Sole works vehicle

[Tigris]

Hey,

In the new year im looking to get a small car/van soley for business (putting too many miles on my personal car).

I see van road tax starts at £350ish/year which is putting me off. Also most vans seem to be diesel and my trips are all relatively local/shorter trips.

To be honest I dont need a van for the space required (they do look more professional though)and i'm considering a small engine Clio or Fiesta (not ecoboost) which seems cheap to run as well as £160ish road tax.

I'm a sole trader and I'm not VAT registered so cannot claim that side of things back anyway.

Any feedback on this or recommendations?

Cheers

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

They are all a pain in the neck now
I would just wear the higher road tax and buy a van that you really want /need

When you consider the cost of running a van over 3 years the higher road tax is a very small fraction

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

As you are SE (using simplified expenses!!!), you can 'claim' mileage at £0.45p/m upto 10k miles then £0.25p/m OR all motor costs including repairs, insurance, MOT, and petrol (but still record business & personal mileage).

Using a mileage claim, wouldn't that cover the inconvenience of using your personal car?

 

[Tigris]

They are all a pain in the neck now
I would just wear the higher road tax and buy a van that you really want /need

When you consider the cost of running a van over 3 years the higher road tax is a very small fraction

Have looked at fiesta vans. Not sure I need a full size van.

 

[Tigris]

As you are SE (using simplified expenses!!!), you can 'claim' mileage at £0.45p/m upto 10k miles then £0.25p/m OR all motor costs including repairs, insurance, MOT, and petrol (but still record business & personal mileage).

Using a mileage claim, wouldn't that cover the inconvenience of using your personal car?

They are all a pain in the neck now
I would just wear the higher road tax and buy a van that you really want /need

When you consider the cost of running a van over 3 years the higher road tax is a very small fraction

Have looked at Fiesta vans. Not sure I need a full size van. My concern is with a van mainly being diesel is the shorter journeys aren't really ideal for them? (Only really serve a 20 mile radius of my location).

In reply to Paul: I do currenly use my own personal car and record the miles but it's a 2L turbo estate car. Very good on mpg as it's an OPF one however it's a bit too nice for work. I am into my cars and do like a few small modifications.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

My angle would be to reduce overall cost and maintenance, so use the one vehicle.

What about a Smart Car or one of those 1l Clio's or clones? You could probably pick one of these up for a few grand and maintenance would be peanuts.

OR try something fun like a tuk tuk, electric bike van or glorified quad bike car?

 

[Tigris]

My angle would be to reduce overall cost and maintenance, so use the one vehicle.

What about a Smart Car or one of those 1l Clio's or clones? You could probably pick one of these up for a few grand and maintenance would be peanuts.

OR try something fun like a tuk tuk, electric bike van or glorified quad bike car?

Like the tuk tuk idea, haha.

Have looked at Clio's actually. The 1.5 diesel ones are £20/year road tax.

Never owned a diesel before and with the service area being a 20 mile radius I don't feel ile ever run it properly. Probably bet like you say with a 1L-1.4L petrol, £165 road which which is cheaper than a van.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Have looked at Fiesta vans. Not sure I need a full size van. My concern is with a van mainly being diesel is the shorter journeys aren't really ideal for them? (Only really serve a 20 mile radius of my location).

In reply to Paul: I do currenly use my own personal car and record the miles but it's a 2L turbo estate car. Very good on mpg as it's an OPF one however it's a bit too nice for work. I am into my cars and do like a few small modifications.

Personally with the endless problems that Ford Engines have now I would avoid them

There is a lot of good feedback from the small VW vans but they are all made of butter now

 

[Tigris]

Personally with the endless problems that Ford Engines have now I would avoid them

There is a lot of good feedback from the small VW vans but they are all made of butter now

Years ago I wanted a VW caddy van.

I'm a big VW fan in general

Most are diesel. I was told to avoid the 1.6 diesel as they have injector issues. This would be 2013-2015 ish

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Hey,

In the new year im looking to get a small car/van soley for business (putting too many miles on my personal car).

I see van road tax starts at £350ish/year which is putting me off. Also most vans seem to be diesel and my trips are all relatively local/shorter trips.

To be honest I dont need a van for the space required (they do look more professional though)and i'm considering a small engine Clio or Fiesta (not ecoboost) which seems cheap to run as well as £160ish road tax.

I'm a sole trader and I'm not VAT registered so cannot claim that side of things back anyway.

Any feedback on this or recommendations?

Cheers

Do some estimates of the cost of various options taking into account fuel, road tax, insurance, repairs etc and see how they compare.

Dont let tax be the deciding factor look at costs first.

Unless you are using simplified expenses you can claim the cost of the vehicle and running costs (less an adjustment for private mileage) as an expense.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Years ago I wanted a VW caddy van.

I'm a big VW fan in general

Most are diesel. I was told to avoid the 1.6 diesel as they have injector issues. This would be 2013-2015 ish

This is a good example of how big modern problems are now

Compared to the new engines replacing the injectors and clearing the codes is a lot more simple than rebuilding a 2023 Ford wet belt engine

 

[Tigris]

This is a good example of how big modern problems are now

Compared to the new engines replacing the injectors and clearing the codes is a lot more simple than rebuilding a 2023 Ford wet belt engine

Very true, to be honest I am looking for something around 2010-2013.

Don't want to spend too much when i'm going down farm lanes etc to clients properties.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

I just saw this and thought of you!

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[Tigris]

I just saw this and thought of you!

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Haha,

Brilliant to get people talking