How did you finance your horsebox?? your advice please

[georgiegirl]

A bit of a bored monday night musing and also a bit of advice needed please!

Now with the vast majority of lorries I see driving round the place I find it hard to believe that everyone has a few thousand pounds floating around in the bank to actually fund one (like most cars too....) so im guessing a huge number of them are on some sort of finance/loan deal.

Now im not particularly money savvy in the fact I dont borrow (have done once years ago for car purchase) and so im not particularly clued up on all the different ways of borrowing money etc.....

Story goes Ive got myself 5k to find a horsebox and to be honest I really am struggling! Most of the time it will be one horse but would occasionally like to take two. I did think of getting a 3.5 just to carry one but to be honest for my budget they are all transit types which due to the ride they give and various other reasons I dont like them and dont want one. Would rather go back to car and trailer to be honest.....

So, on the basis I would occasionally like to take two Ive widened my search criteria for nice compact lorry up to 6.5 (I just think the sheer size of a 7.5t is a waste most of the time for one horse....)

And Ive found one. Trouble is at 7.5k and then needing to do my test Im short so need to weigh up wether or not its worth borrowing money? and...the cheapest way of doing so. The seller wont budge a single penny, have already tried it and to be honest its pointless as she does know what its worth and that it is already at a good deal.

I know Im trying to convince myself to buy it but it really is perfect in every single way, FSH from day one, lovely little living, large and safe horse area, built by a very well known manufacturer with a rock solid reputation, even had a drive of it (on private land) and it was lovely! And compared to the things Ive been to view on my budget it simply doesnt compare to the heaps of crap I have been wasting my time going to view....plus I know in say 3 years time I probably wouldnt get far off that price for it again?

So, would you go for it? How would you go about getting that extra bit of money in the cheapest way possible?

 

[whizzer]

I share with 2 friends & go without holidays,new clothes etc,exciting social life, newer car etc etc! Worth it though as I spent years without any transport & love having my own!

 

[Archie07]

Watching this with interest as i've been wondering the same recently.

 

[georgiegirl]

I share with 2 friends & go without holidays,new clothes etc,exciting social life, newer car etc etc! Worth it though as I spent years without any transport & love having my own!

No big social life or new clothes for me either and although my car is new it is provided on a lease scheme by the nhs as it was cheaper to run a newer car than my old one.

I have had transport but now going away further afield with overnight stays so upgrading to a lorry would be ideal really hence car and trailer sold

 

[Doncella]

I bought a brand new Ifor Williams body for a flatbed, but I had to sell a good dressage horse for it (and other things). However, happy ending is 5 years on the horse I sold was gifted back to me and I went to collect him in the lorry he had funded.

 

[whizzer]

Any chance you could share with a friend? I couldn't afford to do it before I bought into a share on the previous lorry. When that died 2 of us & a different 3rd person bought another,newer one. It works really well for us but we all get on well & 2 of go to the same instructor, same comps etc. The other person hasn't got a horse in work at the moment but can't see it causing a problem when she does.

 

[blood_magik]

totally unhelpful but I got a loan from the bank of mum and dad, and my dad and I share it.

 

[katastrophykat]

My dad had an indemnity mortgage payout, and we emptied the bank of mum and my double glazing fund too. We had a budget of 12000. We went over... Big time! The living had to wait a year and a bit before it went in, the rug racks and storage goes in this week, and the tack lockers maybe before the winter... 2013!! The Luton is still a pipedream, though the bunk is in!! Every time we have a plating I hide under the bed and feign deafness at mums ominous mutterings about it costing more than all four cars added together...

 

[Spottyappy]

On the basis I was advised to buy 'the best you can afford', my original 5k budget doubled,then almost trebled... I cashed in premium bonds,most of my savings and topped it up with a 3k loan to get the box I really wanted. Took loan out over 5 years,still got 2 to go,as was only way I can afford the payments.
Original box was my pride and joy,built for me,but I sadly had to upgrade to bigger one last year as heffalump pony took me overweight in it,as it was a 3.5t. Love new box too,which cost £500 more than original one,but brought it used rather than being able to have it built. Would love to have a 7.5t built for me,but it ain't going to happen!

 

[Escada2004]

im having the same problem but i currently have a 7.5t, its nice but now im down to one horse competing, poss two in the summer my 7.5t is a bit of a waste. However saying that ive been looking for something around the 5k mark and there is nothing at all that even comes close to being as good as my 7.5t and its only up for £3,850!! ive had loads of enquiries but im having to put them off as i cant find anything any good to replace it with. I even had a cash offer last night without the person even coming to see it! Im half tempted to look at something a bit over my budget and make a cheeky offer?? Seems people think their horseboxes are worth a bit more than they actually are either that or mine is very cheep

Georgiegirl, i personally think you should go for it it sounds lovely and you could always get a small loan from the bank, thats prob what i will have to do. I did my test to drive over 3.5t and cost me £650 and that included theory, driven test and the lessons, luckily i passed first time. Dont waste your money booking one of these packages where you get x amoutn of lessons etc as you might find its a lot easier than you thought, i did and only had a couple of lessons

 

[C&C]

I have more Chance of winning the lotto than saving money, i am rubbish at it! We pretty much live to our means. I took out a loan from the bank over 1 year and bought a 3.5t. I have 2 more payments to make and thats it

 

[PaddyMonty]

We didn't need a loan for our 3.5t as sold the 7.5t and with added savings and me building it the total cost came to just over £7k. Valued at £18k.
For our first transport (trailer) we did have bank loan then when we moved up to 7.5t we sold trailer and topped up with another bank loan.
So I guess we've worked our way up to the lorry we now have.

 

[Wheels]

I purchased my last trailer by selling a horse but if I decide I want to upgrade and buy a lorry next year as I plan to then I will top up whatever I need by a loan.

If you check on moneysupermarket.com it will tell you who is doing the best deals at the time - it probably won't be your own bank!!