Car transporter hire - any opinions?

[leonidas]

I was thinking about buying a new trailer for my saloon car but I'm wondering (credit crunch and all) whether renting a small car transporter (type you can drive on a car license) might be a better bet?

Anybody have any experience of hire firms and what they charge. I typically do about 8-10 events a year, averaging maybe 400 miles a time.

[Al Weyman]

Never seen anyone hiring out those, seen car trailers for hire but never transporters, might be an insurance issue??

[RF_Racer]

You will pay about 60 odd for a trailer, in a year that would be about 500-600, may as well buy a trailer!

[brickkicker]

I looked at renting a trailer as this is my first year as well. Costs were around £50 a day, although I guess you could negotiate a price for all your races. But as RF said you may as well buy which is what im doing. There are always a few on ebay but they never seem much cheaper than new. At the end of the day if you rent your chuck away 500-600 if you buy you can always sell and only lose a couple of hundered.

[Al Weyman]

I thought he was asking about a car transporter not a trailer he did say the type he could drive???

[brickkicker]

Good point!!! This will also depend on when you passed your driving test, as depending on which side of 2007 it was you can either go to 7.5 or 3.5 ton from memory (think this has been talked about else were). and in which case it would be a lot cheaper to buy a trailer and in todays speak you would be asset rich

[Robyn Slater]

Good point!!! This will also depend on when you passed your driving test, as depending on which side of 2007 it was you can either go to 7.5 or 3.5 ton from memory (think this has been talked about else were). and in which case it would be a lot cheaper to buy a trailer and in todays speak you would be asset rich

There are also problems for new(ish) car drivers towing heavier trailers.
My son passed his test about 4 years ago and is only allowed to tow a 750kg trailer.
You now have to take another test to tow trailers heavier than that.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by Robyn Slater

There are also problems for new(ish) car drivers towing heavier trailers.
My son passed his test about 4 years ago and is only allowed to tow a 750kg trailer.
You now have to take another test to tow trailers heavier than that.

It's not quite so simple, you can tow heavier trailers if the gross weight of the trailer doesn't exceed the gross weight of the tow car and the all up weight isn't more than 3500kg and providing you don't tow on the last Sunday before a full moon in June, or something like that. The rules are quite complicated and we've been through it on here before, I'll try and dig the thread out or find the relevant regs from the DVLA or VOSA websites later.

[Benny1664]

Yeah, the licence rules changed in Jan 1997. Before that you were automatically given a D1 (for a 7.5 tonne truck or trailer over 750kg) and now you have to do separate tests.

[Bob Pearson]

The only truck that could be hired which readily took a racecar is a beavertail car transporter. I have never seen anyone hiring them, but mybe its possible. The 7.5 ton van wouldn't do the job as the tail lift would be standard and so not long enough to take a car. The 7.5 ton vans in the paddock all have extended tail lifts or the 2 stage De Hollandia versions ( big bucks)

[RF_Racer]

Problem with big trucks is that with in the M25 you have a low emission zone which you get clobbered 200+ quid a day to enter it.. if you truck is pre 2002 I think.

[kelvin88]

If such a thing is available, it is unlikely to be cheaper than renting a van and trailer.

[leonidas]

There are a few people on the internet advertising (icanhire and others etc).

I think you can drive a 7.5 on a car license can't you? Part of my problem is just this 97 rule. I passed just after the 1997 deadline so I am limited with a trailer - basically to stay within the law I have to tow using a small car (not a 4x4) or get a mate to do all the driving...

[Colin McKay]

In the long run you will be hard-pushed to beat paying £50-£60 a day for trailer hire. If you buy a trailer, it's not all a free ride from then on, there will be tyres, brakes and depreciation to take into account at the very least. Having said that, after renting for a while I plumped for a covered trailer which is wonderful when it rains (which it did at every meeting last year) and it can be pressed into service as an extra bedroom for folk who don't mind the smell of rubber or cuddling up to 100 litres of fuel. One thing to bear in mind is to book hire trailers early, they are always in huge demand at weekends through the summer.

I'm in the trucking business and don't know of anywhere I could hire a beavertail 7.5 tonner for short periods at infrequent intervals. Best get chummy with a plant hire operator.

[Robyn Slater]

For the record i've just spent £100 on new brake cables for my trailer.

Dont forget if you buy one you have to store it somewhere,and when the pikeys clock it, it will disapear!

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by Colin McKay

In the long run you will be hard-pushed to beat paying £50-£60 a day for trailer hire. If you buy a trailer, it's not all a free ride from then on, there will be tyres, brakes and depreciation to take into account at the very least. Having said that, after renting for a while I plumped for a covered trailer which is wonderful when it rains (which it did at every meeting last year) and it can be pressed into service as an extra bedroom for folk who don't mind the smell of rubber or cuddling up to 100 litres of fuel. One thing to bear in mind is to book hire trailers early, they are always in huge demand at weekends through the summer.

I'm in the trucking business and don't know of anywhere I could hire a beavertail 7.5 tonner for short periods at infrequent intervals. Best get chummy with a plant hire operator.

I've had my trailer 5 or 6 years now and the tyres are like new, I do up to 15 races a year, cart hay and other stuff on it and have taken it abroad a few times. The brakes are hardly worn and it's virtually maintenance free. As for depreciation, try and buy a decent S/H trailer and you'll be paying near new price for it.
My biggest worry is that it'll still be there when I get up in the morning or come home from work.

[GORDON STREETER]

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...t=car+trailers
Here's the link. IMHO its cheaper to buy a decent 2nd hand trailer .

[Benny1664]

Any money you spend on a trailer is money well spent. Trailers hold their money better than anything else with wheels!

As for the 97 rule, you can always do a trailer test to get around it, tho it'll cost you a few hundred pounds and between 2 and 4 days from what my brother had to do for his..

[bella]

Originally Posted by Benny1664

Yeah, the licence rules changed in Jan 1997. Before that you were automatically given a D1 (for a 7.5 tonne truck or trailer over 750kg) and now you have to do separate tests.

close but 7.5tonne and less is c1 - d1 is the passenger equivalent, which i think is up to 16 people but not for hire or reward

if you've never used a decent size trailer you'd do well to go to a proper training school and get a couple of days intensive training, especially with the reversing. for my hgv licence i used tockwith training - they're excellent instructors, and you get from 8.30 till 4pm 1-1 instruction. they're based near york. that's just a recommendation from experience - there are plenty of schools across the country. just make sure you check their website and google the school name for any bad reviews - there's quite a few who are a bit dodgy.

to clarify, you have to do seperate tests for c, which is for rigids of all weights, and c+e which is artics. below c is c1, which is 7.5 tonnes and b, which is 3.5tonnes (standard car). it's not really worth doing a c1 test - you can actually take the test in a transit van, so long as it's plated for up to 7.5tonnes. if you're going to do that, shell out a bit more and go for a c test.

i have seen gt cars on standard artic tail-lifts, but it's a bit of a mission and you need to make sure you get the heavy bit at the right end...

[Al Weyman]

I bought a nice 6 wheel Brian james a couple of years ago from Ebay it was about 18 months old and bet its still worth near enough what I paid for it. I have never known a more stable trailer at any speed although I do tend to stick to the 60mph max. I have seen and had some frightening experiences towing trailers the worse a wheels under but not like the mini wheels under I have on mine and only a 4 wheeler, I hired this animal and no matter how loaded the car it would not stop snaking above 40 mph and I nearly lost it big time going down to Lydden and no amount of training would prepare you for a dog like that. Pay the extra and get a decent towing trailer it will be worth it.

[wheadon]

We're looking at this one
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=200302347244

[Tim Falce]

That looks quite nice if the price stays sensible, it may be a bit cramped tieing the car down though.

[wheadon]

it's on a reserve of £2,500 so I'm hoping it won't reach that as we've been in contact with the seller

[Tim Falce]

If you have the room to store it you could probably get a nice Dassle race Box for that. They are far roomier and you could even make a small living section at the front.

[wheadon]

The Dassle race Box starts at £7,995 including vat and I haven't seen any about for sale?