Financing a Car Carrier

Kaufman, take3, big tex etc. Those are all just like financing a utility trailer, your credit score is really all that matters.

 

You might want to price insurance before you finance a trailer.

 

With a wedge you should find a used trailer to start with your going to be limited on income you can make with three much less with a trailer and / or truck payment
Ins
permits and all the other BS involved to be legal unless like alot of them here do run hot until caught

 

If you are going to finance your start up truck, Beacon is alright and since they are recommended by the dealer they may be able to get a little "creative" with you as a new business. Just one word of caution, read the fine print and be sure you understand the total cost of the deal and what the buy out is at the end, you don't want to find that you made payments for 48 months only to still own thousands on your now worn out Kaufmann trailer, or find out the is a prepay or early termination penalty when you decide you want to sell, trade up, or leave the business before the lease is done. Also, find out what structure the lease is and discuss this with your tax professional, as not all lease payments are tax deductible, nor can you claim depreciation on most leases, only the ones structured to look like conventional bank financing.

I am not going to make fun of or question why you need to finance a Kaufmann, that is your decision, but really the total purchase price of any one of their trailers brand new is less than you should have as cash reserve if you are going to be successful in the car haul business. Used you can get a decent 3/4 car wedge for about $3-4,000, probbally less than the upfront money you will need with Beacon.

In addition to Beacon, Santander and Specialty Vehicle Funding are companies that will work with you. Personally, I would call Brian Declesis at SVF, he is a former tow truck salesman and a straight shooter. I bought my first light duty wrecker from him when he worked in New Jersey, took good care of me.

Good luck.

 

I see Beacon Funding is mentioned here. I was in touch with them but was told I would have to pay my down payment to them vs giving it to a dealer and then bank paying dealer the different. Is this normal? I don't see why finance company would require a down payment sent to them?

 

I believe Beacon converts the purchase into a TRAC lease, so they will pay the dealer 100% of the purchase price then "lease" the trailer to you, they require the down payment to them as a security deposit, just a different way of structuring the deal, I had something similar with my first tow truck I bought not having any established business history.

 

Their rep told me it will be a simple interest loan, and said I should get around 7%. It's a truck financing. I'm looking at 2012-2013 and will be putting 20-30% down. My credit is pretty good.
So after this lease deal I still owe them money?

 

Not if it is structured the way you explain it, that will be just like a normal vehicle loan, make all the payments and you own it at the end. I thought they may have been trying to make it a lease plan, some do have a balloon payment at the end, some don't. Sounds like a fair deal for someone just starting out, just read the contract before you sign it to make sure there are no surprises in there. Good luck.