work vans

[ProDave]

I don't drive a van. I drive a Subaru Forester 4WD estate car.

Pros:

No1 without a doubt is four wheel drive and decent ground clearance. In the recent snow (we've had snow on the ground for a month now) to start with it was only 4WD that was able to get in and out of our road. I never have to worry about getting bogged down or grounding on rough tracks or muddy building sites.

Cheap to buy and run. Bought mine as a 4 year old for

 

[Cirrus]

Ford Transit 280 54 Plate - 2/10.

Land Rover Discovery - priceless in the snow!

 

[Apache]

I drive a Freelander 2 Van for work.

Excellent for getting around in the bad weather and decent off road. Nippy on the motorway and looks smart from the outside.

ProDave - I appreciate your argument re the car, and I suppose you can claim 40p/mile from HMRC but with a van you can claim all the VAT back (assuming you are VAT registered) and write it off after a year. This could save you a good chunk of tax money that you would lose owning a car. Might even pay for a van - would have to do some sums!

 

[Lurch]

ProDave - I appreciate your argument re the car, and I suppose you can claim 40p/mile from HMRC but with a van you can claim all the VAT back (assuming you are VAT registered) and write it off after a year. This could save you a good chunk of tax money that you would lose owning a car. Might even pay for a van - would have to do some sums!

But then you have to pay for a car and get nothing for it. I think it does work out better doing it Daves way if you want a cheap and decent solution to both as the company pays for some of the running costs of the car.

 

[Apache]

But then you have to pay for a car and get nothing for it. I think it does work out better doing it Daves way if you want a cheap and decent solution to both as the company pays for some of the running costs of the car.

You are not allowed to claim for the commute from home to work in a private car. You may or may not be able to claim some of the VAT back.

Eg if you spent

 

[Lurch]

Eg if you spent

 

[Apache]

I realise that, but over the ownership of the vehicles, say 3-5 years or so, I think running a car for both and charging mileage to the business would work out cheaper in all. Dpends what car you buy and how many miles you do I suppose so you can;t easily draw a defacto conclusion.

Absolutely, and you will have to do your own calcs.

 

[NozSpark]

My cousins wife is a partner in an accountants....

she says that you can get more back from HMRC if you claim for mileage rather than claiming for everything else... but you should do the calcs just to make sure!

 

[ProDave]

Yes, I just pay for all the costs of the car myself, then charge business use of the car at 40p per mile.

That certainly covers all the running costs of my car and most of the depreciation as well. So in effect the business pays for my car. Plus the accounting is simpler than trying to account for all the actual costs. I's a simple matter to use the trip counter to measure you business mileage then enter it into your accounts.

Also, if you buy a large capital item like a van, you can write off 25% of it's cost in the first year, then the remainder goes into your "capital pot" which is written down at 10% each year, so it can take a long time to fully write off the cost of the van.

Unless there's an exception, you can't just write off the full cost of it in one year.

P. i'm not vat registered.

 

[electro]

i was thinking about getting a estate car a astra??? i think they are fine with enuff room. i will stiker it up so looks like a van anyway with blacked out windows. and roof rack for ladders, the only prob ios about vans are ppl realise that thy may have tools in and there for breakk in. at lest witha car. it seems like a car with nothing in boot. providing its not stikered up

 

[androiduk2002]

i was thinking about getting a estate car a astra??? i think they are fine with enuff room. i will stiker it up so looks like a van anyway with blacked out windows. and roof rack for ladders, the only prob ios about vans are ppl realise that thy may have tools in and there for breakk in. at lest witha car. it seems like a car with nothing in boot. providing its not stikered up

At least with a van there are plenty of extra security locks you can purchase for both side and rear doors that dont look to out of place, with a car conversation would this be as easy to achieve ? with out looking to out of place.

I used to know a builder when I lived in Luton he had his van done over once when park outside his house, the scum then paid him regular visits to see if he had left tools in overnight.

 

[Badger]

At least with a van there are plenty of extra security locks you can purchase for both side and rear doors that dont look to out of place, with a car conversation would this be as easy to achieve ? with out looking to out of place.I used to know a builder when I lived in Luton he had his van done over once when park outside his house, the scum then paid him regular visits to see if he had left tools in overnight.

argh well if hed have had cctv installed then he wouldnt have had such a problem with returning scum!

 

[Andy™]

i was thinking about getting a estate car a astra??? i think they are fine with enuff room. i will stiker it up so looks like a van anyway with blacked out windows. and roof rack for ladders, the only prob ios about vans are ppl realise that thy may have tools in and there for breakk in. at lest witha car. it seems like a car with nothing in boot. providing its not stikered up

i have an astra estate. used to use that for business before i got a van. rear window and 2 rear side windows are covered in white vinyl & signwritten. other back windows are blacked out (used to be all blacked out until it got sign written)

with a little work and few bits of wood, you can fit a lot of equipment in the back. just it was a little too small for me

 

[ProDave]

At least with a van there are plenty of extra security locks you can purchase for both side and rear doors that dont look to out of place, with a car conversation would this be as easy to achieve ? with out looking to out of place.I used to know a builder when I lived in Luton he had his van done over once when park outside his house, the scum then paid him regular visits to see if he had left tools in overnight.

Another advantage of my Subaru Forrester. It fits in my garage so is secure at night. If I opted for a larger van like a Transit, that wouldn't fit the garage and would have to live outside.

 

[sellers]

Ford Transit 280 54 Plate - 2/10.Land Rover Discovery - priceless in the snow!

whats up with your tranny cirrus?

I've got the same but a 51 plate. Give it 7/10. Not too great on fuel but pretty bombproof and loadsa room.

 

[Badger]

whats up with your tranny cirrus?I've got the same but a 51 plate. Give it 7/10. Not too great on fuel but pretty bombproof and loadsa room.

:O

 

[Andy™]

whats up with your tranny cirrus?I've got the same but a 51 plate. Give it 7/10. Not too great on fuel but pretty bombproof and loadsa room.

lancashire must be rough!

 

[androiduk2002]

Or is it some where to run when the mate turns the switch on ! ! !

ROTFWL ROTFWL ROTFWL ROTFWL ROTFWL :coat :coat

 

[gordy71]

vw caddy 8/10, great drive, vw quality, does the job and looks professional when you turn up which is important right? SDI 2.0 engine is a bit dated and slow compared to the tdi which the misses has, wouldnt wanna swop now though as its caked in horse crap!

 

[Jono Pashley]

1.9D Berlingo not had it long enough to give it a rating but it does have a electrical problem where it believes it has a boot lid, other than that it drives fine, left stood for a week in the snow but started staight away when i went out to it.