Horsebox adverts!

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Its a musing really, I needed to get it off my chest. I recently sold my 7.5t lorry and have started looking for another. My box sold really quickly and I've realised why!!

What I'm struggling with:

1 Price - seriously is your 1990 H registered non branded lorry that looks like it has been through a hedge backwards worth nearly £10k
You advertise it on one site at one price and on another at another price, then get the hump when I enquire as to the lower price

2 Pictures - I've just read this
"Power steering, 6gears, isolator, coachbuilt. Change in circumstances forces reluctant sale. No timewasters or picture collectors (they're on ad and recent) as I'm busy enough! Thanks"
the lorry only has 5 pictures and the the one picture of the horse area (the bit I'm really interested in) I can't see if it has a tack locker or not! Busy - you can be as busy as you like, but I won't come and part with my cash let alone get in the car if I don't know if its got what I want and looks like what I want!
Pictures sell, you don't go look at a donkey when you want a horse!

3 description - much as above, but there are things I need to know
When was the last MOT/plating
UNLADEN WEIGHT? Seriously I'm not putting my neddies in any box that I don't know the weight, I have large horses not miniatures and anything with a payload of less than 2t doesn't rock it for me when you say the lorry takes 4!!! Why do I need to keep asking, Oh yes, thats to waste my time and yours thinking I'll forget to ask, fall in love with your lorry and buy it although it only has 1t capacity!!
When or what you've done to look after it? Yes that might seem like a question from outer space but some of us want something that isn't going to mean risking it on the M25 because its never seen a mechanic or still running on remolded bald tyres!
Chassis, yes I want to know that its all there, aluminium floor doesn't mean the chassis mounts are intact, which is what the floor then sits on. If you've maintained it and have a good mechanic and really want people interested in your lorry, why wouldn't you tell them its good? Oh yes, thats because its rotten as a pear and needs a chassis swap and you are trying to fob me off!
Advisories on last plating/MOT - Making the test page disappear and only giving me the certificate suggests to me you are avoiding telling me! Looking forward to when the DVLA put this info online like they do cars!

4 Cleanliness - Why does it look like a pigsty, you are selling it, I don't want your dog, child or muck. You could have at least cleaned out the droppings, which makes me think you never cared about your floor in the first place!

5 Dimensions - When your horse is like a giraffe, you want more than a pony size stall, height and length is important. The lorry may be a short lorry, but how long is that piece of string? I didn't think 28ft was really that short?

I have a few more questions,
Why is every ramp 'easily managed/operated by a small 5'3" female' on her own?
Reluctant sale - really?

Saying that I have come across some adverts that the seller is describing everything and guess what, by the time I enquire, its sold!

I'm sure there are more? Anyone else struggling with adverts? I know its usually horse related but i'm fed up with looking and having to keep asking the same old basic questions and yes the dealers are about the worst! If its not on their description, it seems they don't want to answer. I'm not a tyre kicker, I just want the lorry that has the things I want for a fair price!!

Rant over!!!
 
Oh dear I feel your pain!!!!!!:)

I remember when I bought my box,the eight month pregnant woman swinging the ramp up and down one handed, showing me how easy it was, only to get home and find I really struggled with it.....she must of been Wonder Woman!!!
 
2 Pictures - I've just read this
"Power steering, 6gears, isolator, coachbuilt. Change in circumstances forces reluctant sale. No timewasters or picture collectors (they're on ad and recent) as I'm busy enough! Thanks"
the lorry only has 5 pictures and the the one picture of the horse area (the bit I'm really interested in) I can't see if it has a tack locker or not! Busy - you can be as busy as you like, but I won't come and part with my cash let alone get in the car if I don't know if its got what I want and looks like what I want!
Pictures sell, you don't go look at a donkey when you want a horse!

This annoys me so much! I never buy off arrogant sellers who are 'too busy' to take proper pictures. Sorry, but I also 'work full time' but people are not going to part with their cash unless they are sure it's what they want. This attitude really annoys me.
 
UNLADEN WEIGHT? Seriously I'm not putting my neddies in any box that I don't know the weight, I have large horses not miniatures and anything with a payload of less than 2t doesn't rock it for me when you say the lorry takes 4!!!

This is the worst part!

I'm not even looking, I just like window shopping and see the comical adverts that come up on Facebook.

There was a great one on FB last night. Lorry looked like a transit with an Ifor body on the back, but lower to the ground and said it took 4 horses. Could have been a 3.5T but also looked like it could be a 5T-6T. I thought to myself 'I wonder what the legal payload on that is' and I scrolled through the comments and someone had asked and got the answer - I don't know but it takes my 4 horses. WHAT!? Madness.
 
I feel your pain... I too am looking but with a 17.1 Friesian with breed typical head carriage I NEED 8ft headroom... and a bloomin good payload.. All I want is a nice reliable compact lorry with safe horse accommodation.... so why are there normally NO or if lucky 1 picture of the horse area??
GRRRRRRRRRRR !
 
I'm always amazed at the number of lorry adverts with rubbish pictures. We sold our trailer really quickly last year and among the reasons given by the buyer was that because we'd put loads of photos up she'd decided it was worth coming to see, full measurements and that it was spotless. We saw a couple of lorries that probably would have suited us but were filthy - if they can't be bothered to clean it then I'm dubious that it's been well maintained.
 
Don't get me started on the 3.5t we went to see, beautiful til the dealer at last managed to find the weight cert. It weighed 2.86t and he said.. I don't know anyone who's ever been stopped and weighed, don't worry!
 
What are you looking for?
I have a nice 20ft Iveco PRB, stalled for 2 with 2.3T of payload and 12 months plate.
 
I think it's because there is such a demand. A friend has recently been shopping and had an awful time wading through the outright scams, bad advertisement (good ones always gone before being able to view) etc. But horseboxes seem to be in such a demand that clearly people can get away with poor pictures, not cleaning, not providing info and still sell them!
 
This is the worst part!

I'm not even looking, I just like window shopping and see the comical adverts that come up on Facebook.

There was a great one on FB last night. Lorry looked like a transit with an Ifor body on the back, but lower to the ground and said it took 4 horses. Could have been a 3.5T but also looked like it could be a 5T-6T. I thought to myself 'I wonder what the legal payload on that is' and I scrolled through the comments and someone had asked and got the answer - I don't know but it takes my 4 horses. WHAT!? Madness.

If it's the container type, I do hope that it is like 4 small ponies.. don't know where the other two partitions are but this type of box can't take a 16.3 and a 15.2 alone, no tack/water without being over weight.

I never understood the "ladies box" comment, any horsebox can be driven by whatever gender.
 
Lol! Casey they seem to have answered all the questions!!! Wow what a rarity, sadly not what I'm looking for!!


And I forgot the ones with no prices on, its obvious i shouldn't ask because I can't afford it!!!

supsup, I'm not sure about the demand, to me it seems like a load of chancers with the same boxes advertised for ages, I've been looking for a while now and see the same boxes appear on different sites, with varying prices!!
I still don't get how some people get to the price that they are asking??? Ive seen 4 new listings appear on a site with the same person, one being an equitrek (or something like) at only £9000!!! Then with the same person a 58 reg 7.5t for not much more money! Seriously? Someone will enquire, I'm sadly sure :-(
 
What I found astonishing is the degree of emphasis placed (both by buyers and sellers) on the living area, with relatively little info give by sellers or sought by buyers in relation to the horse area. I recently sold my horsebox and felt like screaming "Surely you are looking for a HORSE box in which to put your pride and joy, not a LIVING box in which you may or may not ever sleep so why the hell bemoan the lack of aga, dishwasher, powershower and water bed when I clearly stated it has NO LIVING fitted." Gah. Same when buying, everyone wants to tell me how the sink works but no-one seems sure if the floor in the horse area is structurally sound because they've never looked underneath.
 
I never understood the "ladies box" comment, any horsebox can be driven by whatever gender.

No they cant, I used to have a lorry that had such a heavy clutch it left me in agony every time I drove it. My mum refused to drive it at all.
It also had a huge gear box on it that you realy needed to be somewhere around the 6ft height to reach reverse. Mum and I used to do put it in reverse between us. I'd put my foot onthe clutch and she would pull it over into reverse.
That lorry was deffinatly a mans lorry! I now have a lorry with a far lighter clutch and a small car style gear box, I can do the ramp on my own and it turns on a 6 pence.
 
It does make you wonder. I sold an old Sinclair trailer in a day on Facebook for good money. All upgrades were listed, I added loads of photos and a clean horse area. The the time it took to sweep and photograph, it was well worth it.

Same as Fun Times, I don't care a jot what material is used for the human seating area and that it has chintzy curtains. I want to know that my horse won't fall through to the tarmac. I also want to know the payload, not that some twit has used it forever overloaded and "had no problems".
 
If it's the container type, I do hope that it is like 4 small ponies.. don't know where the other two partitions are but this type of box can't take a 16.3 and a 15.2 alone, no tack/water without being over weight.

I never understood the "ladies box" comment, any horsebox can be driven by whatever gender.

No that's the worst part!! She even commented back saying that her CLYDESDALE :eek: :eek: goes in there fine!! Madness!

I have a nice transit type and my 14.2 goes in it but I wouldn't want anything bigger or any more than 1 in there!
 
Totally agree with you OP
I really get fed up when sellers don't put the right info in an ad.
Top things for most people no matter what the item is price and location.
But you'll find those people who omit the most important info then go on to complain of timewasters when they have to answer loads of questions!
 
There's a dealer near me, whose Facebook page proclaims that they are the 'UK's largest equestrian trailer and horse box rental company'. They also sell 3.5t boxes manufactured by 3 different companies.

They keep putting up fancy pictures of of boxes for sale, but I have yet to see any mention of payload. Any FB posts enquiring about the payload of a particular box remain unanswered. I called in once, and suggested that they post up details of the payload of their stock, and was rewarded with a vague promise to mention it to the girl who does the FB page. Nothing happened.

Can't help feeling that they don't want inform their customers that very few, if any, of their new shiney boxes can legally carry two..
 
I love this thread...I've been looking for a lorry for over 5 years but not found anything that ticks all the boxes so continue with my trailer

The arrogance of some sellers is really quite breathtaking...also completely random pricing structure.....
 
And so it continues!
Two days so I enquired about the length of a lorry, only one thing but quite important as to whether it will fit in the drive. A sensible question to save going to look and save a seller from me getting there and wasting their time too!
The response?
"Hi Im sorry the lorry is being kept at a friends farm for me until sold so its not handy for me to get an exact measurement.
Many thanks for your interest!"
Thanks for my interest? No wonder it hasn't sold already! And now I'm wondering what else is wrong with it?
My money is safe for now....
 
I'm sadly not in the market for a horsebox, but I do look at the ads that come up on my local fb horsey groups. I think I can count on the fingers of one hand, the number of times anyone has ever listed the payload. It's always "it takes 3 x 17.2hh" or "takes 3 x 16hh" etc...

When I am in the market for a box, the first thing I'll want to know is they payload. Why is it seen as a minor irrelevance by most vendors?
 
oh lord…. most people selling lorries appear not to have the slightest idea what a payload even is! Never mind what the payload of their box is.

And yes, so much flowery language about the living and all the extras … it's frightening thinking about all the people driving round overweight and with possibly decaying boxes that they have no clue about.

Buying second hand seems to be even more of a lottery than buying horses!
 
I enquired about the payload of a 3.5 ton box advertised on FB. I got told not to ask stupid questions and just go and view. I did point out that if the box wasn't able to carry my horse I wasn't going to waste my time driving to see it, and got a fair amount of abuse back :p

The box I bought had everything listed, with great photos, and was exactly as described. Lucky for me, it had been advertised for over 2 months and no-one had been to look! I can't think why, unless it's because it was only a 5 ton. Still has just over 2 ton of payload though, so better than the 7.5 ton I had previously!
 
I WAS looking to go up from 3.5 lorry that had 1.3 ton payload, as I wanted something with sleeping for 3, I drove many miles looking, after asking lots of questions, got pictures ect..took my current lorry garage bloke with me...and still they turned out to be not as advert.. One had semi rotten floor under rubber mats...mechanic stuck screwdriver in wood and out of 7 prods...it went through twice!!! Another was so hight off the ground I would have needed a step ladder to get into cab!! And third one, seat area that was supposed to be a double bed was only 5'6 long...ok for a short person only!! So after seeing 6, none as good as mine, I've given up, and now sticking with my boss lorry and tow a caravan for sleeping...
It is a minefield, unless one had mega cash and can buy nearly new, it's buyer beware
 
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