Of course we’d like for you to buy a food truck from us, but that doesn’t mean you can’t buy one and have us customize it to perfectly to meet your needs.
So where can you find food trucks or step vans for sale?
The easiest way is to look for one locally.
If you know any food truck owners near you, ask them where they located their truck. Use your discretion, I wouldn’t ask a food truck owner that you might be direct competition with. Either way finding out from owners that have already been through the process is valuable information.
Local commercial vehicle dealers are another avenue to check and see what type of inventory they have.
In many instances they are part of a larger commercial automotive network and if they don’t have what you are looking for they can check inventory in their network.
The best part about using a commercial vehicle dealership, you get to take a look at the step van right away. The down side is commercial dealers don’t always have a large selection of used vehicles. If they do have used vehicles they are usually step vans that were used as delivery vehicles or other types of vehicles that can’t be used for a food truck.
You may even find a step van that has been previously converted to a food service vehicle, some might say that that is a plus and can save you time. That’s not exactly true, if the conversion was not done correctly or isn’t what your design needs it could actually cost you time and money to make things right.
Another place to look for a used step van is online, that sounds easy but it’s not because you won’t be able to have the truck checked out if it isn’t local.
Many people who have had success finding their truck online have used Craigslist because it is local. It allows you to have your mechanic check out the truck thoroughly before you make the investment.
If you can’t find anything local then you may have to expand your search. For the websites that allow you to pick how far out you want to look, we suggest searching in increments of 50 or 100 miles at a time. That way it’s more realistic you could plan to get a mechanic to go check it out, if you are not skilled at evaluating a truck. The choices are better, but the fact that the trucks aren’t local is a disadvantage.
Here are some of the commercial vehicle sites where you can do additional research and find available vehicles from around the country.
Go to any of these sites and search for Step Van:
- CommercialTruckTrader.com
- TruckPaper.com
- TruckerToTrucker.com
- UsedVending.com
eBay is also a great place to conduct your research for step vans. You can find future food trucks from both private and commercial sellers as well as get a good idea of pricing for vehicles in different conditions and with different options.
Remember with a majority of the online options, you (the buyer) will be responsible for all shipping and delivery charges unless you travel and drive the truck back to your hometown yourself. Another reason to try hard to find one near you.
If you do have to pick up a truck and drive it home make sure you are familiar with driving a commercial vehicle and check to say whether you will need a commercial drivers license or not before you take the vehicle on the road.
Ok, let’s go over the age old question: How much does a food truck cost?
Go here to get a Free & Helpful Food Truck Quote