To build or buy my first box? A complete novice

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Nessie London

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Hello, I'm sure a lot has probably been said about newbies and boxes but I'm just going to through this out there.

I have a budget of £16k or there about. My priorities are safety, payload and longevity as this is a painful experience not to be repeated for a very long time!

I have a 13hh cob pony, and others who will travel with me have about 15hh iberians... so not massively heavy or big.
We are looking to go out competing, and also drive to hacking as our roads are dodgy!

My idea of spec is:

3.5 ton
1100 payload
Metal floor
Stallion partition
Full bulkhead, with jockey door to rear grooms area
Removable breast bar
Lots of venting
Lots of storage and tie rings etc

I am seeing a massive range in prices from £12,000 (for a newish used conversion) up to £25,000 and a lot higher.
Most new conversions are about £18-25k for the spec I want, however I've now found some that are £15k to £17k...... wondering if they are too good to be true? Are there things/people to avoid?

Fyi, I'm in Essex, but willing to travel.

any advice is most welcome!
 
Make sure that’s the overall price and not just the build with you providing the chassis. If you have somebody knowledgeable whom you trust to have a good look at potential vehicles I’d buy a used one, if not I’d get one built by a reputable company. You might need to re-think your budget to get a really good conversion done though.
 
A lot of it will depend on the underlying truck and how expensive it was... most of them are end of life commercial vans that are then converted...

My advice is to speak with a few of the companies and ask how much they would charge to convert one. I would then source a late low mileage company direct van and get it converted by a professional coach builder. There is a lot of work getting the body square on the chassis.

No point having a nice new shiny body placed on a knackered old builders van.
You want it to start and be reliable most importantly!

Make sure the van is also suitable for conversion! Lots of chassis are not suitable due to high centre of gravity...this is why you see very few Sprinters or Transit conversions... they tend to be Peugeot of Renault / Vauxhall with a low load floor.
 
Fiat Ducatos are great vans for conversion as well. Mostly get snapped up as camper van base vehicles.

Farmer Chalk, I think you meant end of lease not end of life ? Most 3.5s are end of lease just before three years or just under 50,000 miles, whichever comes first, so you get a few weeks of manufacturer's warranty to sort out any big issues.

Jessie London don't under any circumstances use Regent is my advice.

.
 
No I meant end of life..... lots of early vans with very little commercial value are converted.... and jollied up to look like a nice sparkly van...
I would definately look to buy an end of lease one... 3-4 years old with a full service history....
 
It's tricky, isn't it. There is a trade-off sometimes between weight and strength/durability. The first thing is to do your weight calculations carefully. Are you sure you have get a cob, Iberian, two people, fuel, tack, feed and water in 1100kg? You could easily have 800kg of horse, possibly nearer 900kg. You will be right up against the weight limit and quite easily exceeding it. Certainly could not take a 3rd person with 2 horses. Livings add weight so avoid things like stoves, sinks, fridges and anything else.

If you can get a number plate then the online MOT checking service gives you the MOT history - it is not foolproof but the number and nature of advisories tells a bit about vehicle condition. It would be worth getting an independent inspection of any box. Even things like metal floors can easily corrode and fail - there is a galvanic reaction between steel and aluminium for example.

If you get one made then check out the builder carefully.

Don't forget that you get what you pay for.

My counsel would be to consider getting your HGV license, if you don't have it, and consider a slightly heavier box - 4.5te or 5.2te. That will give you the payload in a similar size of vehicle.
 
On e-bay 3.5 horseboxes , there are lots of builders with prices that look low, but they are just build prices and need the cost of a vehicle adding on, cheapest about 13k +vehicle cost ,and rise up to over 20k+ vehicle cost.
 
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Thank you everyone!!! That is really super advice.

I had been very excited about the idea of £13k new boxes, but then did clock that it was just the build! I had written off the idea of getting a new conversion until I found my current builder who has been in the game a while, and seems to be able to hit my budget - so I'm putting my driving shoes on and travelling to see him next week. I will definitely take in your advice and make sure I cover all points - and crucially let my head lead the way not my super excited heart!
 
Quite a number of years ago I chose to have a 3.5ton built for me. I found a local chap who was personable, showed me a couple of (nice) recent builds they had done, was competitively priced and promised to have it done in around 3 months. He was to source a suitable vehicle and do the conversion. Great I thought and paid a deposit up front and waited. The good news was that I found him to be decent and honest and he generally communicated. The bad news is that he had clearly mispriced what he could do and was unable to source a suitable vehicle at the price he had anticipated as the starting point. I ultimately had to sue him to get my horsebox built. It was ok when it came but it took 18 months to 2 years and turned out to not really be quite high enough or have a suitable floor for my 16 hand horse. I had to have the floor reinforced by another company shortly after I bought it, although in fairness it wasn't expensive, just extra hassle. I've since heard that I was very lucky as there are many dishonest and incompetent "horsebox builders" out there who generally manage to go bust on you before delivery thus losing the money which you of course had to pay up front, or deliver, very late and after much nagging, a shoddy and plain dangerous vehicle hidden under shiny new paint. From my experience, absolutely do not go for a new build unless it is one of the very major names. Your price range is not in that league sadly so if I were you I would strongly advise buying second hand so can see and get inspected exactly what you are buying and can pay on delivery.
 
Be very careful with whoever is doing the work and check out the dodgy dealer and 3.5T pages on facebook, I am sure there was a issue with someone who does a lot in essex recently.
 
I was in a similar quandary last year and ended up shopping around a bit and buying a 57 plate Alexanders with about 80k miles on the clock for well within your budget....we did drive 5 hours to view it mind you, but it was significantly cheaper than buying the equivalent in the SE and has since been valued at more than we paid for it.

During our research we did also take a look at some of the cheapy new builds, and frankly there's a reason they're so cheap! In fairness, they were totally transparent when we viewed them and even showed us around the garage so we could see them being built, but there's no way on earth I'd put one of our horses on one. I think the old adage "you get what you pay for" stands where these types of boxes are concerned. Personally, I came to the conclusion I'd sooner have an older box built by a known manufacturer than take a risk on one of the many companies that are now building new builds on the cheap.

As an aside, I'd also be super careful re: payload as I'd be surprised if you could legally carry a 13hh and 15hh, plus tack, water, fuel and two people on the payload of most 3.5t.
 
Good advice above. Def agree to check build cost v total cost inc the chassis.

Absolutely only use a reputable and specialist builder but I suspect your budget won't allow for that. And def do see some examples as I saw some shiny looking boxes but the build quality wasn't good. Ask lots of questions about materials and how they build. There's a lot to learn and speaking to a leading one will help educate you on the options and what to ask and look for.

Buying 2nd hand already built will be cheaper and quicker though. You should get what you need for that budget. Mine was like this, although without the full height partition to the grooms area. Get it checked out again by a knowledgeable person who knows to check both the chassis and the horsebox area - maybe whoever you would use as a mechanic.

Freddie Gover (who I used), Boss, Alexanders, Kevin Parker, Bloomfields seem to come out with good reviews. From my research, I wouldn't use Equitrek and the Owens looked a bit flimsy/cheap build to me.
 
ester said:
Be very careful with whoever is doing the work and check out the dodgy dealer and 3.5T pages on facebook, I am sure there was a issue with someone who does a lot in essex recently.
Click to expand...


The guy I was looking at was in Cheshire - so quite far. I'm now going to see Equihunter this week - over my budget, but am considering living on beans for the next 4 years so I can afford it!
 
Will have to pop up as ever and state that Alexanders build quality is very hit or miss, do a search on here. They subcontracted their work out, maybe they still do.

A neighbour had a new build shocker from them and Alexanders couldn't have cared less about it. It went down a protracted legal route with Alexanders trying to evade responsibility all the way.
 
Thanks everyone! I've decided to view some more reputable builders, and to significantly up my budget (about double o_O) and live on beans. But I'll be nice and light on my horse, and we'll both be safe!
 
Try Courcheval in Wrotham Kent.... they make a series of 3.5 boxes and I can say first hand their engineering is great... they were the coach builders for our 12 tonner... not far from you either.....
I still suggest you source your own chassis that way you can see its pre conversion condition....
 
I know 7.5t are different but I was in a similar situation to yours a few years ago. It all happened by chance, Id seen a wagon for sale, it had an electric ramp, hate them! so messaged the builder who happened to be local to see if it was an easy change to being manual. They basically said they could do me a conversion for the same money, Im talking £20k, so not a cheap mistake. Anyway it was a big big mistake, it ended up costing us about 5k more than quoted. The horse area was fab, that was my main request but the rest was errrrr cr*p lol.
Given the chance again, I so wish Id have bought the one with the electric ramp!!! I would never have one built again unless I had a mega budget, I'd prefer to go for a well known make though, personally I'd not want one that begins with A :) or E :) and hold on until you see what you want, its there somewhere! I found when we were looking there seemed to be nothing but when we weren't they were everywhere.
Good Luck, I hope you find your dream box x
 
I ended up buying an older 5.2 ton as wanted to carry 2 mid size horses. Passengers, tack, water, hay and fuel adds up to a lot & didn’t want to risk being caught by vosa as fine is high if caught overweight. I hired a 3.5t and was fine for my 15.1 but not sure how stable it would have felt with 2 on a blustery day. Might be worth hiring one before you buy? If you have the license id look at 4.5 ton or 5.2
 
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