Do you think i could sell my horsebox and be able to afford a 4x4+trailer?

bigboyrocky

bigboyrocky

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 April 2008
Messages
2,448
Visit site
There are so many reasons to sell it.. but not sure if we'd be able to financially!

-only have 1 horse
-hardly ever go away over night
-dont need a massive living
-its just way too big for what we need!!

I will tell you a bit about it, and if you could let me know how much you think we could realistically get for it that would be great. Having looked at trailers (we'd probably get a IW 510) they seem to be advertised at about 2500 ono (so say 2200).. depending on how much you think the lorry is worth, with the left over money, what would be a good 4x4 to go for? I know were not going to be able to get anything nice veichle wise so long as its reliable and tidy thats all we need.

Right lorry... 2/3 horse 7.5tonne Non HGV B-reg Blue mercedes. I think its done about 250,000km. Large living with luton, cooker, hob, sink, fridge, cupboards, L shaped seating (underseating storage). Seperate toilet/tack room (would go with porta loo!) Solid flooring. Always passes MOT with flying oclours and hardly ever needs anything done. Easy drive. Very slight hole in the roof above the luton which could easily be fixed, but otherwise tidy.

helpppppp, would love to downsize but no extra money to put towards it!
thankyou :) :)
 
Ive been dreaming about having a horsebox and ditching the trailer!!!! Seriously, my lovely 4x4 got written off in August, the OH has replaced it with a newer vehicle but he is driving it now (don't think he trusts me - the accident wasn't my fault!). Anyway I am now thinking that a 3.5 tonne box would be much better as the new 4x4 costs around £98 to fill up each time!!!!! I am driving his old Freelander at the moment and saving loads in diesel - but it is not capable of towing the trailer. Can't you downsize your lorry? Possibly exchange it for a smaller vehicle? I have not looked much into buying a lorry as, realistically, it would cost around £15,000 so I don't know the ins and outs - but am still dreaming. Fingers crossed for the lottery tonight!! ;)
 
well the thing is we cant really afford to insure, tax and service both the car and the lorry. Neither me nor mum have a burning need/want for a lorry (both be quite hapy to have a trailer) so we figured that even though the 4x4 would probably cost a bit more than the car does fuel wise and to tax etc.. it would still be cheaper than having 2 vehicles (car and lorry).

and also, little boxes are a LOT more than 7.5 tonnes 'cause everybody wants them.. I wouldnt expect to get much more than 4/4.5k for our lorry (although need help on this cause could be way out!) where as little boxes are min 6k-9k for your bog standard 2 horse with minimal living..

in the ideal world, a 3.5tonne would be perfect, but i just dont think its feesable :)
 
bigboyrocky said:
well the thing is we cant really afford to insure, tax and service both the car and the lorry. Neither me nor mum have a burning need/want for a lorry (both be quite hapy to have a trailer) so we figured that even though the 4x4 would probably cost a bit more than the car does fuel wise and to tax etc.. it would still be cheaper than having 2 vehicles (car and lorry).

and also, little boxes are a LOT more than 7.5 tonnes 'cause everybody wants them.. I wouldnt expect to get much more than 4/4.5k for our lorry (although need help on this cause could be way out!) where as little boxes are min 6k-9k for your bog standard 2 horse with minimal living..

in the ideal world, a 3.5tonne would be perfect, but i just dont think its feesable :)
Click to expand...
get a small diesel car £35 tax and keep the lorry a 4x4 is a money pit and you will miss the convinance and safety of a lorry..IMHO
 
i can see your point but its such a hassle having such a massive lorry for 1 horse.. and all we need to take is water and tack. just seems such a waste
 
bigboyrocky said:
i can see your point but its such a hassle having such a massive lorry for 1 horse.. and all we need to take is water and tack. just seems such a waste
Click to expand...
Yes I can see where you're coming from but for me ive been down the oh im sure this would be better or that's the car, truck camper van or lorry that will be better than x y or z!!! then regreting it what im trying to say is everything is a compromise :D
 
Depends how often you compete and how many miles you do in the car.

My initial thoughts are that given how much it costs to MOT, plate and insure the box, it's still going to be more expensive to run a 4x4 everyday so that you can have the trailer.
 
Depending on the age on the 4x4 the lorry could be half the price to tax, and the insurance is cheap too.

I think for a B reg lorry you are looking at £2.5 -3.5k
 
were pretty set on seling for a trailer now. ive done some ROUGH (its late ;) will check tomorow when im not a zombie) maths, and it looks like the 4x4 will cost about 150 extra a year, however, mum and i have had enough of the lorry, its just way too big. also she would much rather pay a little extra each time she fills up, rather than having a few bigger bills each year (big in relitive terms to filling up the car if you get me)

we would be more than happy to get a smaller box, but theres nothing priced anywhere near what we will get for ours so trailer is the only other option really.

Maletto, when horse is well and fit we would be using it once every fortnight i would say... definatley no more than that
 
£150 more per year isn't really much when you think of the extra convenience you'll save by not having to take the lorry to be MOT'd, maintained and whatever else.

Hope you manage to get a good price for your lorry cos the more you can spend on the 4x4, the cheaper it will be to run cos it will have less going wrong with it and also be more efficient.

Will be interested to know how much your lorry sells for & how easily you sell it. I'm trying to sell mine too!
 
yeh def, would be thrilled if we could get 4 for it, but im not banking on it purely cause of its age.. its worth it and still has years left in it, but when you hear b-reg you think ancient! :p good luck with selling yours :)
 
Hey

Can't speak for the lorry argument but I can fro lorry. Back in July I decided I needed to be mobile. Non horsey mum and dad so I had to decide lorry or trailer. Settled on 4x4 and trailer as when I weighed up the cost of taxing, insuring, mot-ing, servicing and insuring a 4x4 and car or just a lorry it was pretty much the same (on basis of a friend's annual lorry bill). Then we worked out if feasible to get rid of my little 1.1 saxo completely and just have a 4x4. Again working out the cost of the above for two cars it just wasn't financially a good idea. Desite extra fuel costs it still would have been a lot more expensive. So then went car shopping and found that shoguns/pajero seemed to have good mpg and easily able to tow a 510 and 2 horses (before anyone queries this I can take a pic of the towing capacity marked inside bonnet lol).

So took the plunge and went ahead and bought an r reg shogun. It's fab. Tows brilliantly well and although not a "looker" it is decent enough. Looks very workmanlike! I use it to run around to work in and on average I do 50 miles a day. I put up to £60 to fill the tank and it lasts me all week! However that is all short trips back and fro from places. When on a long run the diesel lasts a bit longer. Tax is 115 I think for 6months and I'm 22 with speedign ticket and crash (3 years) ago and my insurance was 500 fully comp!! Obviously tyres cost more but I'm finding very "doable" to run it as my main car as well as towing car.

R.e trailers. I bought a 3year old ifor williams. (had 2 very bad experiences on ebay so be v v careful! Picked one trailer up and as we drove down M6 bits literally fell off it! Luckily lady gave my bankers draft back!) But that was for 2400. Just think it may be worth investing more and getting something good. Mine was 3k and virtually brand new.

My car was 1400 but needed work done on it which cost me 500. So say 2k for the car and 3 for a trailer. You can pick up the shoguns/pajeros for less that 1000 but would suspect something wrong with it?! But anything betweeen 1500 and 2k may be worth a look?

Anyway...

Good Luck!!! :) Hope you find something soon
 
Would love to say would swap as I know we shall be needing a lorry in the next year, however, I love my Shogun, its only just 2 years old, top of the range and I need it for work. I agree with the advice given previously, 4 x 4s are great, I love mine, it is comfy and looks the part, but they are dead expensive to run. I put about £65 a week in mine (diesel), but then again I have a 40 mile round trip to work and I do go out and about. When we go to events, it generally costs about £45-£55 in diesel, and I have an IW 510 and only take one horse. Insurance is fine even though its a group 15 as when you get to my advanced age with full NCB it tends to be, but tax is £400 a year. I am very lucky, my comapny pays for it all as part of my salary package, but I shudder to think how I would afford it anyway. I do get the trailer serviced once a year, but then again my business partner also owns a garage and again the company pays, if you get my drift.

If you can keep your lorry then do so. You will miss the convenience of it - think of how lovely it is to get in when its chucking down with rain at an event and you need to change? No more struggling with wet jods in the front of your trailer, or in the back seat of the car.
 
I'll swap ;) I have a mitsubishi Challenger and a IfW 510 (The one that takes 2 17.2hh) But this year I was thinking about getting a lorry, as i'm travelling further and want to have living. The only thing that is stopping my parents getting a lorry, is their unreliability.
 
We have been looking at doing the same - getting rid of a 6.6ton lorry and getting a trailer to go with my 4x4 - unfortunately my 4x4 is a 1.8 Freelander so not a big enough engine - but - if you are lucky you will be able to pick up a 2.5 to 3.5 litre 4x4 that has an LPG conversion - with LPG having a current price of under 70p per litre and giving around the same mileage per gallon it has to be considered. My husband has a Subaru that runs on LPG and petrol and he is saving a fortune on running costs - even the road tax is cheaper and the Congestion Charge is Nil

If you have garages locally that sell LPG (it tends to be Morrisons and Shell) you might find it a more viable consideration. Mind you the LPG converted cars are slightly more expensive but you make up the differnce in no time. It also makes no difference to the power when towing.
 
Last edited:
To throw a spanner in the works, I have been put off from getting a 4x4 and trailer because of the day to day running costs. Unless you can get a LPG converted one as above, the MPG would be less than that of a small lorry... My little lorry is very economical, and easy to run. I run it along side a fiesta, which isn't the cheapest, but does the job. I worked out the costs, and actually I was better off with my 3.5ton and my car. My lorry isn't smart or flash, but is safe and reliable (touches wood!)
 
naza - we're in somerset

And yeh we were thinking of a shogun, and an IW 510.. if anyone wants to swap... ;)

Shrek eventing SW, honestly its the most reliable thing ever.. weve had it 4yrs, and all its needed is 2 new tryes!!! the tiny hole needs patching above the luton but that is it.. its cheaper than most cars as nothing seems to go wrong with it, and it uses hardly any fuel.. in that sense its fab as its so cheap to run, but we just cant justify having something so big and i miss the trailer as it was just so easy :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top