Value of a living quarters trailer

[jef]

We are looking at a 2004 CM aluminum 3 horse trailer with "nice" living quarters. My 14 year old daughter has a QH show horse and POA that she wants to run games with. We currently tag a ride with a friend but she is looking for another horse for her daughter and there will not be room for us. Plus with everyone's gear in the trailer it is cramped and tempers can flare when everyone is getting ready. Don't want to lose a good friend over a scratched saddle.

My question is do used trailers hold their value when they are several years old? I have been looking at trailer websites and the prices people want suggest they do but are they getting the price?

What are your experiences with FRP trailers? The dealer has a Hart that is FRP which is significantly cheaper but I don't know anything about FRP.

Where is the best place to get financing besides a credit union or dealer, has anyone financed online?


Thanks

Jeff

[powerstroke6lite]

I know that Featherlite, Sundowner, 4Star, and the major horse trailer manufacturers will hold their value pretty good. I know that you don't find many used Featherlite trailers with living quarters because they hold their value are very quality built trailers. The place where you can spend most of you money is in the living quarters so plan that out before you buy.

[CCOUGHRAN]

don't do what i did.

featherlite 4 horse, 16' shortwall, slideout, the works. $101,000.00
lq was done by kwg conversions, kwg filed bankruptcy, and the lq was not covered under warranty.

whatever horse trailer you buy ( and cm is top of the line in my book ), make sure you check out the conversion company too.

right now if i was looking at trailers i would look at

cm
hart
elite - i really like older elite
bloomer
bison
featherlite
keifer built
sundowner

sooner would be last on my list based only on the latching system for their slants, and the cam latches for the rear doors.

good luck on your trailer purchase.

also, check out

horsetrailerworld.com

[Riggodeaux]

As CCoughran suggests, check out horsetrailerworld.com for used trailers, which should give you an idea on 'holding value' and purchase prices. Also, shop around for the CM for the best price,and PM me for a couple dealer suggestions if your seller/dealer isn't prepared to negotiate. I doubt folks get their asking price on useds, absent being in really good condition and a substantial difference between that price and current, 'true' [discounted] cost for a comparable new trailer. They do seem to go up in price at faster than the inflation rate, though. A CM or Cimarron [their other brand name, briefly] is a fine quality trailer; we shopped hard in 2003 before buying our first one and I was impressed by the quality of welds, fittings, etc., compared to Exiss, Sundowner, etc. [though Sundowner, Hart, 4Star, etc. are fine trailers, too]. We are on our second, both the Winstar stock combo, no living quarters. A three horse, for some reason, is a lot more popular than a two, as we discovered after buying a 2 horse goose and trading it a year later for a 4. Quality of LQ construction will likely determine how well it will keep the value if the LQ premium. Personally, I'm no fan of LQ trailers, and I would think carefully about whether you want/need to spend the extra money for the LQ rather than having a nice tack room. I love horses, but we'd rather camp or spend the money difference on a month of Sundays of hotel rooms than stay in that cramped LQ, no matter how nicely appointed. JMHO. I expect your own bank/credit union will give you as good a deal as anyone on a loan, but shop around.

[haul_n_horses2]

[ QUOTE ]
I love horses, but we'd rather camp or spend the money difference on a month of Sundays of hotel rooms than stay in that cramped LQ, no matter how nicely appointed. JMHO.

[/ QUOTE ]Those are my sentiments exactly. We do what is best for the horses and take care of ourselves in a hotel. It is not quite as convenient as being there but our bodies sure enjoy it alot more.

[barrelhorses]

I have a 2003 Sundowner LQ trailer. It is a 4-horse 720 model with 8 foot LQ. It has a hydraulic jack and solar charger. This is my third LQ Sundowner. I bought this trailer brand new in September 2005. It's a nice trailer, so I am not quite sure why it wasn't sold sooner; but it was sitting next to 2006 models on the lot. It is actually a little bigger than I wanted, but the price was right and it came with a full new warranty.

I can tell you that my trailer spends the vast majority of the time sitting in my driveway. I actually have been strongly considering selling it because we just won't be using it much over the next year (now that we're expecting a baby). Shoot me a PM if you have any interest in it. I can deliver [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[SmokeyWren]

Mom and Dad were trail riders. They belonged to a few different trail riding groups, and for a while Dad was the President of West Texas Trail Riders.

They went through all sorts of combos of camper+horse rigs, including a really nice (but really heavy) LQ. For the last several years of their trail-riding days, they settled on a powerful motorhome dragging an overloaded horse trailer with tack/feed room, two large mules, and square bales of hay on the roof.

For trail riders, a motel is often not an option. They often park over an hour from the nearest motel, then ride trails for several miles each day.

So before you spend a big bunch on an LQ plus tow vehicle, consider a motor home with enough oomph to tow a big horse trailer. Dad liked a medium-sized Class A motorhome (about 30') with a Chevy 454 gas-hog engine - burned lots of gas, but had no problems draging the mules up steep mountain trails.

Me? I don't like horses or anything to do with horses (or mules). [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

[barrelhorses]

Of course the nice thing about an LQ horse trailer towed by a PSD (or lesser truck like a Cheby or Dudge [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]) is that you can unhook and drive to town if necessary. You might need some potato chips or cold beverages...

[drbond]

Jef,
Let me chime in and give you my $.02. We started out with a tent and bumper pull 2 horse and it worked quite well. We do 1 day 100 mile endurance races, and let me tell you after being up for over 24 hours straight, that tent wasn't the most appealing to come back to, especially in the rain! Then we moved to truck camper with bumper pull, worked ok, but boy what a pain to move after unhooking, dragging that camper everywhere. Now we have a 3 horse GN, sundowner, 8' living quarters with generator. We don't like to do the motel thing, as we have to leave our horses back at base camp, and we have seen to many of them get loose. We usually are just camped in a big field, so there are no stalls available. We love the LQ trailer, it's a 2000 and has worked great with no problems at all. We spent about 6 months looking at a lot of trailers, and a few things that we noticed are insulated horse area (great on HOT days), good tires (not cheap ones), good axles, storage storage storage! Good luck on your search and purchase and YES they do hold their value if you take good care of them!
Sorry for the long post.

Bondo©

[jimmy]

I agree with Bondo. Similar experience. Did tents, slept in truck, slept in neck on gooseneck horse trailer. Made me way less than fresh on second day of multi-day team roping events. Found a used LQ horse trailer that needed some repairs and I wouldn't go back!
I think my daily usage cost (nights stayed/price paid) is still up in the Ritz-Carlton range per night but as I continue to use it I hope to get it down to Motel 6 range but I will always know what the stains are on the bedspread and sheets..........

[barrelhorses]

[ QUOTE ]
I will always know what the stains are on the bedspread and sheets..........

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL! If you get a LQ, make sure it has extra height in the nose. You'll figure out why I offer this advice.

[barebackjake]

trails west what i got and love it and they do there lq's in house so no middle man markup, but i agree with not the most amount of space in them. were looking at getting a toterhome in a few years to replace the lq trailer.

on the FRP i dont reccomend it. its fiberglass reinforced plywood is what it is. the paint will spyderweb over time and it looks like crap when it does also i dont think its near as strong as a metal trailer. i prefer a steel frame trailer myself.

[Flywheel]

They sure do seem to hold thier value.

We went to MO to pick up an '02 Cherokee 4H, 8'SW w/mangers, hay rack, etc - pretty well decked out.

However, once we got it home, we noticed the mold in the floor.

About $400 and what seemed like a million hours later, we put a new floor in (amazing how easy that sounds as I type it out...).

The one saving grace was the sympathy and infomation provided by Bunkhouse conversions - they gave us all the adice on how to go about (as they wer doing a few from Lousiana.

So when you buy used - check the rig out for water stains, leaks, pull up a piece of the vinyl floor from the closet or under the couch (or wherever the water tank and pump are).

Also, check out the black water tankand system. We found a few other issues and found that the seller was not honest with us at all - but are finally very happy with the rig. It is really nice to get up with the ponies just outside and grab a cup of coffee, a warm shower or just a nap anytime you want.

Do some research and make a complete checklist when you go to look.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Oh yeah - you may want to check and see if there are folks you can rent one from. Unfortunately, trailers do sit a lot and we have talked about renting this one out to qualified folks - one border drives trucks for a living and his own truck is immaculate. Trailer doesn't do much good to anybody sitting in the back....

[Riggodeaux]

Jef, I came back to take a look at this thread and have learned a bit, as is almost always the case! Beyond the LQ issue, a couple of general points, adding to what others have raised: That CM should have an insulated roof, which is one of CM's several advantages. We've hauled our insulated roof CM in 100F+ temps [this summer in western SD and points east during the heat wave] and its amazing how much cooler the horse compartment and tack room stay with that insulation. On tires/axles, especially with a heavier trailer [steel frame and/or LQ plus 3 horses+] - look for a torsion axle [most newer, name brand horse trailers have 'em instead of springs] and 16" wheels with LT [rather than ST on 15"] tires. The 3 horse CM LQ should have both. Search this forum and you'll see lots of discussion of the advantages of LT tires on the bigger wheels and some on torsion axles. FWIW, I'd be real leery of FRP, for the reasons already stated. Better quality horse trailers these days are aluminum, either 'all' or on a steel frame [Logans and I think maybe some Harts?]

[Dualie]

FRP is heavy so is an all steel trailer. Living Quarters are also heavy. The combination of the frp or steel with living quarters would be very heavy.

Also a lot of people are getting away from the slide outs. While they do provide a lot of extra space they are also heavy.

Personally the last thing I want to do is be any where near the horses at the end of the day. I keep hired help around for that. Also I can stay in a decent hotel (usually one of the Marriott hotels) for the payment on a even just a adequate LQ trailer.