Starting my casual search for a trailer and hoping for some insight into the used market. Of course we all know trailer prices skyrocketed in the COVID years- has anyone seen signs of the market softening?
I’m seeing $13-$15k for ~10 year old 2H bumper pulls from solid brands like Hawk. Do I bite the bullet and buy now or hold out for better prices this spring/summer?
I wouldn’t count on ANYTHING coming down in price in the foreseeable future. You might be able to find a bit of a deal if you can wait until late summer/fall, especially if you are in the northeast. But if you need something for this season I’d probably buy sooner rather than later.
I agree. I also don’t think we will see the prices come back down on much of anything moving forward. I was looking used a couple years ago and just ended up buying a new 4Star. Also, if you’re looking to finance, the best interest rates were atrocious (~7-8%) and are probably worse now, WITH prepayment penalties as well. I went the cash route.
I was looking to upgrade to a 2+1 last year and decided to buy new as well. I got a new Kingston, 9% interest rate (with an 800+ credit score). Y’ouch. I didn’t want to part with that much cash, so I’m throwing every last dollar at it each month to pay it off as quickly as I can (no prepayment penalties). I then sold my 20+ year old Kingston 2H bumper pull for more than I paid for it in 2018. Buy now if you need a trailer. Steel and aluminum are going up, which means new trailers are going to increase in price, and the used market will follow.
I’ve been mentally weighing the increase in materials and components against the possible decrease in demand (economic uncertainty in general etc). We’ve seen softening in horse prices post COVID so have been holding out hope that trailers will follow suit but that may be wishful thinking 
Will be a cash purchase so at least no heartburn about the crazy rates.
I recently sold a 10+ YO LQ trailer for about 3k less than I paid for it. Yep.
Prices are crazy.
I was searching for a used trailer last fall and a few things I found were:
Good deals do exist but you have to be really quick to jump on them before others do (especially with how many “trailer flippers” there are). It really requires checking everyday and being willing and able to drop everything when the right one comes up.
I did post a few ISO posts in some local horse FB groups and that is actually how I found the trailer I bought. My other best lead was a friend’s boarder who was looking to sell. Both of those had not yet been posted publicly so I don’t think the sellers were aware of the current market pricing and demand and were just looking for a quick and easy sale.
YES!
My first trailer was a used old thing that I got for I want to say $6500 in 2021. I had that for two years before getting my 4Star, and was able to sell it at about a wash thankfully. BUT. I saw it pop up right as it was listed on Facebook and was the first message. Thankfully the guy selling was first come first serve and it ended up working out, but a couple hours later and I likely would have lost it. The seller wasn’t a horse person and seemed a little shocked at the interest he had gotten.
@FjordBCRF My husband and I buy boats and boat motors to fix up and it is incredible how fast good deals can disappear. We have had situations where we message within 10 minutes and it’s already pending pickup. And you truly never know how people will respond to a ton of interest - we have had people hold things for a week for us just because we were first to message (even though they had 50 other interested parties) and other people who won’t even hold something for the time it takes to get in the truck and head over.
I believe it! The guy that I got the first trailer from said if I didnt take it, he had a woman that was ready to buy it sight unseen.
It may be local to my area, but there has been a recent trend of mobile bars using modified old school two horse trailers for big events like weddings. When I sold mine, a girl came out to look at it that wanted to do that as a side business. She had NO idea what she was looking at and got very hung up on how I knew it didn’t leak 
Since 2022, I have purchased three trailers and sold two of those. I feel like the market has softened some. I took a small hit on the one I just sold after it was listed for almost two months.
Short of a market contraction as a whole, which is hard to time, I’d think things have dropped to where they’ll be. Buying new gets more expensive every year and that supports the used market. If you’re ready to buy, I would. In the spring there might be more people shopping anyways.
Are you near MA and can you wait until Equine Affair (November)?
I saw killer deals on the floor at the Young Pavilion (iirc) when I attended last year. I would have walked out with a brand new 2H Kingston for $14k (they sell for $20k back at their dealer lot), but the Yered/KH reps were so dismissive of me that I left.
I kick myself a little for that because in the long run I missed out. They sell under market towards the end of the event since they don’t want to go through the trouble of hauling it all back to the dealership, but you might not get best pickings if you wait. Go with cash and a truck.
I couldn’t find a better deal than the one I walked out on. I ended up spending about $5k to replace and reframe my 20 y/o Kingston.
Ooo that’s a good tip. I’m close enough to MA that the drive would certainly be worth it for a really good deal.
Also nice to hear your 20yo trailer is holding up (with maintenance/repairs). There’s a ~20yo Trail-et for sale near me for a decent price that appears to be in very good shape but the age scares me!
Yes and no, and also expensive. The entire frame rail rotted out in about two years, necessitating repair or replacement. One thing about living in the NE… Rust never sleeps.
I bought during Covid, and while I desperately wanted (and still want) a side-ramp Kingston, I just was not willing to spend the $40K it was listed for in 2022. As so often happens, word of mouth was the best avenue- through a friend, I connected with an older woman in the next town that was retiring from horses. Her trailer had been meticulously maintained and kept in a garage. It was a Sundowner, so I agonized over taking that risk, but I ultimately decided that for her asking price of $7500, I would go for it. Even rebuilding the floor & frame and adding WERM flooring made it far more economical than anything that was available (new or used) on a dealer lot during that time.
I still want that side-ramp Kingston, but I just saw a headline that US tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum are going up to 50% (we’ll see…). You have to think that the crazy uncertainty will drive up new trailer prices again, and that will ripple to the used market.
Death by rust is definitely top of my list for fears about older trailers. Buying cars/trucks older than a couple years around here is hard enough.
Something I’ve been thinking about is that we rust-proof all our vehicles annually, seems like it would be trivial to do the same to a trailer and provide a little protection.
I should definitely start putting out more feelers locally. $7500 for a decent trailer and I’d probably take that risk too 
Right?! I know I lucked into a deal. She was very sweet and didn’t want to deal at all with advertising and dealing with tire kickers.
I am often surprised what turns up around here when I just start asking around 
We are so primed to search through FB, online ads, etc. Sometimes what we want is right under our noses!
I saw a really nice 2h C&C bumper listed for $8k in NY last week. It was older, but aluminum frame and skin.
Assuming it was well maintained, I was very tempted. The deals are out there!
I’m not familiar with C&C but I’d take a link if you have it handy!!
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