Best place to buy a bargain lorry?!

grhands

grhands

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I was hoping someone may be able to give ,e a bit of advice. I'm looking to buy a relatively cheap first horsebox up to 7.5 tonne. I believe I cannot drive anything over that as I passed my test in 2000. I only need to ever transport one horse but he's 16.3hh.

I've got about £2500 so I'm not expecting luxury. I just need functional and safe. I've been looking for a couple of weeks and so far everything on ebay is falling to bits and/or horrendously overpriced. Everything on gumtree seems to be a scam (wanting cash up front) or sold. I'm having a similar issue on preloved when I find anything on there.

I don't particularly fancy HP but when I did make an enquiry there the horsebox had to be a couple of years old and 20% deposit was needed up front.

I was wondering if auction houses might be a good option and if anyone knew of any reputable sales in the oxfordshire / bucks area. I can travel to a sale if need be. Also could anyone recommend any other places to find a lorry?! I have a bit of time, roughly til end of October.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
Oh and I've tried H&H of course, there wasn't a great deal in my price range. I did find a perfect box but the seller never answers the phone!! :(
 
ellie_e said:
I thought you could only driv upto 3.5tonne if passed after 1997?
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Yes you're right there. Just had a look at dvla website. It seems it's "Motor vehicles with a MAM of up to 3,500 kg" This makes my search even more tricky. Trailers scare me a bit though. I have no experience driving with a trailer at all, let alone with my horse inside.
 
you will struggle for that money. Some of the older Mark 1 renaults are now around the 5-6K mark I believe. Certainly I have been offered that for mine although it is nice. I think you need to be careful with build quality too.
 
grhands said:
Yes you're right there. Just had a look at dvla website. It seems it's "Motor vehicles with a MAM of up to 3,500 kg" This makes my search even more tricky. Trailers scare me a bit though. I have no experience driving with a trailer at all, let alone with my horse inside.
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And if you want to drive a trailer you have to take another test too. :(

This is the same problem I'm going to have when I start going out on my own (currently Dad drives) so I think I'm going to buy a 3.5T lorry (since you dont need another test for them!)
 
annabel2009 said:
And if you want to drive a trailer you have to take another test too. :(

This is the same problem I'm going to have when I start going out on my own (currently Dad drives) so I think I'm going to buy a 3.5T lorry (since you dont need another test for them!)
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If I buy a 3.5t lorry, won't my laden weight be exceeding the maximum load? I mean I'm probably being thick here but if the lorry is 3.5t then any weight i going to exceed the MAM surely?
 
Hi,

My best advice is that if £2.5k is all you have and you are not:
A) A Prof mechanic (or dating/married to one)
B) Married or dating a coachbuilder

Then save some more money and be patient, hire a box in the meantime.

You are in a price bracket of issues and potential disasters, which to be honest is not worth it.

For the £90/day to hire a brand new one, until you can afford your own, it's a no brainer to me. Being safe is far more important.

Ebay is a dumping ground for old worn out machines, you could buy something from there, but you will be spending more on it anyway in repairs, servicing, fuel and just about everything else.

A cheap wagon is a false economy.

Try and work out how often you are likely to use a potential wagon - v - how often it will be standing around.
Work out how much you can seriously afford each year on servicing, mots (and any repairs due to failing) tax, insurance etc...

Bottom line as someone else has said £5K will provide you with a great mk1 machine, safe and reliable.

Please be very careful.
 
grhands said:
If I buy a 3.5t lorry, won't my laden weight be exceeding the maximum load? I mean I'm probably being thick here but if the lorry is 3.5t then any weight i going to exceed the MAM surely?
Click to expand...

I don't understand the whole weights issue myself but... (someone may need to correct me here) I understand that the lorry is under the 3.5T weight.. but its max weight is 3.5T so say the lorry weighs (at a complete guess) 2T/2.5T? Then plus your horse, people, equipment your allowed up to 1T/1.5T in weight carriage to take you up to the 3.5T limit. Hence this is why most 3.5T lorries can only carry one horse otherwise they are over their weight limit.

Someone much more experienced and knowledgeable on this topic will probably be able to explain alot better and may need to correct me!
 
Thanks all. I think I will take CHH's advice and hang tight and save for the 5k. I have til the winter before I regularly need to travel to to school my horse.
 
Annabel,

YES unladen weight is the weight of the vehicle prior to you putting anything in it.

Be wary of how full the fuel tank/ any water tank etc... is on any vehicle, some are weighed with everything removed, including all this liquid and the gas bottle etc.. (if any). I have even known a partition to be removed!

Therefore - your unladen weight is exactly that, the standard weight of the vehicle.

be wary of any 3.5ton that boast a massive payload - why?
Because quality materials and safety are not light.
And, as we have no regluation in this industry anything can be marketed - including out and out dangerous vehicles.

On average you are right.

Think how much you as a person weigh, then your friend, plus tack, and all the other 'junk' (as my husband calls it) that goes along for the day.

The safest option with a larger horse - or someone who may want to travel 2 larger beasts is a 4ton upwards, they drive as easy and you are likely to remain legal.

Personally, some of the earlier well made brands are worth more than some of the latter day rubbish, as every man and his dog makes one to sell on ebay.

With a bigger budget you can look more seriously at some good boxes, and in winter there will potentially be some great buys too!
 
CHH said:
Annabel,

YES unladen weight is the weight of the vehicle prior to you putting anything in it.

Be wary of how full the fuel tank/ any water tank etc... is on any vehicle, some are weighed with everything removed, including all this liquid and the gas bottle etc.. (if any). I have even known a partition to be removed!

Therefore - your unladen weight is exactly that, the standard weight of the vehicle.

be wary of any 3.5ton that boast a massive payload - why?
Because quality materials and safety are not light.
And, as we have no regluation in this industry anything can be marketed - including out and out dangerous vehicles.

On average you are right.

Think how much you as a person weigh, then your friend, plus tack, and all the other 'junk' (as my husband calls it) that goes along for the day.

The safest option with a larger horse - or someone who may want to travel 2 larger beasts is a 4ton upwards, they drive as easy and you are likely to remain legal.

Personally, some of the earlier well made brands are worth more than some of the latter day rubbish, as every man and his dog makes one to sell on ebay.

With a bigger budget you can look more seriously at some good boxes, and in winter there will potentially be some great buys too!
Click to expand...


Thank you CHH that is very helpful and really explains things. :) It all makes sense now!
 
CHH said:
Annabel,

YES unladen weight is the weight of the vehicle prior to you putting anything in it.

Be wary of how full the fuel tank/ any water tank etc... is on any vehicle, some are weighed with everything removed, including all this liquid and the gas bottle etc.. (if any). I have even known a partition to be removed!

Therefore - your unladen weight is exactly that, the standard weight of the vehicle.

be wary of any 3.5ton that boast a massive payload - why?
Because quality materials and safety are not light.
And, as we have no regluation in this industry anything can be marketed - including out and out dangerous vehicles.

On average you are right.

Think how much you as a person weigh, then your friend, plus tack, and all the other 'junk' (as my husband calls it) that goes along for the day.

The safest option with a larger horse - or someone who may want to travel 2 larger beasts is a 4ton upwards, they drive as easy and you are likely to remain legal.
Personally, some of the earlier well made brands are worth more than some of the latter day rubbish, as every man and his dog makes one to sell on ebay.

With a bigger budget you can look more seriously at some good boxes, and in winter there will potentially be some great buys too!
Click to expand...

Good advice from CHH, but just want to clarify that a 4 ton plus lorry will require a second test if you passed after 1997.
 
As others have said, you don't really have enough money to buy a safe and reliable 3.5 ton lorry. if you can double your money you might still struggle. However there are plenty of 3.5 ton lorries out there that will take a single 16.3 horse. You just need to make sure that you have a recent weight certificate before you hand over your money. You really need one that has at least 1000kg of carrying ability, ie the weight certificate says it physically only weights 2500kg unladen (empty).

if you want to borrow money forget things like Hire Purchase, just approach your bank or building society for a personal loan, this is money that you can spend on anything you like, rather than an old fashioned HP agreement which is tied to a physical object like a lorry.
 
I have a budget of about £5k and let me tell you its not easy at that price either!!

You need a headroom of about 7'+ ideally for a horse that size the more the better, those lorries are few and far between, the only ones I can think about off the top of my head are VWLT35s and malborough/masters - way about your price range, as they seem to be roomy - however, sellers KNOW what they've got and you generally wont get them for a song.

TBH Im looking into upgrading my license now. Its just such a gamble trying to find something with a decent payload AND a decent internal height on a 3.5t.

Unless you're Juno and can build your own :mad: :D
 
BoolavogueDC said:
Have I mentioned how jealous I am!!!
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Not sure but just to add insult.....
here it is again :p
Picture032.jpg
 
Got to say...I think if you find a 3.5T van for £2.5K you're heading into a world of hurt. It will simply be a money pit. Also, as it will be fairly old, parts will be hard to find and potentially expensive. Vans are designed to last 7ish (hard) years and up to 300K miles, whichever comes sooner - after this time/distance you can keep them going but expect regular expense.

If that is your budget I'd recommend a trailer!!

Good luck,

FP
 
Flashpaddler said:
Got to say...I think if you find a 3.5T van for £2.5K you're heading into a world of hurt. It will simply be a money pit. Also, as it will be fairly old, parts will be hard to find and potentially expensive. Vans are designed to last 7ish (hard) years and up to 300K miles, whichever comes sooner - after this time/distance you can keep them going but expect regular expense.

If that is your budget I'd recommend a trailer!!

Good luck,

FP
Click to expand...

You have to pass yet another test for a trailer. I've just picked up a tidy little LT35 so I hope all works out my way. I've had enough nightmares to last me a lifetime!
 
the only thing about hiring a horse trailer is its just money down the drain. If you have not taken the B & E test then find somewhere local to you that does the training. It is usually about £40 for a lesson and you will probably only need one or two as its usually just to show you how to drive to pass the test. Then maybe buy a cheap trailer to see you through while you save and then save until you can afford a decent lorry. Otherwise have you thought of finance?. you can get decent ifor williams second hand lorries for about £3500. I saw a dealer put one on horsemart recently and sold it for just under £3500 and it was fully MOT'd and about 6months tax, was valeted before collection and fully serviced. It was also able to take 2x 16.2hh horses. Hope that helps with some sort of idea with price and what to look for.
 
Also you can get a pretty decent trailer with your budget so I reckon that is the best bet, trailers are fine once you have towed a couple of times, they are easy peasy and a lot cheaper to run than lorries.
Lorries = mot, service, tax, petrol.
trailer= 12-16 month service.
 
I have just bought a 3.5 ton box for the mere price of £2.5k and it's lovely and been well looked after. It's an LDV 1997 diesel, so very much like a transit with ifor box. I must have got lucky because the woman wanted rid of it quick as she had just ordered a brand new one so quickly reduced it down from £3k. Has a full service history, all previous MOT's, had brand new aluminium floor and ramps fitted 5 years ago and is easy to drive with power steering! There are cheaper lorries out there but do go inspect them! I bought one without viewing it for £2.5k and despite the girl waving it off sadly, after I got it inspected before considering putting my boys in it they simply said 'get rid of it now' or I faced over £1k of welding work to be done and it was an 87 reg! Learnt from that mistake and luckily found this one 20 minutes down the road.

3.5 ton boxes now hold their value despite their age because of the change of laws and anyone who can drive can drive one with no experience! I've been driving for 6 years but I was still petrified the first time I took the box out with 2 ponies loaded!
 
When I was looking I couldn't find anything under £3k that wasn't a rust bucket. In the end I found a Ford transit 3.5t for £1200, I've spent a couple of thousand doing it up and its perfect for my 16hh mare and occasionally take the shettie out in it too.
I took it to the weigh bridge and I have 1200 kilos to play with but this is easily used up with person, tack, water, hay etc.
 
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