Box or Trailer

[AngelaWB]

Ok, so I've decided on brand of trailer if I buy one - a new Bateson Ascot with Boston Doors. Now another spanner in the works -

At the moment I run both a small car (£30 pa tax) and a 4wd (£280 approx tax) for the winter/towing. So now I'm wondering do I buy a small 4wd car which would also be used to get around in winter and a 3.5t box instead? It's not as though I will travel the horse a lot, it's only for going places to hack out, but a van would be easier to park at home.

People who have gone from trailer to van - is it worth it? Pros and Cons? Is it more expensive in the long run?

Thanks.

 

[Michen]

I went from lorry to trailer and thought I’d hate it but actually it’s fine. I started with a small tow car (Tiguan) but upgraded to a Touareg which I much prefer.

It’s actually quite nice driving a modern auto car rather than the older horsebox and the horses are fine too. Also useful to be able to unhitch car when going away for wkend with horses etc.

 

[AngelaWB]

Thanks Michen, it's interesting to hear that people prefer to down size

 

[Annagain]

I think if it was a case of going from one vehicle to two, I'd say the3.5T wasn't worth it but as you have two vehicles anyway there's probably not much in it. We have a camper van (I know it's not quite the same but it's a 3.5T van too) and it's cheaper to tax and insure (on a limited mileage policy) than my Defender.

I suppose the main difference is the initial outlay - I guess the trailer would be about £6-7k if you're buying new (I'm guessing you are if you're specifying the doors you want) whereas a 3.5T could be a lot more and you won't really be able to offset the extra by selling the two cars as you'll need that money to buy the smaller 4x4. I'd have a good look at the purchase prices of everything and decide if the convenience of a lorry is worth the extra.

You would only have two sets of maintenance costs instead of three with the trailer but trailer maintenance is relatively cheap. I pay about £120 a year for servicing and have had two new sets of tyres in 15 years.

You also need to consider how often you're going to use a lorry - I don't think it matters what you use it for so the fact that you 'just' go to places to hack is irrelevant but you do need to use it regularly to keep it ticking over.

 

[AngelaWB]

I think if it was a case of going from one vehicle to two, I'd say the3.5T wasn't worth it but as you have two vehicles anyway there's probably not much in it. We have a camper van (I know it's not quite the same but it's a 3.5T van too) and it's cheaper to tax and insure (on a limited mileage policy) than my Defender.

I suppose the main difference is the initial outlay - I guess the trailer would be about £6-7k if you're buying new (I'm guessing you are if you're specifying the doors you want) whereas a 3.5T could be a lot more and you won't really be able to offset the extra by selling the two cars as you'll need that money to buy the smaller 4x4. I'd have a good look at the purchase prices of everything and decide if the convenience of a lorry is worth the extra.

You would only have two sets of maintenance costs instead of three with the trailer but trailer maintenance is relatively cheap. I pay about £120 a year for servicing and have had two new sets of tyres in 15 years.

You also need to consider how often you're going to use a lorry - I don't think it matters what you use it for so the fact that you 'just' go to places to hack is irrelevant but you do need to use it regularly to keep it ticking over.

Thanks for that, I'm wondering if it's a bit ott really for me. A lot more convenient as I have to reverse my trailer down a road, through a slalom of cars, to get it back to my house, which puts me off taking it out. The trailer I only use about half a dozen times a year maximum due to this problem, but at the same time don't really know if I'd use a little lorry more or not, possibly a little more if I can easily get it back to the house to park. Decisions decisions.