I’m moving from Wisconsin to Florida in a few weeks, and I’m trying to decide whether to rent a trailer from U-Haul for $700-900 or buy a trailer here and sell it when I get down there. I have a 2009 Honda Odyssey with the trailer package (hitch and transmission/power steering coolers), which can tow 3,500 pounds. It looks like a 4 x 8 or 5 x 8 would be my best option. I know I would have to register and insure the trailer, but if I could pick one up for $1500 or $2000 and sell it for a couple hundred less once I got to Florida, I might come out way ahead compared to the U-Haul rental. Thoughts?
Remember that U-Haul rental includes maintenance, registration, inspections, insurance and other added costs. Be sure you’re pricing out the **whole cost **of the trailer, from purchase through sale.
I’ve done things both ways. When I needed a cement mixer for a job but could only pour about one load a day for two weeks, it was cheaper to buy one, then sell it for $100 less than to rent one for 14 days.
I picked up a nice 5’X10’ with a 3500 lb axle for around $700, but it was about 10 years ago. I think I can still get one like it for under $1000. Between myself and my stepson, we’ve got quite bit of utility from it. It’s been handy to have around.
Also, watch that towing weight on the Ody. You have to subtract gross vehicle load, or some part of it, and I assume you’ll have the van itself full of stuff and people. Odysseys aren’t really heavy movers, and drive poorly at load limits. Most of the transmission problems in later models (after they cured the bad ones 2000-2004 or so) seem to come from overstress/overheating - the unit is not really well designed for the upper end of the weight range and towing. You don’t want to factor a tranny into the costs. 
(I drove a 2007 across country a few years ago… but only with four people, two big dogs and luggage for a 6-day trip.)
Look into the cost of one or two “moving pods” instead. You might find it more cost-effective over all.
I’d just like to say that I initially read this thread title as “Need a trailer for a movie. Rent from YouTube or buy?”
Carry on.
I think the “sell for a couple hundred less” bit is going to be much easier said than done. My perception is that utility trailers aren’t exactly quick movers on craigslist or wherever. It’s not like a car where you can just price it a few hundred below the going rate and have it sold in a few hours. I’d guess you can eventually recover most of your money, but it’s a total crapshoot how long it’ll take and how much dealing with tire-kickers and other associated craigslist/classified ad flakes you’ll end up having to do.
This is not advice, just anecdotal non-sense:
I’ve towed all manner of trailer, across the country and all over locally for the last 25 years, and have never registered them, and have never been stopped. Its like the damn things are invisible to the cops.
Usually never bother with lights, either.
Again: NOT ADVICE! 
If it is going to cost $900 for uhaul, isn’t it outright cheaper to buy and throw it away, and anything you can resell it for is gravy ? IE a 5x8 at menards is $679: http://www.menards.com/main/p-2271366-c-9116.htm
I guess if you are comparing like to like, the Uhaul one is enclosed, those are closer to $2k: http://www.menards.com/main/tools-hardware/automotive/trailers-towing/5-x-8-enclosed-trailer/p-1962926-c-9116.htm
I suppose it depends on what you are trying to move and whether you can deal with an open trailer. I’d probably look on craigslist first and try to buy it used in the first place, if you can.
On the one hand, if you’re leaving one state, driving across others and going to dump the thing in yet another… registration kind of becomes useless bureauwanking.
OTOH, if there is any kind of accident, loss, hitch failure etc. leading to damage or injury… your insurance might get hinky about an unregistered, uninspected trailer.
If you’re really looking at $600-900, ABF pods might be far cheaper. We used ABF trailers to move cross-country and it worked very well for about as cheaply as you can move a family mountain of stuff.
Is it really $700-900 for the uhaul? I rented a 4x8 to help someone with a cross country move and I’m pretty sure it was about $100. That was 5 years ago, but, wow, if its gone up to $7-900, I’m in the wrong line of work.
It certainly hasn’t; I rented a 10X10 enclosed trailer from UHaul in 2011- packed it full and hauled it with a Volkswagon CC from Alabama to DC, and it was around $200.
I vote for renting.
Maybe it’s a Wisconsin-to-Florida thing – too many trailers going that way. I just priced it again and it’s $632 for the 4 x 8 and $702 for the 5 x 8.
I looked at PODS and ABF, but that’s way more expensive. Even the small pods are at least $2,000. A new 5 x 8 trailer at Menards is $1,900 – a little pricier than I’d like, but I’ll think about it.
Is that an enclosed trailer?
The trailer he is talking about is enclosed, the link is in my post higher up.
We bought an enclosed utility trailer for our move from CA to TX and used it a lot to move things around (we moved into an apartment, then bought a house) which we would not have been able to do with a rental. Then we sold it for around 10% less than we paid for it. However I have to admit it was probably easier to sell the trailer in Texas than it would have been in Cali.
That explains the price. Thanks.
Yeah, must be too many people going south for the summer. I went to uhaul.com and I can take one from Tn to Fl for $120, or 2000 miles to CA for $200, but tried several northern zip codes and they all cost $500-600 for a 4x8 to go to florida.
If you decide to rent from Uhaul be aware that a reservation with really isn’t a guarantee that there will be a trailer there when you show up.
Honestly,
Try selling everything and bringing nothing you cannot fit into a couple of suitcases.
Really. Do you need all that stuff? Furniture and all? Heck I’ve moved stuff and 5 years later its still in a box or I throw it away soon after moving it in. Do you know if all your furniture will even fit into your new house?
Plus you do realize this is Florida and you wont need winter clothes anymore.
Other than things like pictures and family mementos is there anything you cannot buy when you get there? I’ve known families who basically walked out of a house and left it as is with furniture, dishes, etc… or maybe sold everything down to the bare walls.
So try this. Have an estate sale and sell EVERYTHING. Take the money you make. Add in the cost the trailer would have added in, and use that for new stuff in your new home.
Heh, this IS us trimming down to the bare essentials. The only furniture is a dining room table and chairs. Everything else is cardboard boxes with books, pictures, and clothes. I think taking a two-bedroom apartment full of crap from two adults and two kids and boiling it down to a 4’ x 8’ trailer is a feat in itself.