serious dilemma- what would you do?

kerryflower

kerryflower

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well am on the verge of a nervous breakdown I think so sorry if I depress anyone! Am trying not to wallow but my head is well and truly in the shed so thought I'd get some other points of view.

Basically, short history, sold previous horse as wanted to do more competing and he didn't so bought a lovely 4yo nearly 3 years ago to bring on and compete. Then did trailer test and was able to take myself out and about once I had bought a shogun to tow with. Spent the next year lovin life having the independence to do what I wanted and had a fab couple of season's BDing and BEing last year and finishing uni. I finished uni last year, picked up 21 more hours in exisiting part time job with Alzheimers society as a manager. Juggled time and money for work and horse and it'sbeen ok.

Then the car started to go wrong. We bought it (R reg shogun) for 1400 and have spent about 2k on it in 2 years (mum and dad have!) with new clutch, timing belt, alternator, fuel system, steering colum, prop shaft, shock absorbers, battery as well as general maintenence and reg services. Was told on Monday that the turbo has gone on it (I'm in Keysoe all weekend so wanted it just checked out before I towed with it). It's going to cost £1050 to repair as it needs totally replacing. And Mum and Dad understandably drawing the line at that amount considering the car is probably only worth it. So y options are:

a)To take out a graduate loan to repair it and keep it going until somehting else goes wrong(it has 150k on clock but pulls like a dream and when it works is fab). My job requires me to travel about a lot from home to home so it is my main car and I spend £90 at least per week in fuel without competition/traning travel costs. Extortionate I know but I can budget for it. Just not for these repair costs that pop up all the time! If i fix it I may get another year or 2 years out of it as virtually rebuilt and get to keep trailer and etc with a debt over my head.

b) sell said car and hire truck every time I want to go to comp - difficult as not 25 yet. Family not horsey so no spare horsey vehicles.

c)sell car and trailer - but then just "happy hack". no offence to anyone who enjoys it - I wish I did!- but I don't and have a really talented young horse who would be wasted. Consider hiring truck and trailer but cost big and little availability in my area

d)sell car, trailer and horse as without car can't tow s no point in trailer and then no point in having a fab horse to potter about on the lanes and mountains when I don't get anything out of that.

I just don;t know what to do. I haven't got a bottomless pit of money and my parents have been fantastic and see their point totally. The cost of the horse and car combined take up the 2/3 of my salary leaving me with enough for a couple of nights out a month and my phone etc but certainly not enough to save and at 23 living at home it's a bit scary.

What are your thoughts on sharing and how much do you think is reasonable to ask for to go towards keep? If i did this then I may be able to put that money towards running costs as can afford either the horse or the car. Have considered getting a run around but the cost to mot, tax, insure over the year would probably be the same as teh difference between fuel etc for shogun. Has anyone ever shared a car and a horse? so the car would be used purely to tow and shared costs between people with horse?

Any help/thoughts/ opinions gratefully received as I have been an emotional wreck and can't bear selling the car let alone the horse but I know I can't go on like this and don't know what to do for the best :(
 
If you can't afford it then you have to make a sacrifice somewhere, sorry if that sounds harsh but that's the reality of the situation! You've laid out your options and TBH if it was me I'd be selling the car, getting either a new tow vehicle or cheap run around depending on what I could afford to pay back (assuming you'll need a loan) and then carry on or save up for a new towing vehicle...
 
Have you got any mechanically helpful friends? Id get the turbo fixed with parts from ebay (saving a lot of mney) sell for max you can, and sell trailer, buy cheap run about for work, and get saving for a 3.5tn truck with the fuel money you save!
 
I would talk to your local hire place and see what it costs to hire a 3.5ton lorry for the day. Work out how many times you generally get out and about and compare that cost to repairing and running the truck.

Work out the milage you do as well and cost of fuel, compared to running a smaller car (probably cheaper to insure as well) - my old 4x4 did 32mpg (which is very good for a 4x4 - most shoguns are about 25mpg if that) and with my work commute I realised that a car that did 50+ mpg would save me over £25 per week on fuel (more now as fuel prices have gone up a lot since I did those maths). Is there anyone else on your yard/riding club/local area you could share lifts with? (split fuel costs and possible vehicle hire costs)?

So in your position I would look at costs of small cars that do very good mpg and work out your saving in fuel costs, I would look at what it costs to hire a 3.5tn lorry for the day and how often you go out to compete and I would also look at friends and aquaintances in the area to see who would be willing to share and split costs.

It might mean cutting back on the number of competitions you do but you can still go out and compete and the money you would have spent on fixing the truck/competing you can put towards getting new transport.
 
I guess you need a car in order to do your job - if you sold the car you'd probably need to get it fixed first, and would have the outlay of buying another vehicle instead - so either way you're going to need to find around £1000 I presume?

So I would say do what it takes to get the car fixed, or sold and another towing vehicle bought. Maybe take a break from competing and just concentrate on training and schooling over the summer - then you'll be able to pay back the amount on the car faster. It might not be as fun in the short term but you don't need to be a happy hacker just because you're having a break from competing.
 
Why not take out a graduate loan and buy another towing car? if you chop yours in you'll have a deposit sorted with most garages... when I had my last car written off, I took out a bank loan of £6k to buy a new car rather than finance.
 
I think you need to get rid of the car - it is only going to keep needing work. I'd prob do that and scrape together as much as you can to get the best new tow car you can. :)
 
I wish I did have some mechanical friends and/or Dad! We have nobody we know who can do it and I know my mechanic has tried his best to get it as cheap as possible. I wouldn;t know where to start r.e. new parts etc. I should have doen a mechanic degree!
I think the real question is do I pay it and keep going as I am with a small loan to pay off repairs but I guess long term that isn't going to be very helpful. Then the question is do I sell both and have no transport to compete, and keep a talented young horse just for pottering about with, knowing that that won't be what I want to do. If I don't do that, then the ulitmate question is do I just sell everything and give up-hats the bit I'm really struggling with. If I keep Ollie with no transport then I'd be paying out £300 a month to keep a quality horse to purely hack when that's not what I want to do. Othe roption is to sell trailer and car, loan horse out for a month and save for transport- does anyone know how much a 3.5 tonne cost to buy/tax/plate roughly?
 
Could you go to a garage and part exchange your current car for a new one? I did that when my saxo's breaks and clutch started to fail (also had a broken bumper and tail light). They knocked £700 off the car I wanted to buy :)
 
kerryflower said:
does anyone know how much a 3.5 tonne cost to buy/tax/plate roughly?
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Mine cost £15k (but was a brand new conversion) but think you'd be looking at £6k plus TBH, tax is £150 a year I think and you don't need plating, just an MOT and servicing. Mine cost around £400 for MOT and service as it needed a new shock.

You'd be better off sitting down and doing your sums.. you need to work out exactly how much you are spending before you will know the best route to take.
 
Is it leaking/losing oil? Have you got a load of smoke coming out of your exhaust? Have you lost loads of power? Shoguns and Pajeros are 10 a penny, I know because I've got one! Throw that one out and get yourself another for under £1k. Then throw that one out when it breaks. I personally wouldn't go down the finance route.
 
Forstly I appreciate your situation, so I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, but as you are finding out, horses (especially competition ones) are a huge financial drain and a massive luxuary. As a uni graduate, and without parental support, something has to give ... the figures rarely add up!!!

Older vehicles (and newer ones for that matter) will need maintaining, unfortunately we can never escape that!!

A few potential suggestions:

How many hours are you currently working? Can you top up income by doing evening bar work or similar?

Where is your horse stabled? Could you find an arrangement for a reduction in livery in return for weekend help/similar - money saved can go towards transport costs

Consider moving your horse to a venue that also hosts competitions - thereby still getting some competing in even if you sell up on transport

My gut feeling is you should not spend more money on the shogun - px it against a small economic run around, and sell the trailer - you will save a huge amount on fuel.

Then short term stop competing (or hire a 3.5T) and save for a 3.5T. Depending on your circumstances you could consider a loan but don't put yourself under massive financial pressure for it.
 
If you have to get rid of the truck, ask around and maybe even advertise for someone who has a 4x4 and no trailer who would like to share lifts. We had a 4x4 and no trailer for several months and would have been very happy to get to some competitions this way - helps both people out and you can save some money to help you buy a better tow vehicle in future.
 
thanks for all the replies!

MiaBella- will def sit down and work out actual running costs- thanks for that. I know that our nearest 3.5 tonner hirer is in Bristol (an hour away at least) so that won't be viable. It is a nightmare around by us for transport hence me getting my own in first place. The horsey friends I have don't do the same comps as me so sharing is a bit of a problem as very few to share with!

spiral- I definately need a car -that's non negotiable. It's just I'm scared of buying a new tow vehicle as likely to inherit someone else's problem. I don't have 5k plus to spend on a newer one and as mine has had so much done to it I kind of think whether it's worth repairing it now and hopefully have it keep going for a while. It's virtually been rebuilt so I can't see how much more can go wrong with it!

JA/Hed/FM- I can see that I should just scrap it but am reluctant to get a loan/finance for say 6-8k for a newer one as longer term I need to be thinking of mortgage/house deposit etc etc and hat being in debt. I see it as a 1k grad loan I could pay off within a year to fix car or even scrap this car, Mum and dad would give me the grand they would have spent on it, I could keep money we scrap it for and put deposit on newer smaller vehicle but then not compete. I just hate the thought of not being able to compete, even if I cut back to one every 6 week rather than 2 a month, because I'd have to rely on transport. It's just pants! Rock and a hard place springs to mind. It's good having all of your perspective's though :) I think it's hard for me to think clealry because I'm winding myself into a tiz about ultimately selling the horse so he isn't wasted if I have no transport.

Jake- fab idea! But mechanic adores his 4x4 and has no other towing vehicles for sale!

Leg-end- that's interesting and actually looking at that, it doesn't seem that it would be that much more than taxing and mot-ing a run around plus a 3.5tonne compared with taxing and moting the shogun. Do you find that it feels "Safe" enough - mine is a 17h warmblood and am so scared about overloading etc that haven't really looked into them before now. What is fuel consumption like?

9tails - It lost a bit of power but other than that no. The bearing in turbo system has dropped because housing has worn out hence need a new one. I see where you're coming from but I think Mum and Dad would go wild if I kept doing that! LOL . To be fair to mine, it runs liek a dream and the things that have gone on it is through wear and tear on an old car that I think had a hard life before I had it. I love it but hate it!

Clydesdale - that is so kind! thank you for offering!Not sure where you are but I'm in Bridgend, about 15 miles west of cardiff. I'd hate to burden him with it though- I think the part is what is costing so much tbh
 
Not read all the replies, but....

I used to tow with a Shogun. Then husband talked me in to towing with an estate car instead. MUCH cheaper to run than 4x4 and a wide range to choose from to buy. I even got myself weighed by VOSA and trailer plus big horse were well under car's towing capacity.

Always hard to know when to stop throwing money at old cars, but if you fix the turbo, what will go wrong next...?
 
ihatework - It's just frustrating that have been competing all through uni and mainly self funded thorugh working part time as well as full time study and got by OK. I just can't expect my parents to outlay that much to fix a car-they've supported me enough. I currently work 3 jobs totalling 40 hours a week and squeeze those in although have loked into bar work locally but nothing is going! I've been looking at cheaper livery but have very little choice where I am. Currently on a lovely private yard which costs same as local livery yards and have help and support from a friend so save money on turnout fees etc. I know that I can afford the horse and know I can afford to compete. It's literally vehicle costs that cripple me (the more I type the clearer it becomes!lol) It's just the idea of not having transport to compete is horrible as that is ultimately what I want to do and the reason I keep the horse etc. I love the training and leanring for both of us. ARe 3.5T quite economical fuel wise etc? I've never really dealt with them before.

Kat- I have considered this but didn't kno where to start to ask--- did you adevertise thorugh word of mouth or facebook/freeads etc
 
Can you not sell the car and buy another cheap 4x4? There are lots on ebay for under £1K

Sometimes its cheaper to buy a new car than fix one. You can always sell yours as spares and repairs, again surprising how much they fetch.

Good luck.
 
I have been in exactly the same situation with my crappy landrover. Bought it for £8k 6yrs ago - have spent about another £8k repairing it :( its now broken again & needing a 3rd gearbox so I went out & bought a £400 cheapo runabout Rover. Turns out it is capable of towing my trailer & pony & I love it !! Landrover is still in getting repaired again, but I have this one as a fall back now.

My advice, get shut of the shogun & find a cheap car (maybe mondeo or like) that is legally able to tow your weight, or like others have said, get something decent on finance xx
 
Replacing it with a slightly newer version might make no difference at all. Any car can break down (though yes older ones are more likely to) and in my experience the newer they are, the more expensive they are to fix! The only way around that is a brand new car or something that comes with a decent warranty - but they will likely be out of your budget.

How about selling the 4wd for a wee run around (you'll get more for your money) and with the fuel money you save, plus a bit of reduced competing, hiring a 4wd when you want to compete? You'd need to see if anywhere locally does it - not the big hire companies, but something smaller where it has a towbar and you are allowed to tow with it.

But as others have said, sometimes sacrifices have to be made. It can be hard to know what is the right choice, especially with things as unreliable as cars and horses. :rolleyes:
 
I sympathise with you, its taken me 2 years to save up enough/sort everything out to start getting me and my horse about!

How much would your trailer and car get if you sold them? I spent months searching for a cheap 3.5t box and finally got one for £2000, yes its old and I can only get my one horse in it but thats all I want. So good deals are out there if you search. And then you could get a cheap run around as your every day car? My friend recently got a little 106 for £450 and its great. A little car would save you on fuel too, and I bet a 3.5 box is better on fuel than a car towing too.

If you can't afford that I'd definitely get a new car either way, maybe you could put adverts out asking for transport share in the local area, not idea I know but better than nothing. Hope you can sort something out :)
 
Thankyou so much to you all for all of your comments and ideas. Sometimes you just need it in black and white and to say it out loud for it to smack you in the face as being obvious! I htink I had gotten so wound up thinking I couldn;t compete therefore no point in keeping anything at all that I lost some common sense.

After A LOT of thinking and talking out loud I think it;s a no brainer that Bruce (the shogun) will be going to car heaven unless someone wants him and fixes him themselves. As heartbreaking as it is as I LOVE it it just isn;t financially viabl at over £400 a month in fuel. I think it's got to the point that I need to be sensible and see that it's old and bound to go wrong again. So am goign to get shot, buy a decent little car and save fuel, insurance, tax etc etc costs and compromise and compete once a month rather than twice and have a lesson once a month with trainer coming to me so I can borrow/hire something to tow with. I have a friend who has a discovery which she is willing to lend to me and in exchange I can give her the use of my trailer. Am hoping that can work?! If I hate it hopefully I can save enough to buy a cheap 4x4 in a few months! It's such a nightmare- but at least I will have to be more organised now and have specific comps to work towards. Most importantly I can keep my boy and still make the best of his talents. :) Thanks all so much!
 
kerryflower said:
Thankyou so much to you all for all of your comments and ideas. Sometimes you just need it in black and white and to say it out loud for it to smack you in the face as being obvious! I htink I had gotten so wound up thinking I couldn;t compete therefore no point in keeping anything at all that I lost some common sense.

After A LOT of thinking and talking out loud I think it;s a no brainer that Bruce (the shogun) will be going to car heaven unless someone wants him and fixes him themselves. As heartbreaking as it is as I LOVE it it just isn;t financially viabl at over £400 a month in fuel. I think it's got to the point that I need to be sensible and see that it's old and bound to go wrong again. So am goign to get shot, buy a decent little car and save fuel, insurance, tax etc etc costs and compromise and compete once a month rather than twice and have a lesson once a month with trainer coming to me so I can borrow/hire something to tow with. I have a friend who has a discovery which she is willing to lend to me and in exchange I can give her the use of my trailer. Am hoping that can work?! If I hate it hopefully I can save enough to buy a cheap 4x4 in a few months! It's such a nightmare- but at least I will have to be more organised now and have specific comps to work towards. Most importantly I can keep my boy and still make the best of his talents. :) Thanks all so much!
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Sounds very sensible to me.

I've had to cut back on competing in the last 6 months (vet bills for a retired horse and the cost of the latest lorry service as well as some work needing to be done on the house!) but I've mixed it up with different training and longer hacks etc and to be honest we are both better for it.

I'm now in a position where he is chilled enough to start XC schooling (we are going for the second time this weekend) and am now starting to plan out some SJ shows and considering the possibility of a HT later in the season.
 
Start a thread here:

http://www.pocuk.com/forums/index.php

They'll be able to tell you exactly what is wrong. It was my first port of call when buying one of these beasts. To be fair to Shoguns, they are usually pretty cheap to repair. Shame you're the other side of the country, otherwise I'd be glad to drag you about.
 
You would prob find if you got a more car-ish jeep on finance or with bank loan that what you save on fuel would pay the monthly repayment! I have a Toyota Rav 4, work in the road full time and don't spend as much on fuel as you do!
 
My pajero sound very very similar, I loved it thought and kept spending money on it to keep it on the road, in the end the endless funds ran out and I cut my losses and sold it !! Best thing I ever did

If I were you I would sell it and get something else.
If you can't afford it then save up for a bit and have some time off Competing, it's not the end of the world
 
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