What Lorry to buy???? HELP

[diesel1981]

Looking for a lorry to carry 2+ horses, it must carry a 17.2 ID, not too bothered about living space although it would be nice Which make should i go for? Are there any which are more prone to rust? Will have a budget of £6000 Absolute MAX Any info would be great thanks xx

 

[perfect11s]

Looking for a lorry to carry 2+ horses, it must carry a 17.2 ID, not too bothered about living space although it would be nice Which make should i go for? Are there any which are more prone to rust? Will have a budget of £6000 Absolute MAX Any info would be great thanks xx

Yes Ivecos rust !! however all makes suffer so realy its condition rather than make that is important... however I would say the Leyland daf 45 is about the best if your on a tight budget and try and find a newer tidy conversion rather than a older luton body ... and avoid anything with a non tilt cab ...

 

[cyberhorse]

Just found ours we had very similar requirements to yourselves, so you should be able to find something suitable.

We needed to travel a 17.2 ISH and also a 16.3 stocky warmblood. We started with a £5k budget, but after viewing rot boxes, sponges and cut and shut dangers for over a month this pushed to £6K max. We ended up with a coachbuilt J reg Ford Cargo 7.5t, in good order (very minimal rust as Cargos go), small living with sink and cooker, stalled for 4, fully cut through, ramp lights, CCTV/reversing camera. We paid £5,500K.

If I can give you any advice at all then it would be to give priority to adverts for coach built boxes the difference in build quality was huge despite the prices being similar. We also found that the coach built tended more often to have the full metal floors and fibreglass roofs which does help with keeping the box in good order. It would have cost us far more to put a cheaper box in good order than compromise a little on cab age or price.

We did want to avoid the Cargos due to rust issues and some people saying parts were an issue. However I would not get too hung up on the cab and keep an open mind. The Cargo we found was in far better order than some of the other makes and we have not had any trouble getting parts thanks to a few Cargo specialists we found online. Look at everything out there, when you find it you will know as you will probably have looked at loads of rubbish by then. You learn as you view...

As boring as it sounds make a list of must haves and desirable, also look into prices of tarting up boxes; know what will cost the most to put right and the least...

Plan ahead. We have a fairly new box on an old chassis so in a couple of years will go for moving it and a full respray. It will be worth the cost to do this because of the box age/quality/condition, so in some ways this particular box felt like less of a risk.