Horsebox hire V's buying - what's right for you?
Whether you decide to hire or buy, probably boils down to how often you think you will realistically use horse transport, your available storage space and your budget. Many people rush to buy a horsebox or trailer and then find that they don’t really use it. Others find that they use the vehicle a lot. Some of the pros and cons of buying V’s hiring are discussed below and hopefully you will find the information helpful. If you hire horse transport, then you are saving yourself the initial purchase cost, but of course the cost of hiring the vehicle is essentially ‘dead money’, as you can’t of course sell it! However, by hiring you are also saving on maintenance costs, the cost of storage, servicing, general running costs and insurance (and tax, if a horse lorry) costs for a vehicle that you may only use for part of the year. Hiring a trailer or horsebox can be a hassle though, as you need to make sure that it will be available when you need it. You also have to factor in the extra time required to collect and drop off a hired vehicle, which can be a pain at the end of a long competition day! You will of course, still have to have insurance to drive or tow the vehicle for the hire period and so this cost needs to be added to the hire cost. If you buy a vehicle, then you have the all year round costs of maintenance, repair, insurance and storage. However, the vehicle is always available for you when you need it and as you own it, even taking depreciation into account, when you choose to sell the vehicle, you will get some of your money back. The main things to think about before deciding to buy include the following: Can you afford to buy the type of vehicle that you need? Have you got somewhere suitable to store the vehicle, taking account of access, size and security? Is there a hire facility within easy reach of your home or horse? How often do you really think that you will use the transport? It is worth answering the above questions and then jotting down some figures to justify your decision. For example, write down the cost to hire a vehicle for a year (taking account of the number of times you think you would really use it, such as once a month equals 12 times). Then write down the cost to buy the horse transport of your choice, adding to that the cost of keeping it per year. Work out how much you think the vehicle will drop in value each year and imagine that you may keep it for say 5 years before upgrading it. Which decision makes the most financial sense for you? At the end of the day, to buy or hire is a personal choice, but unless money is no object, it really is worth considering all the options before leaping straight in to buy a vehicle that you may lose a lot of money on, having not really used it at all! back to Horse Transport
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