham notes how Edwards has had two 2015 standard coaches on sale for some time, although other surplus vehicles have moved quickly; added value items such as repaint, a new MoT and inspection facilities are beneficial in completing a deal, as is stock coming from a reputable home. Interest from parties outside the UK also endures for some vehicles, he observes.
