cost of running a van
- Thread starter --tom
- Start date
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Depending on the way you finance a van there are some simple methods to calculate the total costs per mile/day/week/month etc.
Supposing you purchase a new van for £ 7500 paid cash. You think this van will last you 3 years after which you sell it for £ 1500. Total purchase costs per year: 7500 - 1500 / 3 = 2000 per year.
Keep a record of the miles per lt petrol/diesel the van does to be able to calculate the avergae petrol costs per mile.
Estimate service and repair costs per year, add tax and insurance.
Add all the yearly costs together, don't forget the purchase cost. Estimate the milage you will drive that year. Divide the costs by the milage, add the petrol costs per mile and voila: costs per mile.
If you purchase the van by way of financing, calculate the total repaiments per year (including interest, other finance costs etc) and use that as purchase costs per year.
Hope this helps.
Supposing you purchase a new van for £ 7500 paid cash. You think this van will last you 3 years after which you sell it for £ 1500. Total purchase costs per year: 7500 - 1500 / 3 = 2000 per year.
Keep a record of the miles per lt petrol/diesel the van does to be able to calculate the avergae petrol costs per mile.
Estimate service and repair costs per year, add tax and insurance.
Add all the yearly costs together, don't forget the purchase cost. Estimate the milage you will drive that year. Divide the costs by the milage, add the petrol costs per mile and voila: costs per mile.
If you purchase the van by way of financing, calculate the total repaiments per year (including interest, other finance costs etc) and use that as purchase costs per year.
Hope this helps.
Do not forget 'cost of money', largely ignored .. Being earnings forgone, due to spend on vehicle.
Buy for £15k cost for basic investor at gross 5% interest =£750 per annum.
The rest of it is common sense --- To properly assess need real costs of fuel, servicing, finance, tax, insurance, residual values. ... quite a bit of spadework .. good for the soul !!
P
Buy for £15k cost for basic investor at gross 5% interest =£750 per annum.
The rest of it is common sense --- To properly assess need real costs of fuel, servicing, finance, tax, insurance, residual values. ... quite a bit of spadework .. good for the soul !!
P
I did that once with my car (it was a slow day) and worked out the total cost of my car was 42 pence per mile. That took into account depreciation, the fact I had used a loan to pay for it (long since repaid, phew!) tax, fuel, repairs and insurance, and 8000 miles per year. Although my insurance is cheaper now so perhaps I should reassess the 42p/mile figure... or perhaps I should do something more exciting, like watch some paint dry! 
Anyway, a final point to consider is if you are going to use this van purely for your business or if you are going to use it for non-business purposes. That will affect your insurance costs and tax assessment.
Anyway, a final point to consider is if you are going to use this van purely for your business or if you are going to use it for non-business purposes. That will affect your insurance costs and tax assessment.
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C
carpetpaul
I use a van which was derived from the estate car version of the same body shape, I've often wondered what the implications were if I had had the estate instead of the van. I realise that you cannot claim the vat back if you purchase the vehicle new if it is a 'car', and I'm not sure, but maybe you can't claim the vat back on the rest of the running costs also.
If you buy the estate car second hand though, am I right in assuming that there would be no vat to pay on a second hand car ? - is there vat on second hand cars ? (can you tell I don't deal with the tax stuff at our place ?)
The gent mentioned that he only does about 8000 miles a year, I'm not sure about what size of van he needs, there's always the option of changing your main car to one that does both work and private duty
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Still running an Astravan 1.7td, 8 years and 100,000 miles on the clock. Never had an exhaust, a clutch, or any suspension.
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If you buy the estate car second hand though, am I right in assuming that there would be no vat to pay on a second hand car ? - is there vat on second hand cars ? (can you tell I don't deal with the tax stuff at our place ?)
The gent mentioned that he only does about 8000 miles a year, I'm not sure about what size of van he needs, there's always the option of changing your main car to one that does both work and private duty
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Still running an Astravan 1.7td, 8 years and 100,000 miles on the clock. Never had an exhaust, a clutch, or any suspension.
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D
david and julie
Some cars do have the VAT reclaimed on them, occasionally if you buy a car(mainly at auction) they are termed VAT qualifying, this means you can reclaim if you are registered. The VAT is included in your bid not on top, read this link as it is a very complicated area.
http://www.cartax.co.uk/Articles/Article_When_Does_VAT_Matter.asp
An example of no private use would be a car belonging to a hire company, lets say Avis for example. Avis are a business and only use cars for business use,they don't use them for any other purpose.They hire them out, the fact you may use them privately is irrelevant for VAT purposes. So they can claim back the VAT, this also means they charge VAT when they sell. Because cars devalue and are cheaper when used the VAT would be less which means the car is cheaper and hence easier to sell. This is one of the reasons(along with discounts) why newish ex hire cars are relatively cheap compared to privately owned.
The method of costing suggested by woodyoulike is the better way of assessing running costs because it allows for your type of use and terrain. Heavy loads/roofracks/hilly area/trailers etc would be completely different than light loads in Norfolk for example with the exact same van.
Always take depreciation into account too as this is very costly.
http://www.cartax.co.uk/Articles/Article_When_Does_VAT_Matter.asp
An example of no private use would be a car belonging to a hire company, lets say Avis for example. Avis are a business and only use cars for business use,they don't use them for any other purpose.They hire them out, the fact you may use them privately is irrelevant for VAT purposes. So they can claim back the VAT, this also means they charge VAT when they sell. Because cars devalue and are cheaper when used the VAT would be less which means the car is cheaper and hence easier to sell. This is one of the reasons(along with discounts) why newish ex hire cars are relatively cheap compared to privately owned.
The method of costing suggested by woodyoulike is the better way of assessing running costs because it allows for your type of use and terrain. Heavy loads/roofracks/hilly area/trailers etc would be completely different than light loads in Norfolk for example with the exact same van.
Always take depreciation into account too as this is very costly.
C
carpetpaul
so, does that mean that if you buy a car to use 'solely' for you business that you can claim the vat back on it if you purchase it new ?
and the running cost too ?
Thanks for your time ! - Paul
and the running cost too ?
Thanks for your time ! - Paul
D
david and julie
Read the link a couple of times, this is why I said it is complicated.
Technically yes you could recover, but don't get excited or too optimistic on this. In practice it is practically impossible to do, as I said hire companies are a clear cut case of no private use.
I would imagine in your case (presumably a carpet fitter) customs would say you are not on business use when finished on a job and going home, which is true. This is why the link is saying a clear 100% yes or no and no inbetweens, which is nearly everybody.
Technically yes you could recover, but don't get excited or too optimistic on this. In practice it is practically impossible to do, as I said hire companies are a clear cut case of no private use.
I would imagine in your case (presumably a carpet fitter) customs would say you are not on business use when finished on a job and going home, which is true. This is why the link is saying a clear 100% yes or no and no inbetweens, which is nearly everybody.
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carpetpaul
I'm constantly frustrated that I ended up with the Astravan, I do use it for private, and just wished I'd got four seats. I've looked into having a conversion done by vauxhall, which effectivly would be to remove part of the load area, thus revealing the rear footwells, and then fitting the proper factory rear seat, seat belts etc. The problem bieng, that insurance companies are not keen to quote because it remains classed as a van, and then you say it has four seat, they usually say no, or slap another £200 a year on.
I wondered how hard it would be, or even possible to have it re-classified as a passenger carrying vehicle (or estate car) and actually be able to get the log book legally altered to represent it's new 'type' then just re-insure as normal. In theory, it sounds easy, but in practice, not that likely.
I've seen other such conversions, but they're all likley without the correct insurance (they can't have the rear doors of the estate for a start)
(Still, I can't be doing too bad when my biggest frustration in life is my £1500 work van eh?)
I wondered how hard it would be, or even possible to have it re-classified as a passenger carrying vehicle (or estate car) and actually be able to get the log book legally altered to represent it's new 'type' then just re-insure as normal. In theory, it sounds easy, but in practice, not that likely.
I've seen other such conversions, but they're all likley without the correct insurance (they can't have the rear doors of the estate for a start)
(Still, I can't be doing too bad when my biggest frustration in life is my £1500 work van eh?)
D
david and julie
carpetpaul said
Just curious do you mean the rear side doors or back doors as per older Astramax?
The reason the insurance want more is because the bigger claims are injuries to people. If you carry people in the back without proper seats and belts you are wide open to claims against yourself if you have any problems.
Just curious do you mean the rear side doors or back doors as per older Astramax?
The reason the insurance want more is because the bigger claims are injuries to people. If you carry people in the back without proper seats and belts you are wide open to claims against yourself if you have any problems.
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carpetpaul
Sorry, I mean the rear passenger doors as you would have on the estate car (both estate and van have the same tailgate door)
Ins companies don't like the thought of a car bieng 'modified'. Windows could be fitted, correct seats, and belts, and all could be tested to be sure it was perfectly safe. I've seen these conversions, and you really have to look twice to see it used to be a van.....the usual comment is "look....a two door estate, havent seen one of those before! " Insurance companies just like to wash their hands of anything that is not original. If it could be re-classified via the log book, then they would never need to know it's former life as a van, but this is where those rear passenger doors come in, they can obviously never be there, as they we not there as part of the vans body shell.
If there was a fire in the car, there would be no means of escape, an obvious concern to the insurance. but in another sence, it would be no different to many of the two door coupe's like the sporty version of Yaris, or Honda Civic's...........
(It's frustrating really, I watched Scrapheap challenge last week, where they welded two mini's together, to make a kind of Limo, and they also put a 6ltr engine into a vauxhall carleton ---- all these weird cars passed the SVA and were road legal..........but I still can't put rear seats in a van !!!!!!!!!!
(P.S - new small vans can come with 'crew' seats in the rear -------GGGRRRRRRR !!!!!!!!)
Cheers - Paul
Ins companies don't like the thought of a car bieng 'modified'. Windows could be fitted, correct seats, and belts, and all could be tested to be sure it was perfectly safe. I've seen these conversions, and you really have to look twice to see it used to be a van.....the usual comment is "look....a two door estate, havent seen one of those before! " Insurance companies just like to wash their hands of anything that is not original. If it could be re-classified via the log book, then they would never need to know it's former life as a van, but this is where those rear passenger doors come in, they can obviously never be there, as they we not there as part of the vans body shell.
If there was a fire in the car, there would be no means of escape, an obvious concern to the insurance. but in another sence, it would be no different to many of the two door coupe's like the sporty version of Yaris, or Honda Civic's...........
(It's frustrating really, I watched Scrapheap challenge last week, where they welded two mini's together, to make a kind of Limo, and they also put a 6ltr engine into a vauxhall carleton ---- all these weird cars passed the SVA and were road legal..........but I still can't put rear seats in a van !!!!!!!!!!
(P.S - new small vans can come with 'crew' seats in the rear -------GGGRRRRRRR !!!!!!!!)
Cheers - Paul
D
david and julie
But you can have seats installed if you want, you just begrudge the extra insurance costs.
SVA.
http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/carlgvo...ldingvehicles/singlevehicleapprovalscheme.htm
Doing this is one thing, insurance is another! I wouldn't take to much notice of these types of programme, there are only light entertainment really.
SVA.
http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/carlgvo...ldingvehicles/singlevehicleapprovalscheme.htm
Doing this is one thing, insurance is another! I wouldn't take to much notice of these types of programme, there are only light entertainment really.
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carpetpaul said:
That's because Astra's don't have any to start with.
Miaow!! (Adam, only kidding!!)
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