As a private buyer for private use. The idea is to part concert it to a lifestyle/weekends away/bike carrier and family bus.

Where to buy though? As commercial vehicles they only tend to get sold when they have been fully utilised? Better to buy new with a long-term view?

What to look out for on them too?

Not at all. Plenty of business’s shift after 3 or 4 years as policy rather than eak out every penny, many have them on contract hire as well.

Plenty of ex rental to navigate though.

Hora, I’ve just picked one up from Poulton Vans. They seem to specialize in ex-motability vehicles. Motability scheme means they all have full main dealer service history and no VAT. I thought Poulton Vans were easy to deal with and they had a good choice.

go see Graham at van sales north west in haydock.

I do his mot’s and I am yet to find a more straight n honest chap in this industry http://www.vansalesnorthwest.co.uk/

say you know me

Those^^ still seem to be plus vat

For new ones, have a look at http://www.happynewvan.co.uk/ for prices, not used them but seem to offer big discounts over list price.

As they’re commercials, they’ll always be plus vat. If you see a dealer that has vans that seem way more expensive than everywhere else…its perhaps because they’ve included the vat in their prices (highly unlikely tho) When you’ve been looking long enough you’ll mentally add 20% to the price you see and it all starts to make sense. (I bought a van in January as a private purchase and at the time VAT stung but it is what it is…and I am certain I made the right decision and doubt I’ll go back to a car anytime soon)

I think the VAT bit depends on wether the buyer is VAT registered or not, and wether VAT has been paid on it. Or something like that, I’m no expert. You can buy 2nd hand vans with no VAT though, I did with mine. Just have a look round.

I got a good deal from Evans Halshaw on a pre-registered Trafic – couple months old and effectively 2nd hand but just 10 miles on the clock, so basically new. They do Vivaro as well. Seemed better value for new design van than 3 year old old version with potential issues of older models. Worth a look

I’m not sure why people get hung up on the whole VAT thing. Just think of the including VAT price as the real price and ignore the without VAT price. It’s not an extra cost, it’s just the real price, before VAT is irrelevant unless you’re registered.

A car generally doesn’t have both prices and people are happy to pay the inclusive of VAT price which is the only one listed.

As they’re commercials, they’ll always be plus vat.

This is wrong.

If they have been sold to a business then the vat has been reclaimed – i believe even non vat reg business can claim it back now under certain systems. Vat will be payable on your purchase

If they have been sold to an individual who has not claimed the vat back then there will be no vat payable.

The 2 commercial vehicles i have bought have been from car dealers and have had no vat payable.

The cynic in me reckons that all commercial dealers will sy plus vat when pressed to get extra coin.

As for car vat – you only ever pay vat on the full price at registration – from then on vat is only payable on the profit.

Due to the above you pay vat on the whole value of a commercial every time it changes hands until it gets into private market.

The VAT point is that VAT is only chargeable once in any business transaction. Therefore a business that charges VAT on its prices can reclaim VAT on its input costs under VAT business rules otherwise it would be double charging VAT. This includes the VAT on the part of commercial vehicles consumed by the business ie. difference between purchase and sale value. Therefore VAT is payable on residual value of van when sold deemed to be 2nd hand purchase price. As soon as someone pays VAT on the sale value of the van at any point during its life it ceases subsequently to be vatable. So I paid VAT on my van so all subsequent sales are VAT free. My previous 5 year old van was VAT free from a dealer because a previous owner had paid VAT.

… Do I win prize for most uses of VAT in a post

So, in plain English…if I’m a sole trader and not VAT registered, but I buy a van for my work use which has VAT added to the final total, how best to record on my acounts – just the grand total inc. VAT or do I need to record/separate differently?

… sorry don’t know. I don’t have practical experience of VAT for sole traders or small business. I was just offering an explanation of why VAT chargeable on some 2nd hand vans and not on others rather than tax advice for any traders!

Easy way to pocket 20% extra on the screen price..

Or an easy way to comply with tax laws.

Just dont pay cash

I got mine from a business and paid vat, but it was a private sale so about 25% under what dealers were asking.

If you’re prepared to be patient and flexible on spec and hunt around, you might find a similar bargain.

I bought mine (Vivaro 120ps Sportive) as a pre-reg from Arnold Clark. They were local and actually cheaper than the same from anywhere on Autotrader.
Being pre-reg they can sell it as ‘not new’ so they can discount the price. It was registered a week previously so its got the full 3 year warranty and just had 100 delivery miles on the clock.

I agonised for ages over getting a van. I’m not one to buy new but 1 year old vans with 14K on the clock were near the price of the one I bought. Theres always some doubt over whether its been looked after.

VAT – its a non-issue. Its almost never included in the screen price so just add it on to get the true cost. Another non-issue is the 10mph less speed limit on some roads.

Buy the Vivaro. British made! Been really pleased with mine. Its had a creaky rear shock replaced under warranty but its quiet, runs really well and gets an actual 40mpg on supermarket fuel

Huh.know plenty (tradesman) that have been pulled for doing 70 on roads they should be doing 60 on.

Ignore at your peril.

I got a ticket for 67mph on a dual carriageway cancelled when I explained mine was a family vehicle and showed documents to prove it was insured as such, with pics of the interior.

i must swap mine to motorcaravan…..

Red stripe

So, in plain English…if I’m a sole trader and not VAT registered, but I buy a van for my work use which has VAT added to the final total, how best to record on my acounts – just the grand total inc. VAT or do I need to record/separate differently?

You just record the whole amount inc VAT on your accounts as this is what’s it’s cost you. You’re not VAT registered and you have paid it out. When/if you sell the van you sell it for the price you want for it and you don’t add any VAT. The price is the price.

Anyone who claims the VAT back when they buy it, MUST charge it back when they sell it and give it to HMRC.

Find an online deal for one new. Then get your local dealer to match it.

Better deals on new ones if you Know where to look than a three year old one.

http://www.pentagon-vauxhall.co.uk/new-vans/vauxhall/vivaro

I bought mine from the local auctions. Plus Vat as I am not Vat registered. Claimed the whole lot on my tax form.

Bookmarked 🙂

We got ours from http://www.harpendenvans.com. They usually deal with trade only, but can sort anyone out really. They had a decent stock, but we had wanted some extras so they ordered it from Vauxhall (they partner with a Vauxhall dealer who sorts them out). The van took a while to arrive, but we were given the excuse that Vauxhall bumped our order down in favour of direct bulk orders from Royal Mail and Sky. Apart from that everything went well, very happy with the van – you just have to give a bit more thought over where to park (height limit).

Oh I don’t know about new sportives but ours 62 and 63 plate ones come with loads of kit apart from rear parking sensors, they are much better with some!