Cost of owning and running a 3.5 tonne lorry

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HelenBack

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Can those who own 3.5 tonne lorries give me some idea of the cost of owning and keeping them please? Mostly I'm thinking in terms of annual MOT an servicing, insurance, breakdown cover, maintenance and any other extras like that that I might not have thought of.

I'm currently just using a transport company or hiring on an ad hoc basis but have started to do a bit more lately and am getting to the point where I wonder where it might be a better option to splash out and buy something. I know purchase prices have gone up a lot lately as well though so obviously will need to think carefully and do my sums.

I know things like insurance and upkeep will vary massively but still some figures will be helpful just to give me an idea. Thanks.
 
MOT is about £50, insurance and breakdown is roughly £300-400. Servicing I tend to do myself/with a mechanically minded friend and I tend to budget around £250/year for parts and labour... when I bought mine second hand the first thing I did was get some new all weather tyres on it, about £500 for all four.
Touch wood mine hasn’t needed an awful lot doing to it so far (although the horse area has needed a few things doing due to my tank of a horse having a few hissy fits!)
 
Don't forget tax, more than it cost me to insure.

My livery yard also charges over £400 a year for parking. (I'm not complaining, they have to pay business rates for the parking areas).
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Tax £30 pcm
Insurance £260 pa
Mot £50
Service - we budget £400, but only do it every other yr due to low mileage
(Rac breakdown cover £29 pcm but don't count that as covered for all our vehicles)

This is on a 2012 renault master, in pretty good condition (touch wood!)
 
Mine is a 2002 Renault Master with approx 18K on the clock as HB from new. I have no mechanical know how nor anyone to call on in that respect so I pay full whack for any repairs etc.

Insurance and specialist Horsebox breakdown £375.84
Tax £24.06 DD pcm
Service and MOT £683.31
Repair £329.47 I think it was glow plug replacement and sorting out some warning lights.
Mobiliser issue £500 which was a PITA to sort out exacerbated by difficulty in getting a reliable person to turn up, new person trying to cut corners and difficulty in obtaining chips.

However I do use it a lot and the freedom it gives is fantastic. You can keep all your bits in it and I have a porta potti in the back which is very handy especially at camp recently when the site loo was mikes away. I don’t usually do particularly long journeys so fuel costs are relatively low.

I can see I may need to spend some money on flooring and some bodywork bits in the next 12 months. Plus considering putting in a fan.
 
I also pay equine rescue insurance. If you breakdown a long way from home you will need another equine transport to transfer to, unlike a trailer, where some other 4x4 can just hook up and tow you away
 
Marigold4 said:
I also pay equine rescue insurance. If you breakdown a long way from home you will need another equine transport to transfer to, unlike a trailer, where some other 4x4 can just hook up and tow you away
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Not if it’s the trailer that is broken or you gave an accident so I’m not sure I’d ever rely on normal breakdown when transporting a horse trailer or box.
 
They key issue for me is that having transport means I do so much more. When I paid per trip I really rationed what I did - only really hired for camps and competing. So maybe hired 5-6 times a year.

I've just added up and this year I have done 30 single trips and 3 stay away camps or events - with 2 more overnight trips planned. The freedom is fabulous.
 
For most people it will be cheaper to rent than buy. I worked it out a while back that it was probably £100 per outing but not sure what it is nowadays. I tend to go out x2 a month currently, so not very often, but like AE it’s the choice and the flexibility that’s important to me.
 
I use mine at least twice a month usually. For camp I had my horse box with me for 4 days.

My biggest issue with hiring is that weekends and popular events especially get booked out months in advance and I’m just not that organised. I can for example if a space comes up on a clinic just booklast minute and go.

The last time I hired in 2019 it cost me about £200 for a full day including driver for the Sunshine Tour Championship.
 
We have a trailer not a box so the initial sums are different however the biggest plus for me with having your own transport is the spontaneity it gives you. If we felt like going to arena hire one evening after school we could decide to go in the morning - we’d never have done that kind of thing if we’d had to book transport.

We definitely did more trips out than when we were hiring - it also meant it was easier to pull out of things if the ground wasn’t quite right because you hadn’t already sunk £100 on transport on top of entry costs. There’s also the extra hassle of picking up and dropping off a self-drive box at either end of what can already be a very long day.
 
Worth every penny for the freedom but I have worse than average luck with all my horseboxes. Am on 3.5t #3 and none of them have been cheap to maintain. Current one is on a 2013 chassis so not as many "old age" problems, so it developed a recurrent electrical fault instead.
 
Having just taken the plunge and bought a lovely lorry, the set up costs are very fresh so happy to share.
Renault master 3.5t.
insurance for anyone over 23, including equine breakdown cover £500 (per annum)
Tax - £25.37/month
Fuel for a 125 mile round trip - approx £20
Allowance for MOT - £50
Allowance for maintenance and servicing £250

Obviously capital investment excluded, but I calculated one outing a month (without fuel) around £95. Twice a month take us down to £45/ outing.

i didn’t hire much despite having a hire fund as our nearest box hire is a 55 mile round trip to collect and then same to return which is really exhausting at the end of a long day, and made me constantly worry about the time I actually spent out with my horse to not be late returning it.
 
I used to use Equine Rescue. The one and only time I've needed help they sent someone completely incompetent who made a difficult load worse, then needed more help and they sent a real bully of a man who was incredibly unpleasant to me and downright cruel to the poor young horse we were trying to load. Then the driver got lost and it took hours to get back. Never again. Not sure who else to try though?
 
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I use Anthony d evans insurance and “rescue services” and they are great. I broke down on the motorway, which was literally my worst nightmare. They immediately got traffic officers to us, organised a vet to come sedate my mare (got to us in 10/15 mins) and we had the motorway closed and my mare loaded up into new transport home in 35 mins. Couldn’t be more impressed with them. They rang every 5 mins or so with updates of when the transporter should get to us which was very reassuring. They sent a mechanic to see if they could fix the lorry roadside but arranged the alternative transport simultaneously. I’m very glad they did as that cut down the time roadside. Would highly recommend!
 
RHM said:
I use Anthony d evans insurance and “rescue services” and they are great. I broke down on the motorway, which was literally my worst nightmare. They immediately got traffic officers to us, organised a vet to come sedate my mare (got to us in 10/15 mins) and we had the motorway closed and my mare loaded up into new transport home in 35 mins. Couldn’t be more impressed with them. They rang every 5 mins or so with updates of when the transporter should get to us which was very reassuring. They sent a mechanic to see if they could fix the lorry roadside but arranged the alternative transport simultaneously. I’m very glad they did as that cut down the time roadside. Would highly recommend!
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How much do you pay, if you don't mind me asking?
Is the Rescue services included in the insurance policy?
 
I’m with Anthony D Evans and the insurance portion on mine is £205 the rest is Equine Rescue.
Insurance and specialist Horsebox breakdown Total £375.84
 
Just reading this thread as am getting a 3.5 ton lorry on trial next week, 're insurance, I noticed Vermillion said hers was any driver over 23, is that standard on these policies ?
Would be nice if my friend could also take pony out for me
 
Make absolutely sure that you get a breakdown cover insurance that will transort your horse in a horse box in the event of being unable to repair your horsebox. I have found that TheOrganisation of Horsebox and Trailer Owner Association are the most effiient.
 
tda said:
Just reading this thread as am getting a 3.5 ton lorry on trial next week, 're insurance, I noticed Vermillion said hers was any driver over 23, is that standard on these policies ?
Would be nice if my friend could also take pony out for me
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Not sure if this is standard and might be worth double checking - we are with Anthony Evans and my partner is on the policy as a named driver. This only increased the premium by £36.
 
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tda said:
Just reading this thread as am getting a 3.5 ton lorry on trial next week, 're insurance, I noticed Vermillion said hers was any driver over 23, is that standard on these policies ?
Would be nice if my friend could also take pony out for me
Click to expand...

I have mine insured for any driver over 25. My husband has driven the box a double handful of times in the 10 years I've had it and 2 friends have borrowed it (1 for an emergency vet run, the other to collect furniture).
As I recall, it wasnt much difference in cost, and is a pretty std cover from South Essex.
I have it as I go everywhere on my own, gives me peace of mind that at least my fuzzy can be taken home by friend or family member in an emergency.
 
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