I am a long time reader recent member. Ok, so I bought a used horse trailer yesterday I bought an older 2008 2 horse slant off of a nice gentleman a few hours away from me. He had it listed for 2850. I sent a deposit right away as decent trailers in my area (SE Texas) are a little hard to come by. Anyway, went to see it yesterday and bought it… Ok, so the asking price was 2850.00 I sent a $100 deposit, which leaves 2750.00 I took 2600 yesterday in cash and he let me take the trailer with the promise that I would send the rest (150) the same way as I sent the deposit- (Walmart money transfer) mainly because I found out that my per day limit on ATM withdrawals is 400 and rather than making the trip for nothing, he let me take the trailer. Ok, so I get home with it and I really start to check it out. That is when I notice that there is no divider in the horse area to divide the two horse area. There is a divider between the tack area and the horse area, but no divider for the horses. He said that the only thing wrong with it was that you could not open the tack area from the outside that the door mechanism needed to be replaced.
So I contacted him about it this morning and he says just tie them in like it was a stock trailer. Not really the point, is it? I could kick myself for not noticing, this pretty blatant omission. It’s an ok trailer other wise. It will need a repaint as the surface rust was a little worse than he led me to believe before I went. But whatever.
Question is, would you give him the other 150 or not? He did keep the title until I pay, but not having a title is no big deal to me. This situation is causing me some stress. I would have preferred a smooth transaction with no drama. But if he does not offer to take 150 off the asking price to make up for the lack of a divider- WWYD?
YES you give him the other $150!! That was your agreement!
It’s not his fault that YOU failed to really check it over until you got home.
Really- I can’t believe he even let you leave with it. I would have told you to hit the road and come back when you have all the money. Unbelievable.
I would pay what I agreed to pay for a trailer that I looked at in person before agreeing to buy.
Send the seller what you owe!
Yes. You still owe him $150. If you didn’t notice the missing divider, that’s on you. Ditto the rust.
You went and saw it, you decided the rust was worse than you expected, and it needs to be repainted but you still bought it? Well,that is your choice. Pay him the $150. It’s not going to go very far towards a paint job and a new divider anyhow.
I would expect these kind of glitches when you are buying low dollar older equipment. I do hope you had the brakes, lighting, and floorboards checked out preferably by a mechanic before you took the trailer home.
Yes you definitely owe him the agreed upon price!! If you didn’t notice the divider missing- please tell me you at least had a pro give it a once over ?
I’m trying to figure out how you didn’t notice there was no divider? Did you not open the doors and go inside the trailer?
Yes. You owe him the $150. To not pay the $150 would be to defraud the seller.
He was very nice to let you leave with the trailer without paying in full. That would not happen if I was selling a trailer. It wouldn’t matter how far a buyer traveled. The seller is not responsible for the buyer’s “oversights” when they arrive with too little cash. I would send the buyer home or to the bank, whichever made the most sense.
It isn’t the seller’s fault that you didn’t do a proper evaluation and notice the absent divider before you agreed to purchase the trailer.
If you are having buyer’s remorse, ask yourself this, would you rather a) pay the $150 you agreed upon or b) return the trailer for a full refund.
And @Scribbler makes an excellent point. If you didn’t check out the brakes, lighting and floorboards before purchase, you really need to do so before you put a horse in the trailer.
Yes. You owe him the $150. To not pay the $150 would be to defraud the seller.
He was very nice to let you leave with the trailer without paying in full. That would not happen if I was selling a trailer. It wouldn’t matter how far a buyer traveled. The seller is not responsible for the buyer’s “oversights” when they arrive with too little cash. I would send the buyer home or to the bank, whichever made the most sense.
It isn’t the seller’s fault that you didn’t do a proper evaluation and notice the absent divider before you agreed to purchase the trailer.
If you are having buyer’s remorse, ask yourself this, would you rather a) pay the $150 you agreed upon or b) return the trailer for a full refund.
I don’t know about your area, but insurance, registration and inspection cannot be obtained without a title in our locale, so not having a title would be a problem.
I’m sure the seller was hoping for a smooth drama-free transaction as well. But it isn’t clear why he might be responsible for any drama in this case.
And @Scribbler makes an excellent point. If you didn’t check out the brakes, lighting and floorboards before purchase, you really need to do so before you put a horse in the trailer.
Agreed
Every time I see this thread I think - Why is this even a question?
OP, you bought something for a certain agreed upon price. Pay the freaking agreed upon price.
If you now do not think the trailer is worth what you paid for it then you can ask the seller if they will take it back. Then not saying yes should not surprise you though.
Amen
Vehicle registration laws must be very different in your part of the world, OP.
Where I live you cannot drive a trailer on the road without having it insured, and you always sign over the title at the insurance agents and get new license plates. Same same trailers cars trucks.
No seller would let a vehicle go with his insurance and plates on it.
I guess you could buy a wrecker vehicle that had been sitting unlicensed for a couple of years. But you wouldn’t be able to get it licensed again with no title papers.
I know this is a tangent, but I find this interesting.
You actually sign the title over to the insurance company? Or am I reading that wrong?
No, the buyer and the seller visit the auto insurance company and transfer papers, cancel sellers insurance and buy the buyers insurance and plates all at once.
We only have one auto insurance provider in the province, it’s a government program. They handle everything titles insurance licenses inspection.
The actual insurance is sold by little storefront privately owned insurance agencies who get a commission on selling provincial auto insurance.
Actually I did buy a car once in the USA and you know, I did go to the County courthouse in a small town in Georgia to transfer the title. But I needed the title to get the thing insured and drive it.
But OP realize that if the seller has the title he can report the trailer stolen and make your life hard. I would never have left without the title. You do realize you could have gone to your bank and withdrawn the full amount in one go?
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@Scribbler - horse trailers in TN are not registered and don’t have “tags”. No idea if OP is in TN, but here you just need a bill of sale to show you own the trailer.
@JackieT - you need to pay the remaining balance. Your oversight, your problem, unfortunately. In future, always take another set of eyes with you when making any large horse related purchase. If you have stars in your eyes, another person may notice things and point them out, thus saving you regrets down the line. You can’t negotiate/haggle in hind sight. 
No license plates on trailers? Ok!
I think commercial businesses have tags - like commercial haulers in big rigs and stuff like that. My 5’X10’ flatbed trailer doesn’t need a tag either.
What I’ve always told my children - I don’t see any blood, no one died. If it’s a fixable mistake in life - you’re lucky. $150 is very little in life for your peace of mind and your integrity.
OP is in Texas, not Tennessee and we have tags on all trailers used on the roads
in my area (SE Texas)
if under 7500 pounds gross weight buyer transfers title into their name at tax assessors office, plays sales tax on transfer… that is it
without a title a manufactured trailer cannot be registered …period,
I know! Weird, right? That’s a Pennsylvania thing, which I discovered when I moved there. But PA’s a really weird state for a lot of its governmental regulations. Just try to buy beer, wine and liquor for a party at a single location…
