Folks are being to generic, i've bought Linde trucks for a long time now in the UK, they've always been a class leading product and speaking to our operators, they would never drive a torque converter truck, but that is just looking at counter balance.
The thing is i am buying PPT, riders, reach and VNA, so cannot hang everything on one truck preference, you have to take a balanced view of what your site needs and at some point in the process you have to make a compromise on one product that is less important if the benefit of the other product far outweighs it.
The key thing picked up by others in the forklift world is service, i always say to our directors, that in 3 years, no one will remember what we paid for the trucks, but they will be on the phone moaning about downtime and despite what people say about price, the big companies will negotiate, you just have to tell THEM the spec you want, rather than let the manufacturers dictate spec to you, it really isn't that difficult in my eyes.
I've just recently done a deal with Crown, as the VNA (which i think is the best VNA on the market) was the main driver of the complete fleet proposal, the rest of the kit was supplemental (i.e. everyone can do the small stuff ok, but the productivity of the VNA will override what the C5 is doing in the yard.
I'd say in the last 2 - 3 years Linde have gone down in my estimation, the service structure in a small country like the UK is chaotic, too many people too regionalised and you can't always get to the right person who can make a decision, and the product quality is falling if you ask me, too much plastic, too easily damaged.
The Crown's are built to last, they'll take a knock, have some innovative ideas, infolink is by far and away 1 to 2 years ahead of what anyone else has got, although not a popular product in the UK, their structure seems strong, rental availability not so good, but i can live with that.
I'd say Crown are making all the right noises right now, if they get into the hydrostatic market with the C5 at some point, they will clean up.
But, that's just my opinion.