Annual cost - trailer vs 7.5t

[Sugar Plum]

This is a question for owners (or past owners) of 5t to 7.5t horseboxes. What are the annual / monthly costs for this type of vehicle, would love to hear from all sides, including those that went from box to trailer or trailer to box. I have a trailer at the moment which only costs me storage and annual basic service so don't have a clue of what is required for a box. I am assuming there will be servicing, MOT and insurance but don't know what those costs are. And are there any other costs involved? I don't have licence to drive over 3.5t so an idea on how much it generally costs to obtain this licence would be useful as well.

 

[humblepie]

On costs etc it will vary hugely and depend to some extent on what you are buying age and condition wise. Parts vary hugely in price and if you need work done again hourly rates vary a lot. The annual test for an over 3.5 tonne is around £145 I think. Miles per gallon on my 7.5 probably about the same as a big car and trailer. Insurance will vary again depending on your age, length of licence, value of vehicle. I know that isn't a lot of help but it just does vary so much. Just to add I had a 5 tonne box which was brilliant and then moved back up to a 7.5 tonne as staying away more and doing a lot more motorway work. It is an older lorry but drives really well and if you are looking to buy once you have your licence, it is important to have a really good test drive, have the vehicle thoroughly inspected mechanically and get it weighed to check how much you can carry, so the payload of it.

 

[tda]

I pay for the MOT on my neighbours horsebox in return for field rent .
I think the wagon is early to mid 1990s (private plate) and it usually costs £1000 min to £1300 per year to get through the test
I have a trailer £100 ish yearly service £110 per year insurance

 

[Darkly_Dreaming_Dex]

But it’s not just the trailer costs - you need cost of tow car plus trailer to get a balanced comparison.. we do most basic servicing & repairs ourselves -my 7.5 t was £450 a year for insurance and full breakdown plus £154 for the actual MOT and £20 (ish) a month for tax. Then usually a full service & pre plate check circa £500 whereas my tow car is about the same for tax , mot £50, servicing also around £500 a year then insurance and horse trailer breakdown £375 so not a huge difference BUT having the trailer & tow car means I don’t have to run two vehicles ..

 

[Sugar Plum]

Thanks everyone. I currently have a trailer and tow vehicle so would still need to retain the vehicle and all its normal running costs, plus the cost of a lorry. TDA - your MOT cost seems to be way out of others, just wondering what it covers.
£145 and £154 seem to be the going rate based on DDDex and Humblepie (love the name ). If averages are looked at, it looks like annual cost of a truck would be £1,100 on a good day and more if something went wrong. TDA, this would align with your cost but covering everything?

 

[dorsetladette]

We've just got our 7.5t on the road and I am currently going through my 7.5t test.

Plating cost £200 plus a little bit of work so an extra £300 on top.
Tax is £180 a year
Insurance £175 a year
Recovery £175 a year

I'm really lucky that my other half is very mechanically minded and can fix most things himself. MY previous lorry was a 5.2t and needed a lot of welding for its last plating I put it through, this cost £1500.

A good friend has just replaced rear tyres and front brakes and calipers on her lorry and is about £2000 lighter for it.

My estimate for my test is as follows (this is the cheaper quotes and with my other half giving me lessons in the lorry to make savings)

Medical £55
Theory test £60
practical test (3 day cause with test on 3rd day) £650-£850

In comparison my old Equitrek sportreka trailer cost me about £300 a year to insure and service.

 

[ycbm]

When I had an older 7.5t, any year when it cost less than £1000 to get it through an MOT was counted as a good year, and my OH did most of the mechanic work and all the welding himself.
.

 

[tda]

The costs quoted is for a local garage to do any jobs needed and sometimes a service and take to mot station and mot fee
The owner obviously still has insurance and road tax to pay

 

[Muddywellies]

Thanks everyone. I currently have a trailer and tow vehicle so would still need to retain the vehicle and all its normal running costs, plus the cost of a lorry. TDA - your MOT cost seems to be way out of others, just wondering what it covers.
£145 and £154 seem to be the going rate based on DDDex and Humblepie (love the name ). If averages are looked at, it looks like annual cost of a truck would be £1,100 on a good day and more if something went wrong. TDA, this would align with your cost but covering everything?

Annual cost will be waaaaay over £1100. We had a blow out en-route to a comp once and had to pay i think about £450 for someone to come out and replace it. MOT (yes it's MOT, not plating) used to average about £1000 a year. A friend has a super snazzy lorry and one of her MOTs was over 4k. Also. MOTS can only be done at a Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency vehicle testing station (ie not your local car garage) and the test has to be booked and paid for 3 months in advance. Unless there's a covid pandemic then you can't get a test for love nor money as all the essential vehicles such as food delivery trucks all take priority (and rightly so). We had to have the floor replaced and that cost us a fair few pennies, roof fixed (these aren't on the MOT but needed doing) hub seal leaks fixed, braking system overhauled, and goodness knows what else. We had the brakes overhauled before the MOT test but it still failed as the lorry mechanic had used the wrong sort of clips. Then there's the usual insurance, tax and break down cover. There's always something needs fixing as it's a vehicle and won't run without regular servicing and repairing. And then they need using regularly - any less than once a week (at the absolute minimum) and things will seize up.
We sold our lorry and bought a trailer and goodness me is life easier (and cheaper!)

 

[Jango]

7.5t lorries cost A LOT to run... The main issue is the mechanical work/maintenance. My breakdown and insurance is about 350/400 for the year, then £150ish tax I think. I have no idea on mpg, but a 45mins each way trip probably costs me £15 in fuel. So all those costs are fine. But I had to have new brakes on mine in June which was 1.3k, then 1k for service and MOT (including 2x new tyres) this month. I probably spent another 2k on it in 2020 too. It's an 02 plate and cost 10.5k early last year. I love my lorry and use it a lot (probably 4-5x a month). I love I can always have somewhere to sit in the dry, loads of storage and don't have to pack everything every time. For me I know there is no way I'd be able to reverse a trailer reliably, I'm not hugely strong and always out and about on my own so the hitching would be a nightmare.

It's probably best to consider why you are wanting to switch, what do you want from a lorry you don't current have from your trailer and then work out if it's worth the huge maintenance bills

 

[ihatework]

About 1K a year for the basics if nothing goes wrong with it. Invariably stuff does go wrong and they end up costing a fortune.
Only financially worth it if you are using very frequently, wagons need to be used or they cost you more.
For short/local/once a fortnight type trips there is no doubt a trailer is the better financial option.
That said, if you have the disposable, lorries are better!!

 

[Spottyappy]

A 7.5t lorry needs to be used very,very regularly. They do not do well sat about. I sold my one fairly recently as it was costing me over 5k annually to keep on the road, and I didn’t use it enough. Which was possibly part of the issues. It was a newer one, automatic and had enough sensor issues to light up a christmas tree! Every time the sensor fault came on, it cost over £100 to get someone out to diagnose the fault. This happened several times over the period I owned it. Not to mention the cost to then fix the sensor, which could only be done at a main dealer. This cost over £1500 each time.
I dislike towing, so have gone back to a 3.5t, but we do have the use of a trailer if we need To take 3 of ours, or take the RID, as my lorry will legally carry the 2 smaller ones plus 2 people.