most economic way of buying a van

theSNEW

i’m looking to replace my current panel-van and i wonder how to go about it most economically?

i’ve heard it’s really bad to buy brand new as vehicles typically lose most of their value in the first years, therefore is it better to buy something 2+ years old, but with less than average mileage? i have money saved so i could buy new if i thought it was worth it, I certainly wouldn’t relish giving money away to interest on an unnecessary loan or hire-purchase, but i just wonder how worth buying new is?

last time I bought i got something 7 years old for about a quarter of it’s original price, it had fairly low mileage but did cost a fair bit in yearly repairs. I would guess maintenance costs on a new/young vehicle to be relatively low? I would be happy to go this way again if it’s cheaper in the long run.

a lot of people i know get vans on lease/pcp because they can make a tax saving but at £300+ month this seems a false economy?? yes the tax saving is great but eventually you could have paid off the van in full and either you have paid significantly more than the principle because of interest or end up forever paying monthly and getting a new van every 4/5 years.

the other option is to rent when i need to.. yes it would be inconvenient and extra admin but i would save in tax, insurance, maintenance etc. I work in the film industry and generally only work two thirds of the year so perhaps this would be cheaper over all?

any advice or pointers would be greatly appreciated!

forgotmyname

No buy something 5 years old and HIGH miles. Very cheap. depreciation will be minimal after 5 years compared to the first 5.

High miles depreciates the vehicle further, and everyone knows they all explode in a cloud of smoke when they hit 100,000 miles. So demand is lower which drops prices further.

Savvy buyers, buy a high miles 5 year old van and cherish it and in 5years time they sell it for half of what they paid or run it until it dies, at least 10 years after you bought it.

silverwhistle

My GF's white van has very high mileage (not sure if it's over 100k) but is reliable enough, off the road recently for a day, but she has a good garage she trusts.

Only half-jokingly I suggested we use it for next year's skiing holiday so that we could bring more wine and cheese back, and I'd certainly have confidence in it making it.

I'd seriously look at forgotmyname's advice, but find someone with a bit of knowledge first before taking the leap.

System

theSNEW wrote: »

last time I bought i got something 7 years old for about a quarter of it!!!8217;s original price, it had fairly low mileage but did cost a fair bit in yearly repairs.

Congratulations, you found out that doing low mileage is bad for a vehicle. Personally I would and I do buy cars that have done an avereage of 15k or more a year over ones which have done half or less than that. The low mileage one will have spent most of its life either doing short journeys or being stood for long periods, both of which are bad. The high mileage one will have been used very regularly and mostly on long runs. My current car had 38k on it when I bought it at 2 years old, its now on 128k and other than a suspension bush and track rod end has been fine. My previous car I bought at three years old with 90k on it. I ran that for half a decade and sold it with 165k. Other than a few bushes, an alternator, a bit of plastic pipe and a brake caliper that ran fine too.

AdrianC

Have you spoken to your accountant about the benefits of leasing?