3.5t horsebox questions

[ktj1891]

Hey so going to look at horse box this weekend. It's 3.5t 51 plate, 88k and has 1200kg payload. So questions - who do you insure with?
Do you have breakdown cover?
How much would you expect tax to be for the year?
How much to insure for the year I am 22?
Would it be cheaper to add an additional driver?

Thank you for any responses

 

[ROMANY 1959]

Oh lovely, I am insured with shearwater who also can arrange breakdown cover, my road tax for year was 220 and mine does about 35 m.p.g. My insurance was 255 for year, but I am over 50 and 70% no claims . I think a surcharge may be payable for under age 25 once you are over 25. You can go for a policy of any driver over 25.

 

[ROG]

Hey so going to look at horse box this weekend. It's 3.5t 51 plate, 88k and has 1200kg payload. So questions - who do you insure with?
Do you have breakdown cover?
How much would you expect tax to be for the year?
How much to insure for the year I am 22?
Would it be cheaper to add an additional driver?

Thank you for any responses

Ask for a weighbridge ticket when it was empty so you know the empty weight - that way you can be certain of the claimed payload

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Insure with KBIS (current cost was about £260 last month for any driver over 25 with my permission, fully comp)
Yes I have their breakdown cover (for my peace of mind)
Road Tax is £215 (mine is an 2008, re-built as a horsebox in 2012)
MOT is £58.60
No idea about drivers under 25, best you phone insurers to ask?

Good luck

 

[ktj1891]

Ask for a weighbridge ticket when it was empty so you know the empty weight - that way you can be certain of the claimed payload

How do I go about doing the above?

 

[ktj1891]

Anyone else?

 

[swm1hb]

Hi,

This is something of a cautionary tale. We (my partner an I) decided to scrap our trailer and upgrade to a horse box. After some searching we decided to use a prestigious supplier in the norst west (PM me if you wan tot know who) we decided on a 3.5 tonne base vehicle and eventually (after threat and small claims court) got out vehicle. We took it to our local weigh bridge and it became apparent that although it was easily big enough fro two horses, it did not have the payload. We are a house that loves Andalusians. The lorry, based on a renault van did good service as a singleton for some years but was replaced by an Equitrek 4 ton with uprated suspension that can cope with 2 Spanish horse and their tack.

Hope you find the vehicle you need

 

[Pinkvboots]

I have a 3.5 ton renault mark 1 old but brillliant, I am with four counties insurance and pay just over £300 per year including breakdown with home start makke sure you get that as it is not always standard.

 

[ROG]

How do I go about doing the above?

You dont - they take it to a be weighed when empty so they can show you the official empty weight which you then deduct from 3500 to get the actual payload

 

[Happytohack]

It is very important that you follow Rog's advice & get it weighed on a weigh bridge. I bought a box from a supposedly reputable horsebox dealer & was told it had a payload of 1100kg. I later had it weighed as I wanted to sell it and it had a payload of 800kg! I now have a sonic & it has a true payload of 1040 kg. I only ever take one horse, so with me,tack, diesel, feed Etc etc I am well within the payload. If you over load, not only is it illegal but very unsafe.

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

The seller may well be quoting the plated payload, this is calculated at manufacture but (a bit like those optimistic miles per gallon ratings for cars) may bear only limited resemblance to the actual payload, as it may not include interior fittings, partitions etc and certainly won't include fuel, water and people, all of which will affect the actual weight available /left for the horse/and tack. Put simply, the majority of 3.5t lorries will only be legal for one large horse or a horse and a small pony when that's taken into account, very few will be legal for two horses and some will struggle with a horse and a larger pony. Hence it's vital to get a weighbridge ticket done on any 3.5t box you want to buy if you are ever planning to put more than one animal in it, and also to know what weight of fuel, water etc you will be carrying. if only planning to ever carry one then most will be ok unles it's big horse and there's lots of gear.

Good luck with the purchase.

 

[montanna]

Try and take a mechanic with you! People are so interested in the weight, horse area and a flashy paint job, that it really can hide a multitude of sins.

I know one bought from a supposedly reputable dealer, it was sold for £9K - the dealer bought it for £650!!!

Know your stuff and take someone knowledgeable with you.

 

[ktj1891]

Who would you take to look at a horse box? Are they just standard mechanics? Also where can you get the vehicle weighed? Can you ask the seller to take it somewhere to he officially weighed? I will only be travelling one horse. Also how much would you say a 51 plate 88k Renault master to sell for? Has 6 months tax and mot til march. Any ideas?

 

[ROG]

Also where can you get the vehicle weighed? Can you ask the seller to take it somewhere to he officially weighed?

Any public weighbridge - google for nearest

If you will not buy without it being weighed then they have no choice but to do it if they wish to sell

 

[ktj1891]

Yes I have spoken to a horsebox dealer and they advised to check when can belt was last done and to also check what the ramp aperture is as a lot of horses have to duck going up the ramp. They said a lot of odometers are also altered. What should I really be looking out for?

 

[Holly Hocks]

I got one which turned out to be clocked but I didn't find out until after purchase. It all emerged when I had had it for two weeks and I got a letter from DVLA to say that the tax had been paid for with a cheque which bounced so the vehicle wasn't actually taxed. I got suspicious about this and phoned the dealer I bought it off who agreed to pay the six months tax it had supposedly come with. (He had bought it to convert with the tax on so this wasn't his fault). I wasn't happy with this so I went onto www.motinfo.gov.uk and found out that it had gone in for an MOT one day with something like 175k on the clock and failed on a multitude of things. It then went in 2 days later to the SAME MOT station and passed with 90k on the clock. I phoned the dealer and he agreed to replace the box with like for like and claimed he knew nothing about it. I phoned the MOT testing station and asked them to check their records and asked how the box had miraculously lost 80k miles in the space of 2 days. The staff at the testing station checked their records and said that they knew nothing of the box and that it had never been in with them for an MOT. The dealer eventually replaced the van, about three months later but it broke down on the way back to the dealer and I had to call recovery to take it back with us following in my partner's car. I had already contacted the dealer several weeks earlier to tell him that it was leaking oil and I wasn't prepared to use it again. Dealer tried to be a bit obstructive when he realised that it was being returned to him on a recovery lorry - half the engine had blown out on the M6 but saw sense when I said that I would just see him in court.

Check mileage as per the website above, check when cam belt was done, lift the rubber mats and check the floor, check the bulkhead is properly reinforced.

 

[lara b]

Lots of these 3.5 boxes are not great as they get older. Buy from someone reputable like travel two so you know bulk head has been checked and you and horse are safe! If not use a decent horsebox mechanic to check it over. I used a friend locally who failed one as a total rust bucket. Then hired horsebox hospital for one further away who failed a race master big time and said to only pay half of advertised price if at all! Ended up with a 7.5t through word of mouth and am so glad I didn't get the other ones! Good luck