Questions to ask seller - horsebox

JulesRules

JulesRules

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Further to my previous post, I'm going to phone seller tonight to arrange to potentially view a small cheap lorry.

I've never had a lorry before, only a trailer. This lorry is rock bottom end of my budget but preferred style and size hence I'm not expecting too much but worth as look as very local.

What questions do I need to ask the seller? So far I have:

What is the payload/ do you have any weighbridge documents.
When does the lorry's plating expire? Any advisories? What works were needed to get it through?

How long have you had it, why are you selling it

What is the floor made of? Is it solid? Ditto ramp

What are the internal measurements of the horse area?

Anything else?

Thanks all. Choccy biccys all round

Jules
 
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if you have the reg/make you can check previous mots on line, not sure if it works on a 7.5ton but worth a look

id be asking about any previous work done,

if it has matting id be pulling up a bit if possible to have a look underneath and the same for looking underneath on the outside, ask about fuel consumption, tax costs, and make sure you test drive it and can do the ramp up and down yourself etc.
 
Good start, but I think you may be lucky if you get sane answers.

They may simply not know....but only the VERY VIRTUOUS would dwell on bad points if they're trying to sell the thing.

If it's close and the right price, I suggest you just run over and look at it. If you feel you could live with it (and don't be put off if it's a bit cosmetically scruffy, far better than glossy paint hiding bodges) line up a decent garage which understands horseboxes and pay them to run over and check it out for you....

The trick is getting a balance between a thorough opinion and a nit-picker...not that easy.

What sort of lorry is it? Can we see the ad?

PS Can i have ALDI choc chip? Very good and only 99p.
 
If you are looking for a smaller lorry, then make sure it has a weighbridge ticket. Don't be palmed off with an excuse. So many of the 3.5 ton lorries are right up to weight without a horse in. it costs very little to get a weigh ticket, so if you're keen, offer to pay for one before buying.
 
if you want to buy it even though it's cheap, get it checked over by a good mechanic. When you say 'small lorry' do you mean 3.5 tonne? Some of those older, cheap ones look very scary to me!
 
When was cam belt last changed (if known), ask how it starts in cold weather / if it has an isolator switch, if the ramp can be lifted by one person (if it would need to be), when tyres were last changed, who it was converted by (and how long it's been a horsebox and what it was beforehand) none of these are dealbreakers just good to know. Tbh if close I'd go for a look and then involve a mechanic if you like it. Make sure that you turn on all the lights on dipped beam, walk around, ditto main beam, ditto checking the hazards and foglights and any interior lights that may or may not be present (I bought a lorry and got it inspected and both him and me failed to notice that using the indicators with the lights on knocked out the rear lights and the lights behind the speedo, got it fixed but was a few hundred quid and I had a very interesting drive home from buying it!). Also closely inspect the tyres wear and tread depth yourself (again I trusted a professional with this and so didn't look too closely myself and he picked up on 2 of the tyres being degraded which seller sorted out but missed a 3rd that I then had to replace)
 
Thanks everyone.

It's an old Renault Dodge, but at under 2.5k I wouldn't need to dip into my main savings account or take out a loan.

It's advertised as 7.5 tonne, but she sent me a copy of the plaiting cert which says 6600.

I phoned them last night and she has no idea of payload but has travelled a 15.3 and a 16.1 in it together (to which I responded "legally? "). Anyway, I said I would go and look as a starting point but would not buy without it going on a weighbridge first. I have found a weighbridge just down the road from them so shouldn't be an issue.

She is going to ask the friend she bought it off if she knows. To be honest she sounded horrified that she may have driven it overloaded.

She said her and a friend bought it between them last year after attending a fun ride intending to go out and about, but it just hasn't been used so they have decided to sell.

It has just been plated until Aug 17 and she says ramp is easy to manage alone.

Will leave the rest of the questions until I go to look. If I think it looks okay I'll get a professional to give it the once over.

If anyone wants to look at the ad and give me an opinion I'll happily PM over a link.

.....and yes Aldi choc chip cookies on me too !!
 
Slightly Foxed said:
if you want to buy it even though it's cheap, get it checked over by a good mechanic. When you say 'small lorry' do you mean 3.5 tonne? Some of those older, cheap ones look very scary to me!
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I couln't agree more with Slightly Foxed. Safe your yourself potentially buying a dud with loads to fix to make it a realiable lorry.
 
Never driven one but they have a reputation as being solid but hideously slow. Never many in the UK, so parts may or may not be a problem....

Yes, pm link please....

Is 6600 the plated GVW or the brake test weight from the test?

PS If it's a PLAITING cert I certainly wouldn't ever get one!
 
Will pm links now.

Trust me, I could do with a plaiting certificate if I'm going to get out competing again!

The 6600 is in the box that says Gross Weight

Having done a bit of googling the internet tells me to check cab floor for rust and that parts are relatively easy to get hold off.
 
JulesRules said:
Will pm links now.

Trust me, I could do with a plaiting certificate if I'm going to get out competing again!

The 6600 is in the box that says Gross Weight

Having done a bit of googling the internet tells me to check cab floor for rust and that parts are relatively easy to get hold off.
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If she has an old brake test sheet, it will say on there exactly how much weight is on the front and back axles. At 6600, weight shouldn't be an issue, but you are right to get it weighed. For 2.5k, you are going to find all sorts of things wrong, rusty cabs are a fact of life in all older lorries. You need to find a fitter/mechanic, make him him cups of tea and feed him cake (like I do) and hope he keeps you on the road. Does the cab tilt? A lot of fitters won't touch a horsebox that hasn't a tilting cab, as they are a nightmare to work on. The only way I could get the box I wanted that cheap, was to buy a chassis cab, and then build a box on top of it, which I did myself. A welding course is a very useful thing!
 
I had an old Dodge and I'm afraid I wouldn't recommend one.
****** to start in the cold weather and rusty!!! Obviously the latter could have just been mine, but I believe they are prone to it.

Lift the cab matting and have a look at the floor; often rusty. Get under the lorry and inspect the horse area flooring; take a torch for this. Check all tyres; if it's a double axle, the inner tyres can wear and aren't easy to see.

Don't buy it just because it's cheap; don't believe a word the seller tells you, only the evidence of your eyes!

Dodges are also old and parts can be hard to find.
 
This is a very old vehicle and you will need to first find a good and reliable local mechanic that understands the ancient technology before you think of buying it.
It will probably cost you many thousands of pounds each year to get it through it's MOT test and finding the parts will be time consuming.
My advice would be to find a far younger vehicle on a DAF chassis/cab with a tilt cab so that it is easy to service and carry out roadside repairs.
 
OWLIE185 said:
This is a very old vehicle and you will need to first find a good and reliable local mechanic that understands the ancient technology before you think of buying it.
It will probably cost you many thousands of pounds each year to get it through it's MOT test and finding the parts will be time consuming.
My advice would be to find a far younger vehicle on a DAF chassis/cab with a tilt cab so that it is easy to service and carry out roadside repairs.
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The OP only says it is old, as far as I can see. My Daf 45 is 1994, with over 300,000km on the clock. Runs like clockwork, starts first turn of the key, and I go all over the country eventing in it. Half the cab rotted last year, but found a good welder who rebuilt it for me. It still costs me less than £500 a year in repairs and keeping it on the road.
 
Yep it is very old - 88 but low mileage 160, 000.

Going in with my eyes open just to look at this stage.

As I said it's at the very bottom end of my budget and initially I overlooked it due to being too old/cheap but as it kept popping up in searches and is only a few miles away I thought I have nothing to lose by looking.

Having scoured the web, many of the lorries at twice or even 3 times the price are still very old with high mileage and just as likely to cost me a fortune to keep on the road.
 
If it has that recent a test there shouldn't be a lot wrong with it! Check flooring of horse area. Somewhere amongst the test paperwork will be the actual weight of the vehicle when tested - this will give you the payload if you subtract that figure from the gross weight
 
OWLIE185 said:
This is a very old vehicle and you will need to first find a good and reliable local mechanic that understands the ancient technology before you think of buying it.
It will probably cost you many thousands of pounds each year to get it through it's MOT test and finding the parts will be time consuming.
My advice would be to find a far younger vehicle on a DAF chassis/cab with a tilt cab so that it is easy to service and carry out roadside repairs.
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sorry but you are wrong.

Most lorry mechanics will grumble but will work on non tilt cabs,
my lorry is a 1990 ford Iveco/cargo and the most it has ever cost me to get through its test (in the 10 years I have owned it) was £1600, normaly it costs less than £800. Parts are relatively easy to find even for my cargo (which they are supposed to be difficult to find for) and there is very little to go wrong. Mine starts first time every time (unless I've let the battery run flat by leaving the lights on) and in 10 years I've only used my recovery service once (for a tyre blow out).

I prefer my old reliable lorry to my friends much newer all singing all dancing lorries that like to spend lots of time in the garage pretending to be christmas trees with all sorts of computer/electronic issues and warning lights flashing! I've got one fried whos lorry seems to spend more time in the garage than on the road!
 
years ago me and the x hubby boought an old bedford tk, no plate and had been sat for months, we paid 1500 for it ..

we paid for a horse box specialist to give it a once over before we bought it i think that cost 40 quid, .. old bernard cost 35 on parts on his plating, and a pit of money on tarting him up .

we sold it for 4.5k and it is now a mobile theatre but we could of sold it for a lot more money but stuck with the first offer.. my point...

get a good horsebox company to have a look at it.. and dont be affraid by old!!! (people used to come up to us at events to perv at the lorry and have a look inside and out of it!)
 
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