Trucking: Buying a 53 foot reefer trailer, foot reefer, trucking business


Question
My brother and I recently started our own trucking business. We only have one truck at the moment but are looking to purchase a 53 foot reefer trailer.  Would like to keep as much of our start up capital as we can.  There is a 1999 reefer with 6,000 hours on it for around $25,000.00 from a supposedly reputable dealer.  Does that sound like a good deal. Or do you know of a better idea or deal out there? Thanks and thank all of you out there for you service in answering so many of our questions.

Answer
Here is another site to check out for used trailers:
http://www.trailerservices.com/specials/dow.html


That seems high to me.  I haven't bought any reefers but for comparison you can buy a new dry van for about $25,000.
Check out some of the on-line listings.  With the freight market being somewhat flat there should be a good supply of used trailers on the market.  This site:
http://www.freighttrailers.com/results_trailer.asp
has 15 1999 to 2000 used reefers listed from $19,500 to $17,500.  
Here is a site that has prices all over the board:
http://www.truckpaper.com/listings/forsale/list.asp?guid=7F1FA66921FC4C68ABCB7BF...
6,000 hours seems low if this is the original reefer unit.  Is it a new or replacement unit?  If so that might be worth something extra.  Best bet is to find someone locally that knows equipment to have a look with you.  Hope this helps a little.