What Commercial Vehicle?
What Commercial Vehicle?
Author
Discussion

loudpedal

Original Poster:

3,944 posts

292 months

Friday 18th October 2002
quotequote all
OK chaps, suggestions please....

With the ever rising personal tax cost of having a company car, we are considering ditching company cars in favour of Company Commercial vehicles (taxable benefit of only 500 squids per annum).

Trouble is, we need four seats in the vehicles, and 'reasonable' fuel economy.

Can anyone suggest anything, as I know next to nothing about commercial vehicles...

JMGS4

8,889 posts

293 months

Friday 18th October 2002
quotequote all
Can only comment on what has recently happened in germany here - Big Cab pick-ups have been "demoted" from goods vehicle to private vehicles tax-wise because the tax-nazis think that's a loophole. But a 2 seater VW Polo Van (here a Caddy) is a truck!!!!! with windows or not!!!!!
I don't think that the GB tax-nazis would be far behind on this..............

loudpedal

Original Poster:

3,944 posts

292 months

Friday 18th October 2002
quotequote all
@rse!!! I was considering a big cab pick up...

they are huge tho! And if the tax laws change... it'd be stuffed.

mel

10,168 posts

298 months

Friday 18th October 2002
quotequote all
NO. DON'T DO IT.

Tax benefit or not the sheer horror of having to drive around in either a "King Cab" pikie mobil, making you look like a flash builder, a trumped up ashtray van looking like a one man band plumber or one of those horrid Veto conversion used by roofing gangs things is stomach turning. My advice is if you need a van buy the most suitable van for what you carry etc, and then buy a car that you want. The facts are that for the price of £15k Pikie Wagon you could get a 3 year old medium sized van with sensible miles on the clock and still have £10K to buy a nice personal second hand half decent car. Its horses for courses and there's no such thing as the perfect all rounder !

craigalsop

1,991 posts

291 months

Friday 18th October 2002
quotequote all
Would one of those HSV "utes" fit into this category? That's one pickup truck I wouldn't mind owning....

loudpedal

Original Poster:

3,944 posts

292 months

Friday 18th October 2002
quotequote all

mel said: NO. DON'T DO IT.

Tax benefit or not the sheer horror of having to drive around in either a "King Cab" pikie mobil, making you look like a flash builder, a trumped up ashtray van looking like a one man band plumber or one of those horrid Veto conversion used by roofing gangs things is stomach turning. My advice is if you need a van buy the most suitable van for what you carry etc, and then buy a car that you want. The facts are that for the price of £15k Pikie Wagon you could get a 3 year old medium sized van with sensible miles on the clock and still have £10K to buy a nice personal second hand half decent car. Its horses for courses and there's no such thing as the perfect all rounder !


Mel, you have a (very amusing) point.

You have just cheered up an otherwise boring Friday Morning. Cheers fella!

mel

10,168 posts

298 months

Friday 18th October 2002
quotequote all
As for the tax rules the "King Cab" things have had a few changes, originally the rules said anything with seats and windows behind the driver was a car full stop, this created problems for things like AA vans and legitimate users such as site workers who need to move 4/5 people plus tools. The rules then got changed to say a certain % of the area had to be for cargo and all of a sudden "King Cabs" were vans, now days every building firm boss in the country has jumped on the band wagon and you see big FO Pikie Wagons with DVD's in the back for the kids the works and doing exactly what you propose. The official line from my local tax office is that now days these vehicles will "be assesed on an individual basis" i.e. is it being used as a car or a van ? and taxed accordingly.

Disclaimer: I only know all this because my foreman wants one, honest

hertsbiker

6,443 posts

294 months

Friday 18th October 2002
quotequote all
Mel you're too harsh ! some of those PU's really motor. Ok, don't handle too good, but well able to outpace most of the Max Power brigade. My (for the 2 weeks until I sold it to buy another bike) 6.2 Chevy was quite a traffic light sprinter, and crushed speed bumps back into the tarmac. Agree with you about pikeys though.

loudpedal

Original Poster:

3,944 posts

292 months

Friday 18th October 2002
quotequote all
The alternative for us is to use pool cars. This means I would have to commute to work on the train (boo!) or in the tiv (wahoo!)...

The tax man makes it hard and is basically a git.

mel

10,168 posts

298 months

Friday 18th October 2002
quotequote all
The way I get round it (ish) is as follows:

Passat TDI: 5 year old economic every day diesal that I own and cost about £5K, it's comfy, goes reasonably well and I claim 40p per mile back (upto 10K then 25p/mile) this more than covers the costs of running this car and actually gives some extra tax free in my pocket.

Movano Van: In the company and on no ones P11d, however it's bloody handy for booze runs, and loading three bikes in the back for track days etc

Freelander: Again in the company but as a "pool car", not generally used by me everyday, but it does get "garaged" overnight away from site for security reason and is avaliable to me for "call out use only". In other words it lives on my drive, I use it to take the dog down the marshes, and when Mrs Mel goes to Sainsbury's.

Griff/XK8 absolutely FA to do with the company, but I do claim mileage for them if I use them for work and it's amazing how that mileage tots up.

loudpedal

Original Poster:

3,944 posts

292 months

Friday 18th October 2002
quotequote all
I was told by my tax office that our pool cars could not be stored off site, security or no security.

Also, what is pool car insurance like ££ generally? Can anyone recommend any insurers for this sort of thing?

mel

10,168 posts

298 months

Friday 18th October 2002
quotequote all
Thats why the next part of my thread specifies "on call" it's a bit of a fine line, but the "pool car" is avaliable to me in case I get called out, reasons are 24Hr business phone line at home, key holder, alarm company register, customer service mobile number. It can be quiet nice when things like your home internet access and phone line being payed by the company actually work in your favour justifying other things. I'll mail you off line with a few other bits

williamp

20,112 posts

296 months

Friday 18th October 2002
quotequote all
When I had the choice of New comapny car, I suggested to the ladies in the office

"Transit van with a matress in the back"

dennisthemenace

15,605 posts

291 months

Friday 18th October 2002
quotequote all
the 2.0 16v astra diesels are very quick , no weight to them , had one for a month when mine was in for repair had just about everything fitted A/C etc .

winterbourne

12 posts

284 months

Friday 18th October 2002
quotequote all
i guess none of you like double cab pick ups but i bought one (to tow my race car )and to use as an everyday vehicle.Its economical,ultra reliable and you can drive over all the central reservations in the super markets.Yeah i might look like a pikie but then again i'm classed as a second class person in the uk anyway as i'm a farmer!!!

Cotty

41,882 posts

307 months

Friday 18th October 2002
quotequote all
Not sure of the tax laws but I used to run a slightly mad pick up (see profile) that had two bench seats in the back and chromed beer barrrel in the back as a petrol tank and every time I went through the tolls at the Dartford crossing I had problems.

Tried to class me as a comercial vehicle, like im really going to put rubbish in the back. It used to be a show car featured in Custom Fords book years ago.

but no joy