Another trailer or horsebox thread

[littlelessbloom]

I know these have been done to death but I'm looking to start saving for either a trailer or horsebox in the next few months and wondered what people's preferences were?

Both me & OH have standard driving licences.
I'm not due a new car for a few years and don't want to be paying more than £200 p/m for a new car
OH gets a company car - though not sure what his next one will be yet or any regs about towing with them
Do you have to do a towing test? Read you do and read that you don't - but that there are regs on weight of trailer, car and horse.

I want a horsebox but how much do people pay on insurance/tax/MOT/servicing etc?
I know 3.5t horseboxes are super expensive - are they all £10,000+??

So, yes any thoughts please. This probably won't happen until next summer at the earliest, but I want a POA.

 

[Muddywellies]

Ive had both trailers and lorries. It depends on finances and how much it will be used as its VITAL that lorries are used at least once a week. If its not used regularly, things will seize and disintegrate and each MOT will be eyewateringly expensive. So, when I'm not competing and need to tighten my belt, we have a trailer. When we were competing, we had a small lorry. I haven't competed for over a year and the lorry was sitting idle, so we sold it and bought a trailer (tho trailers do need to be taken for a drive every couple of weeks). It's so much cheaper. I think with tax and insurance, plus saving £70 a month for MOTs, I was spending £150 a month on the lorry. I would budget about £750 to £1000 for the MOT. MOTs on lorries are a bugger to arrange. Have to book 3 months in advance, get pre MOT work done the week before, then pray it passes. For now, whilst I miss our lorry, life is far easier and cheaper with a trailer.
Oh, and getting a modern snazzy lorry is no guarantee that it'll be cheaper to maintain. A friend has a super posh lorry that recently cost £4k to get through MOT. However older ones are more knackered and often been poorly maintained, so they can also be a money pit. If you're not able to comfortably afford a hefty yearly maintenance bill, I'd stick with a trailer.

 

[sportsmansB]

I have a 3.5T after having trailers for years.
It costs me £15 per month to tax, and £200 a year to insure, and I have spent a grand total of about £500 on it in the 4 years that I have owned it (tyres, windscreen and a battery)
The running costs v having to drive a large towing vehicle daily cancel each other out for me.
Mine cost me £15k 4 years ago and I think I would still get about £12k for it, so if you can afford the capital investment then they do hold their value.
3.5T are based on vans so they are not as expensive to look after as full trucks.

 

[MissTyc]

its VITAL that lorries are used at least once a week.

Not necessarily the case as long as you do nice long drives when you do use it. In summer mine is out 1-2 times a week; in winter much less; in Covid times, maybe every 3-4 weeks to keep it moving just so I know it will work in case of emergency. But totally true that you don't want to leave it sitting around doing nothing for weeks or months on end, whereas you can get away with that with a trailer (although you do need to service and check on the moving parts/brakes/etc - just no engine to worry about).

I like the 3.5t as I feel safe on my own going longer distances and motorways, etc. I've never felt quite as secure in a trailer by myself + my horses seem not to mind standing on the box all day at competitions, whereas they object to similar restriction in the trailer. Payload is an issue. I have a touch under 1.1t (with half tank) which is quite standard on these builds if they're modern and lighter, so I can take one horse or two ponies. I am normally on my own with just the one and I designed my box to suit these needs, with a partition that can be moved to give them the whole box either as a travelling preference or as a standing on the showground preference (like a small stable they can look out of. they seem very happy like that). Occasionally I "cheat" and take both my smaller horses (I use the term lightly, one is a chunky 14.2hh weightbridge ~430kg and other a skinny 15.2hh weightbridge 380-410kg depending on the season as she's a yoyo!) but only because my mechanic assures me that it is entirely safe for the brakes/acceleration/suspension so the legal risk is mine to take and I think I would be over including myself and my stuff. My build is fine for this too. I would never take a risk that isn't deemed "safe" in moral/welfare terms.

 

[Pippity]

Ive had both trailers and lorries. It depends on finances and how much it will be used as its VITAL that lorries are used at least once a week. If its not used regularly, things will seize and disintegrate and each MOT will be eyewateringly expensive. So, when I'm not competing and need to tighten my belt, we have a trailer. When we were competing, we had a small lorry. I haven't competed for over a year and the lorry was sitting idle, so we sold it and bought a trailer (tho trailers do need to be taken for a drive every couple of weeks). It's so much cheaper. I think with tax and insurance, plus saving £70 a month for MOTs, I was spending £150 a month on the lorry. I would budget about £750 to £1000 for the MOT. MOTs on lorries are a bugger to arrange. Have to book 3 months in advance, get pre MOT work done the week before, then pray it passes. For now, whilst I miss our lorry, life is far easier and cheaper with a trailer.
Oh, and getting a modern snazzy lorry is no guarantee that it'll be cheaper to maintain. A friend has a super posh lorry that recently cost £4k to get through MOT. However older ones are more knackered and often been poorly maintained, so they can also be a money pit. If you're not able to comfortably afford a hefty yearly maintenance bill, I'd stick with a trailer.

There's a big difference in maintenance between a 3.5t and a 7.5t. A 3.5t is far more car-like. My MOT only needed to be booked four days in advance, and the biggest issue was finding a garage with a lift long enough for a LWB van and a roof high enough to lift it! There only seems to be one in my town but, thankfully, it's at a really good garage with trustworthy mechanics. The van gets taken out every 3 months or so at the moment, just to keep it ticking over. It definitely doesn't need weekly trips. (That said, its gearbox did seize when it was sat unused for six months, but it was a bit flakey anyway. My mechanic soaked the brushes, apparently, and it's been no trouble since.)

Mine cost around £14k to buy the van and have it converted, and I could probably sell it for more than that today. However, bear in mind that a) suitable vans are hard to source at the moment, and b) build times are long from reputable builders. I was told three months, and it was nearer five.

Payload is the big issue with these. Mine has a hair under 1.2 with half a tank of diesel, so if I have my 570kg cob and my friend's 400kg Arab, all kit/water/tack/other people go in a separate vehicle, and I don't eat a large breakfast!

 

[littlelessbloom]

I don't know if I'd use a box enough to warrant it. It would probably be used twice a month - pony and I aren't competing regularly at the moment with just the odd show here and there and the odd arena hire here and there. Thankfully, it'll probably only be my pony I'm transporting places, who is around 403kg.

Are there any good towing cars that aren't >£200 p/m? I do know someone who tows with a fiat 500, but I don't think that's legal somehow...!!

I think my best bet might be to see what the stipulations regarding my OH's company car and towing is. He is on quite a high grade, so is likely to get a decent car.

Failing that I'll just tell him to share my car, take the allowance and buy me a box!

 

[BallyRoanBaubles]

Ive recently sold my 3.5 ton van conversion (I actually sold it for more than I bought it for so they do hold their value), to go to a car and trailer. I loved my little van but I no longer have the horse I bought it for and current pony is a 4yo so wont be out every weekend like I use to be.

I also have a dog that is growing to big for my vw up and couldnt justify keeping the van and buying a bigger car

Cost wise my van was about £200 a year insurance, £150 breakdown, £23 per month in tax. Mots were same price as my car, mine was an 04 plate and I probably spent £200/300 a year on each mot.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Mine travel far better in a lorry. Amber was particularly bad in the trailer, but others have also struggled. For that reason alone. I'd not go back to a trailer now.
I bought a very cheap, ancient 7.5T lorry. So far not cost much in repairs r servicing. Never stopped running despite being sat for long periods in lockdown. And I love being able to stay away in it. Propr to getting the lorry I did not go out all that often but now that I have it I am very adventurous in it. It will die one day I guess but for now I love it.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

ETA assuming it doesn't die, I assume it's done all the depreciating it is going to do which is a bonus! Every year I think I'll sell just after the MOT and upgrade but can never quite justify it.

 

[dorsetladette]

I'm in the same situation. Recently sold our never used (by us) 5t lorry. I have a little car to run around in. So I'm in the process of saving to either buy a tow car and trailer or a little 3.5t box. I'm really undecided but I'm really not wanting a big car for every day

 

[littlelessbloom]

I'm the same dorset in terms of not wanting a big car for every day. I think the only way we'd get a big car is if OH could get one through work. Annoyingly, he did choose a Ford Active X last year (I've been told they can tow a trailer & horse) but had to instead get reallocated an older Mercedes A Class. It's one of those where there's pros and cons to both a trailer and a box - one doesn't necessarily immediately outweigh the other. I'd just love the freedom to go 'I want to go xc schooling next weekend' or 'I want to go to this clinic' without having to sort out hiring. I always feel so bad if I ask others for transport if they're not going - I will always pay whatever they want me to though.

 

[dorsetladette]

If I was to buy a 3.5t it would be in the same bracket as AE's box and have little depreciating left to do. I certainly cant afford the prettiest box in the lorry park.

 

[sjdress]

I went from a lorry to a trailer and don’t regret this decision, even though I thought that I would! The lorry was only cost effective if out in it at least weekly. The trailer is much more cost effective. We tow with a Tiguan so not overly expensive and my horse travels well in it.

 

[littlelessbloom]

If I was to buy a 3.5t it would be in the same bracket as AE's box and have little depreciating left to do. I certainly cant afford the prettiest box in the lorry park.

Me too. One of my friends has a brand new Bloomfields box and I just want to cry every time I see it because it's so pretty but I can also imagine how much she paid!!

 

[Pippity]

If I was to buy a 3.5t it would be in the same bracket as AE's box and have little depreciating left to do. I certainly cant afford the prettiest box in the lorry park.

I did look at buying a cheap 3.5t but, to be honest, they hold their value so well that anything under £10k was a deathtrap. Mine isn't the prettiest box in the lorry park but it's safe. I suspect you get a lot more leeway with a 7.5t, where there's enough payload for added shiny bits!