[Tom-01]

Hi everyone

I hope you’re all well and enjoying the sunshine.

For those of you who lease, who do you use to lease your van van? Would you recommend them?

Thanks
Tom

[dazmond]

Vanarama...my new van was on my drive within 3 weeks....

[Crystal-clear]

I looked into it in the end I didn't like paying  close to £12k over 3 years handing van back and having no asset. Would rather pay say £4k or so for a good condition doblo 2017 with service history even if it works out to £500 per MOT over the 3 years you're still about £6000 better off
.each to thier own tho

[NWH]

You have to spend some money what do you blokes spend money on work wise,if you are saving yourself 4-5 grand a year not paying for a vehicle etc or wages you’ll only pay more Tax.

[Stoots]

I looked into leasing but the criteria to get one is pretty high and the repayments are high also.

I'm going to use the bounce back loan to buy one instead.

[NWH]

Deals to be had everywhere soon cars-vans I’d wait 6 months.

[NWH]

I bet car salesman are dreading it they’ll have to earn their money now people will be trying to screw em down to every last penny.

[Crystal-clear]

You have to spend some money what do you blokes spend money on work wise,if you are saving yourself 4-5 grand a year not paying for a vehicle etc or wages you’ll only pay more Tax.

Yea but you'll also earn more net profit right ? Which is always the overall goal 
 I think handing your asset back and nothing to show for it isnt as good as keeping it and having £6k extra over 3 years for a van that's only say 3-4 years old

[Spruce]

You have to spend some money what do you blokes spend money on work wise,if you are saving yourself 4-5 grand a year not paying for a vehicle etc or wages you’ll only pay more Tax.

Yea but you'll also earn more net profit right ? Which is always the overall goal 
 I think handing your asset back and nothing to show for it isnt as good as keeping it and having £6k extra over 3 years for a van that's only say 3-4 years old

....and you are right. But it doesn't mean that someone who leases a van isn't.

Your owned van will continue to depreciate after 3-4 years until its worth very little. After 8 years your van is commercially worthless. If you do a 'high' annual mileage then repairs are the order of the day, tyres, exhausts, brakes, etc. The guy who leases a van for 4 years hands it back and get a brand new one will probably pay a similar monthly rate that he paid the previous contract. He's driving a new van and you've got an old one. The majority of his lease is warranty covered, yours isn't.

Leasing a vehicle is a tax aid even for a non VAT registered sole trader. Leasing is basically a cost that covers a vehicle's depreciation plus  interest. Leasing allows you to deduct those payments as a business expense annually. This means that you can indirectly depreciate that vehicle off each year of the lease.

If you buy a van outright you only have 1 choice; to write it off in a single tax year as Annual Investment Allowance. You can't carry any portion across to the following year.  Write Down Allowance was removed from income tax a good number of years ago now.

Its a similar issue buying a van on HP. You have to write the value of the van off in year 1 and you can claim the interest portion of the finance each tax year.

We aren't in an industry where van image is that important. We can drive older vans as long as they are respectable. But some industries have to be very image focused and vehicle  image is important. The alarm guys fit this profile. Ringtons Tea is another.
Eddie Stobart's vehicles are also part of his image of quality deliveries.

Its generally accepted that builder's vans are battered.

[NWH]

Don’t right it all off  at once do it over time you’ll get no Tax bill for a whole year then be hit with a big 1  18 months later I was about 8-10 years ago never again,Sometimes it’s more efficient to spend money to keep a van on the road Tax wise you can write off all repair bills.
I paid cash for a van wrote it all off against Tax in year 1,18 months later I’d spent no money on staff-materials and got hit with 15 grand bill.

[NWH]

I still see window cleaners traditional driving very very old cars about with the bucket stuck between the ladder runs and beer mats hanging on the back 🤣🤣,now there’s an image.

[Stoots]

I still see window cleaners traditional driving very very old cars about with the bucket stuck between the ladder runs and beer mats hanging on the back 🤣🤣,now there’s an image.

I know it's shocking what you still see crawling the streets.

I bumped into two chaps in a silver Nissan micra only recently, wooden ladders and both wearing outfits to match. Jeans and t shirts with holes in them, must be the look they were going for....

They proceeded to put a ladder up to a conny next to me then get some bits of 4x4  wood out the back and clamber onto the conny roof with them trying to clean it. Was comical, I was dying to shout over do you want to borrow my pole.

[NWH]

I couldn’t think of the car that was stuck in my mind but the same as you it was a Nissan Micra 🤣🤣,it even had different selection of steel wheels on it.

[dazmond]

I looked into it in the end I didn't like paying  close to £12k over 3 years handing van back and having no asset. Would rather pay say £4k or so for a good condition doblo 2017 with service history even if it works out to £500 per MOT over the 3 years you're still about £6000 better off
.each to thier own tho

you dont have to hand it back you can pay the balloon and keep it.mines a business finance lease...im gonna sell mine to my missus at the end of the contract and buy it back off her a week later then its mine....itll only have 15,000 miles on the clock after 5 years with at least another 5 years of life left in it...ill still be able to get a few quid for it after 10 years with 30k on the clock.

because i use a fitted diesel hot water system i dont want to be changing my van too often...once every 10 years is fine,i only do around 3000 miles a year and i keep it serviced regularly and tidy and clean.i also have my van sign written.

 i love the extras on my van,although not essential they are nice to have(heated windscreen,heated drivers seat,air con,parking sensors,etc).it looks really smart and professional which is the image i want to portray as i work in mainly affluent areas....

itll cost me just over £20k altogether by the time ive paid the balloon payment at the end of my 5 year contract(£7k)but ill still have a smart van with very little mileage with plenty of life left in in it yet and not a high mileage van thats been battered!(like most of the second hand vans ive had before!)......

[NWH]

Why pay for example 400 a month over 3 years when if you paid that over 5 you’d end up with a far better product than the cheaper option,a van owned over a 5 year period for most window cleaners as far as reliability goes shouldn’t pose to many problems.
Me personally I’d rather spend the extra 8-10k and drive-own a far better van on a daily basis,if you do little mileage then I can see the point but dragging tanks out and putting into another van every 3 years seems pointless to me,before you know it you are changing vans again.

[Slash]

I would never lease again,you end up paying alot more in the long run.
Buy one outright,doesn't have to be new.

[Crystal-clear]

Don’t right it all off  at once do it over time you’ll get no Tax bill for a whole year then be hit with a big 1  18 months later I was about 8-10 years ago never again,Sometimes it’s more efficient to spend money to keep a van on the road Tax wise you can write off all repair bills.
I paid cash for a van wrote it all off against Tax in year 1,18 months later I’d spent no money on staff-materials and got hit with 15 grand bill.

That means the next year you made adequate profit to make sure you can earn at least up to higher earnings threshold that's still what it's all about!. The previous year you may not have due to the van so ye nothing wrong at all with that and you still had your asset all paid for m8t.

[NWH]

I would still prefer to do a percentage against Tax every year instead of paying nothing and then get a huge bill,profits up expenditure down means more Tax to pay.

[[GQC] Tim]

What are you actually allowed to do modification wise? Can you drill holes in the floor for GrippaMax?

Can you install a Flettner?

Cut a slot in the floor for hose rollers?

I tried to look for it but can't find a definitive answer.

[Don Kee]

I still see window cleaners traditional driving very very old cars about with the bucket stuck between the ladder runs and beer mats hanging on the back 🤣🤣,now there’s an image.

I know it's shocking what you still see crawling the streets.

I bumped into two chaps in a silver Nissan micra only recently, wooden ladders and both wearing outfits to match. Jeans and t shirts with holes in them, must be the look they were going for....

They proceeded to put a ladder up to a conny next to me then get some bits of 4x4  wood out the back and clamber onto the conny roof with them trying to clean it. Was comical, I was dying to shout over do you want to borrow my pole.

Obviously picks up work, employs so has enough work for two people...I’d say they’re doing ok irrelevant of appearances.

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.