Legality of selling trailers?
Discussion
I've been in the market for a trailer for some time, for general utility use. I've only been looking casually but thought I might pull my finger out.
I recently came across a reseller of Mars trailers (made in Poland). Selling trailers seems to be the core business of this outfit, they do everything from small hobby trailers up to burger vans, they don't seem to do non-trailer stuff so what I found has made me raise an eyebrow.
All of the <750kg unbraked trailers in their inventory are sold with a description along the lines of "trailer cover, free 6x4 trailer". The biggest stretch was a jockey wheel being sold with a free trailer. These are brand new, around £5-600 so cheapish, with 13-pin (more common in the EU, and what I fitted to my car).
What is the catch? What would make a company prefer to sell bits and bobs for £500 with a free trailer rather than selling a trailer for £500 with a few bits and bobs thrown in?
I recently came across a reseller of Mars trailers (made in Poland). Selling trailers seems to be the core business of this outfit, they do everything from small hobby trailers up to burger vans, they don't seem to do non-trailer stuff so what I found has made me raise an eyebrow.
All of the <750kg unbraked trailers in their inventory are sold with a description along the lines of "trailer cover, free 6x4 trailer". The biggest stretch was a jockey wheel being sold with a free trailer. These are brand new, around £5-600 so cheapish, with 13-pin (more common in the EU, and what I fitted to my car).
What is the catch? What would make a company prefer to sell bits and bobs for £500 with a free trailer rather than selling a trailer for £500 with a few bits and bobs thrown in?
Lord Marylebone said:
Why don't you just ring them and ask.
Or would that be too simple??
If there is something dodgy about this, they have a vested interest in not telling me the truth Or would that be too simple??
If all is fine and above board, they'll tell me as much.
If all is not fine and above board, they'll tell me all is fine and above board.
donkmeister said:
Lord Marylebone said:
Why don't you just ring them and ask.
Or would that be too simple??
If there is something dodgy about this, they have a vested interest in not telling me the truth Or would that be too simple??
If all is fine and above board, they'll tell me as much.
If all is not fine and above board, they'll tell me all is fine and above board.
I am willing to bet that they tell you as per the reply above that their trailers haven't been type approved for use in the UK, hence their 'low, low prices'.
Fastpedeller said:
Is this a (pretty poor) attempt to get around the rules which require a trailer to have type approval (or IVA) - I think the ruling started in 2014?
I was wondering if some sort of approval/certification was the key, but tbh I don't know what certification I'm looking for. Any tips? There was an ISO9000-related approval quoted, but from my experiences in other industries that basically means "the company who makes this has a process set" rather than conformance with any mandatory standards. Everyone quotes it to show they aren't cowboys, but you can still be a cowboy with ISO9000 process sets.
Lord Marylebone said:
They will know you aren't stupid, but will want to sell you something, so the chances are that they will be honest with you when you ask them.
I am willing to bet that they tell you as per the reply above that their trailers haven't been type approved for use in the UK, hence their 'low, low prices'.
A fair point. If I get to the point where I'm thinking I'll make an order I'll ring them. I am willing to bet that they tell you as per the reply above that their trailers haven't been type approved for use in the UK, hence their 'low, low prices'.
Save yourself the hassle and but a known brand of trailer that you can be sure meets Uk law. Sat you load up a ton or more of stone/wood plus 500kg of trailer and the crappy non approved hitch brakes going up a hill. Soon find yourself explaining to a judge you only bought the jockey wheel and the trailer was free so not your fault!
Fastpedeller said:
Is this a (pretty poor) attempt to get around the rules which require a trailer to have type approval (or IVA) - I think the ruling started in 2014?
A trailer needs to be type-approved whether it's been sold or given free with cornflakes.My money's on some type of get-out for consumer rights.
This doesn't appear to be the seller being referred to, but it does appear to be the same trailer.
http://www.wychavontrailers.co.uk/bo7202a.html
Edited by TooMany2cvs on Monday 30th April 13:40
I'm in the same market, however I have noticed much of the smaller no name companies only make <750kg unbraked trailers, in single and dual wheel setups.
I've been considering one, ideally I'd want a braked Williams or BJ, but the price difference is fairly dramatic and the Polish made ones look good on the surface.
I've been considering one, ideally I'd want a braked Williams or BJ, but the price difference is fairly dramatic and the Polish made ones look good on the surface.
TwistingMyMelon said:
Its only a trailer...what could go wrong?
Well...... Someone could be badly injured by a runaway trailer (as happened in a village a few miles from us several years ago). The thing that worries me is not a new (albeit non-type approved) trailer, but an old one. The downside to these regulations is that instead of buying a new and approved trailer, (highprice due to being legislated/regulation costs) or indeed welding together one at home (and making it good) a lot of people will just buy an old one at the side of the road, and the chassis will be 30 years old and rotted away from the inside! As with a lot of these legislative moves, there can be a downside.Fastpedeller said:
Well...... Someone could be badly injured by a runaway trailer (as happened in a village a few miles from us several years ago).
It happened to a friend of mine a few years back - the trailer he was towing let go and went for a wander, much to the consternation of the oncoming Audi, which decided to get onto the trailer and hit the car on it.Fortunately, nobody was hurt.
Fastpedeller said:
The thing that worries me is not a new (albeit non-type approved) trailer, but an old one. The downside to these regulations is that instead of buying a new and approved trailer, (highprice due to being legislated/regulation costs) or indeed welding together one at home (and making it good) a lot of people will just buy an old one at the side of the road, and the chassis will be 30 years old and rotted away from the inside! As with a lot of these legislative moves, there can be a downside.
Yeh, trailers really should be MOTd.TooMany2cvs said:
Fastpedeller said:
Well...... Someone could be badly injured by a runaway trailer (as happened in a village a few miles from us several years ago).
It happened to a friend of mine a few years back - the trailer he was towing let go and went for a wander, much to the consternation of the oncoming Audi, which decided to get onto the trailer and hit the car on it.Fortunately, nobody was hurt.
Fastpedeller said:
The thing that worries me is not a new (albeit non-type approved) trailer, but an old one. The downside to these regulations is that instead of buying a new and approved trailer, (highprice due to being legislated/regulation costs) or indeed welding together one at home (and making it good) a lot of people will just buy an old one at the side of the road, and the chassis will be 30 years old and rotted away from the inside! As with a lot of these legislative moves, there can be a downside.
Yeh, trailers really should be MOTd.Probably the most important thing on trailers or caravans is to ensure the tyres are good - yes, tyre treads may be fine, but the structure can be poor, and this applies to cars that do few miles, and may even pass an MOT with them like it.
After a quick Google search for a UK reseller of Mars trailers, it directed me to a website for UK company advertising trailer covers with a free trailer, which my PC virus scanner told me had a Trojan Virus on it!!
Assuming I found the same website, as well as getting a possibly illegal trailer, you PC might get more than it bargained for as well...
The "EC Type Approval" would equally apply in Poland as it does in the UK though, so it seems a bit odd a Polish company be making a non type-approved trailer. From memory, I think EU type approval has been around for a good few years for 'normal' trailers like this. There used to be a UK exemption for boat trailers which was removed not very many years ago. The boat trailers only had the exemption because it's much easier to fit lights onto the back of the boat once it's loaded rather than have them built into a trailer which has to go into water. Unfortunately the pen-pushers who wrote the type approval law couldn't cope with lights being attached to the load on a trailer.
Assuming I found the same website, as well as getting a possibly illegal trailer, you PC might get more than it bargained for as well...
The "EC Type Approval" would equally apply in Poland as it does in the UK though, so it seems a bit odd a Polish company be making a non type-approved trailer. From memory, I think EU type approval has been around for a good few years for 'normal' trailers like this. There used to be a UK exemption for boat trailers which was removed not very many years ago. The boat trailers only had the exemption because it's much easier to fit lights onto the back of the boat once it's loaded rather than have them built into a trailer which has to go into water. Unfortunately the pen-pushers who wrote the type approval law couldn't cope with lights being attached to the load on a trailer.
SkodaIan said:
Unfortunately the pen-pushers who wrote the type approval law couldn't cope with lights being attached to the load on a trailer.
Or, rather, they were of the (correct) opinion that making waterproof light clusters isn't hard - especially in these days of LEDs - while users really can't be trusted.Fastpedeller said:
Sometimes just relying on the common sense of the owner is enough - with some pointers most of us wouldn't want to put ourselves or others in danger.
Probably the most important thing on trailers or caravans is to ensure the tyres are good - yes, tyre treads may be fine, but the structure can be poor, and this applies to cars that do few miles, and may even pass an MOT with them like it.
our local Bib like to sit outside the tip on a quiet day and check the trailers. most are unroadworty, quite a few are pulled by someone without a trailer licence,Probably the most important thing on trailers or caravans is to ensure the tyres are good - yes, tyre treads may be fine, but the structure can be poor, and this applies to cars that do few miles, and may even pass an MOT with them like it.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff