tonight my old corsa is in trouble. a spark plug snapped off in engine.
im now looking at my options.
do i buy a new or old van/car or whats best for a business? lease?

A bit fell into the engine or spark plug is stuck in the engine?

spark plug wa stuck but now it snapped off

Is it a 3 cylinder and how much would you want for it?

I'm sure a good mec would be able to extract it.

Lease is good for image but dead money IMO.

A tidy people carrier and trailer would serve you better.

its got 125000 on the clock. my mate reckons he'll sort it but its a recon head etc…(i know **** all about cars) he fixed my locks tonight etc… since theft. i'm changing my name to lucky

If I was getting a new motor I would only lease it – works out cheaper than buying.

The head will very likely need to come off, i assume the nut head snapped off leaving the threaded section in the head…

It could be cleverly extracted without head removal and i don't mean your mates head…at least not yet..

the plug was siezed

Plugs shouldn't really be put in silly tight, a bit a heat and clever beating with a clever tool and stick might free it. good luck

Its not just down to dead money etc. If its against your business then the way you buy/lease a vehicle has tax implications.

I speak from a commercial vehicle background and things can be a little different on cars as they dont tend to qualify for some of the tax advantages as much as the vans. Here are some basic pointers though.

Hire Purchase
Basically you pay a 10-15% deposit (If you have any sense) + All the VAT if you are VAT registered and buying a van. So you need to cough for a good amount of money to begin with (Again if you have any sense otherwise you are looking at neg equity) You then buy the vehicle over a period and at the end of the term you own it. ATM you get 100% tax allowance on first £50,000 of capital expenditure which means you buy a van for £15,000 + VAT, you put £15k against you tax returns (Ie they may owe you for once). Sounds great but in real terms its just to encourage you to spend atm. The real benefit is that you have a payment history and you have an asset to your business which means you are strengthening your company. It also allows flexibility as you can settle an HP at any time without extra penalties and you can 'cash in' your asset if needs must. Oh and even the interest charged is tax deductable 🙂

Lease Hire/Contract Hire
Contract hire is only lease hire with the servicing and other add-ons ncluded.
This is what it states. You are hiring the vehicle and hand it back within the constraints of the contract. New business usually find it difficult to get accepted on these contracts. They are very tax efficient as the rental (vans) is 100% tax deductable which can mean it being very good way of lowering any tax bills over a spread period and also allow you to have a set vehicle cost over a set period (No surprises). Companies like Stobarts only ever CH as they factor this into their running costs and come up with a cost per mile calculation which lets helps immensly when costing for contracts.

Not gonna go into all the other contracts available like Lease purchase (Just a bit less painfull cash flow wise than Hire Purchase), PCP contracts etc but considering you are a new business and in your position i wouldnt want to hang a big debt around my neck i would be looking at buying a good used van which will still qualify for the tax allowance but wont cripple you. It will still be a good asset to you and your business. Contact me if you want some more finance info or anything on vans (I am a merc main dealer – I may be able to do you a favour in return for some cycle instruction).

The above are basics and you should have an accountant who can give you advice specific to your own business. To say one would suit you is only down to you and your acountant.

Hope the above helps

Hi Jedi, there is no 'cheaper' offering when considering Leasing or Buying. You need to work out a 'Whole Life Cost' (capital outlay, servicing, depreciation etc) for your transport which should give you a monetary guide on which method is cheaper. Then you need to consider what value you put on things like 'How important is it for my business to budget' or 'How important is it for me to own my own vehicle if circumstances change'. Sorry for the longwinded answer but its a big topic. My email is in my profile if you need to discuss in depth. Call it good Karma for getting one over on the bike thieving scum. Cheers.

cheers llh!

It also depends what (and when) your business generates cash – and also any personal tax implications (especially if its your own business).

For my wifes business the most cash/tax/admin efficient method is for her just to charge 40ppm for any business journey (25ppm after 10k pa). Not sure about vans though – but just because you can buy/lease new doesn't mean you should.

Jedi, have a chat with TL Hobo.. Andrew really helped me out with a van. Good guy to work with. He is in Carlisle….

I have used a large torx bit on ohv fords when they have had plugs (tapered seat) siezed. Bang it in and unwind. I think the shock of the hitting may help. If it doesn't work what have you lost, the head would have to come off anyway.

Looked at all the hire purchase type stuff and ended up just buying a decent second hand van. As of a couple of weeks ago I'm the proud new owner of an 04 LT35 which will be slowly converted to dream race van. To get anything brand new just represents a much greater total investment than I (or the business) needs at this point – plus you are committed to making payments. I'd say if you've got a couple of grand for a downpayment on hire purchase, save a little more and buy a good second hand one – lots of good buys out there.

I have just taken in a Renault Traffic 115DCI (07 reg) at work. Silver and factory specced second row of seats in the back so it will seat 6. 26,000mls and one owner. That would suit your job better than any new van as its had the chunk of its depreciation already and even though they are quite 'soft' it will cope with your car like use easily. £8,250 + VAT (Its VAT qualifying if you are VAT registered)

On the other hand i have plenty of £22,000 + VAT Vito Dualiner Sports you can have 😉

Hi Jedi, after our skills session on 17th December I'm well pleased to see you got the Demo 9 back. I know you were wound up something bad at the time.

So the car/van thing.

I run my personal car for business use, I claim back £0.40 per mile for petrol which makes it much more worth while than getting a car on the business then getting stung all the tax and only being able to claim something silly like £0.12 per mile.

No reason why you couldn't get a cheap run around for yourself, buy a trailer on the business and get a towbar fitted….

Will be in touch sometime soon, lessons really paying off so will be back for more!

Dz

awesome news daza! it's so simple but amzing eh 🙂

Jedi,
Daz is right,Using a personal vehicle you can claim the £0.40 for the first 10,000 miles the it drops to £0.25, I've run it this way for the last couple of companies that I've worked for.
If you cover a decent mileage then it can pay off, I averaged 40,000 miles a year so could claim £11,500 back to cover the cost of fuel, insurance and the purchase of the car. I bought a £10,500 car about 4 years ago. I easily covered the purchase and running costs, the car's still in decent nick and I'm quids in.

You need to consider all the impact financially, cash flow etc..

yeah my accountant says 40p permile too 🙂

You also need to think about what your plans are for the next few years, presumably you have a 5yr or so plan?
Might want to check out what the likes of dirtschool, mb7 and other skills providers have gone through to arrive at what they use.
eg Tally(upliftscotland)has a crew cab pickup and trailer for his trailbuiding use. Clive Forth has a tricked out T5.

Jedi

You other options is the auctions, Im off to Blacbushe tomorrow adn I have seen 3 year old vivaros going for 4k plus vat

mmmmmmm

For my wifes business the most cash/tax/admin efficient method is for her just to charge 40ppm for any business journey (25ppm after 10k pa). Not sure about vans though – but just because you can buy/lease new doesn't mean you should.

Same here. 40p per mile, about 8k miles per year = £3,200.

That's more than the cost of my car and easily covers maintenance and fuel.

It's way less complicated than the business buying a vehicle (and as I do the admin I like to keep things simple).

It's also what my accountant does, so it can't be silly.

I'd say go for the second hand vivaro/Trafic/Primastar, they are all the same van, made in Luton and are a great economical van.

Get one like the littlest hobo, with a second set of seats, they do long or short wheelbase versions and for fun they do 100hp, ok 115hp getting better and 140hp, whoah there boy!

115hp would probably be the best bet.

Jedi

Was in the auctions today.

Primastar/traffic/vivaros on a 05/06 plate from £3200 – £4000 plus VAT

Little transit connect vans on 06 plates from £2 – 2.5k + VAT.

Go there and visit, some great bargains.

cheers nasher, i will later in the year i think

Vivaro/traffic/primastar all the same van, drive nice and roomy,only two cup holders though,dont forget to tell your insurance company its for buissness use and if you get it signed or grafixed,they may charge you more or refuse to insiure you, im not allowed to have signage, as it identifies the van as a mobile tool box.

Avoid the connects, cheap and cheaply made.