Buying a used food truck or trailer

New vehicles are always nice, they smell good, you can put it to production immediately and they (at least ours do!) come with a manufacturer’s warranty. But we are all in different phases of life and may not be able to afford a new vehicle, in which case a used vehicle or trailer may be a good option.

Places where you can find a used food truck/trailer:

1. Off-market sale :Your favorite food truck/food trailer may be up for sale!
   70% of small businesses are sold before they ever hot the market. Running a business can take a toll on you, we are all in different places in life and some may want to move on to other things or retire.
   So if you like the rig/business the neighborhood taco truck is running, strike up a conversation with the owner(when they aren’t too busy). You loose 100% of the shots you don’t take.

2. Business selling websites - Bizbuysell etc.
   If the business is running quite well and you don’t plan to completely gut and replace it, this might be a good way to go. Make sure you do your due diligence(lawyer speak for making sure the food is cooked and the books are not) before you pull the trigger. Either ways have a friendly RV mechanic go through the truck to make sure there aren’t any gremlins. If you are in the neighborhood we would be happy to do that for you.

3. Craigslist/Facebook marketplace - duh!
   This is kind of the obvious place to look for, so no further explanation needed. That being said be sure to have a friendly mechanic perform a pre-purchase inspection to make sure everything is kosher.

4. Foodtruck fabricators/builders
   Sometimes customers don’t take delivery of their vehicle for whatever reason(death, sickness, bankruptcy etc.) and foodtruck manufacturers might have a truck that you might like for sale. Some companies actively make foodtrucks for sale, so get in touch with them, again you loose 100% of shots you don’t take.

5. Impounds/Estate sale/bankruptcy sale etc.
   Life goes through its ups and downs for us all, same is unfortunately true with the foodtruck business. There are over 20,000 foodtrucks in the United States and some of them end up in municipal impounds, bankruptcy sales etc. So keep an eye out.

6. Junkyards!
   One person’s garbage maybe another person’s treasure. However one needs to be extra careful here. A thorough gut and fix is required for any vehicle that potentially has had rodent/roach infestation. There is almost a certainty that there might be mold growth in the insulation used in the walls, so rip everything apart and put in new insulation. Wear PPE!

Best of luck with your search. If you think you need to fix up your old or new to you Food truck or food trailer bring it to us, we’ll take really good care of you. Or if you want to go the new truck/trailer route that’s cool too!