Aaaaarrggghh! Lorries are a nightmare - does this happen to everyone?

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jumpthemoon

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I took my lorry in for a service at the weekend. I'm leaving it there for the week so the mechanic can give it the once over before it goes in for a test.

Anyway, just had a phonecall, and he's found a leak in the brake valves which needs fixing and apparently I'm looking at about £250 for that, plus my alternator is broken, so I'm looking at about £200 for that, so all in my bill so far is up to about £500
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Does this happen to everyone or is it just me? It is an old lorry btw
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you are not alone - my lorry never has just one thing go wrong with it, it has be several things at once. Normally just before I am due to go to a major show .
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Well this is the first time i have posted , so here goes .
Last year we sent our lorry to a garage which was recommended and specialised in lorries (not just horseboxes ) he had a look at it and then told my husband that there was nothing major wrong .The bill came to £2000 !! the only costly items were a new tyre at £120 and part of the exhaust .
we argued with him and he dropped the bill to 1200.
This year we had a friend look at it , it failed its plating on the front brakes and a rear tyre . whilst replacing the tyre the chap found it had cracked rear brake discs(not picked on first plating)so had to replace these too .It failed again and needed a valve in the braking system . a total of about £1200 again .

Thank god my daughter now has a horse she can take out and enjoy competing otherwise it would have to go !
 
OMG littleman! Welcome to the forum, btw
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Last year mine cost £1200, but it had been standing for 2 years and the brakes all needed sorting etc. This year I knew there was a problem with the alternator but I wasn't expecting the brakes to be a problem. Mech said it can happen when you clear the system out as there is more pressure so it can show up other faults. *sigh*

Bang goes my new saddle, anyway
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Gosh, I have been so lucky with mine - first year I had it plated, was £500. This year, a whopping £314! And that is a B-reg Bedford
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Some are just so much more mechanically sound than others aren't they, and when you buy them it is very difficult to tell! I would try if ever buying again to buy from someone I knew so I had an idea of how well it had been maintained, think that has helped mine a lot, people I bought it from, the husband was an HGV mechanic so never worried about costs of fixing stuff, just did it!
Trying to sell mine at the moment, not having a lot of luck, so think I might just hang on to it as seems to be a bit of a needle in a haystack really, a cheap to run, reliable old lorry!
 
Even my lovely reliable lorry would cost me £500 for a plating....and that was with "nothing" wrong!

I now tow a lovely Equitrek with my OH's work vehicle
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Virtually NO cost ....woooohooooo!!

I am still paying off the effects of a single life and horsebox 4.5 years later!!!
 
God - getting worried about my new(er) chassis now - trusty old Betty Bedford (1980) has never cost more than £200 and that's only been twice in the last 14 years
 
Jumpthemoon; How old is your lorry, only reason I ask is when I had mine plated, the inspector mentioned something to do with the indicators on the side; but if it is older than July 1981 ( I think) they don't need moving. ( were they there to start with?!!)
My 1981 Leyland Roadrunner has cost me £800 this year; new front discs and pads, shock absorber, new bulbs, and a new tyre
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but thats all over 4 years.
 
Problem is they mostly start out as a parcel van or simlar which has had a hard life some with good maintanance some not so good, then converted to horsebox and neglected for x years or were built as a horse box from new and neglected from day one!!! carefull planned mainternace saves money and avoids problems
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Mine cost £500 for a service and plating last year. This year I have had 2 x tyres replaced at £130 each. Then a blow out last week (so expecting another £130). To be on the safe side I am getting another 2 new tyres. I need 2 x new bonnet hinges at £80 and that's all before the plating and service
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And i thought i was the one having a bad weekend
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Horse wonky was Friday's news, today Bessie Box went in for a pre-plate check.... steering block, leaks from every imaginable orifice (and some not so imaginable!), more holes than your average colander, even the bit that should be on the door holding the plate is awol. My husband turned various shades of green. The only thing stopping him muttering about ditiching Bessie Box and getting a trailer is that we can't afford it due to cost of Bessie, etc etc et al. I think I'm going to retire (when I'm 100!).
 
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