With my role changing in the Spring to full time homemaker, part time carpenter, we're really struggling with what to do with vehicles.
We both need a vehicle as we're quite far out from the village and even further from the town. When I'm not working I want the children to go to play groups, grandparents houses, etc and these will all involve driving and my wife's work is 45 minutes away.
Currently I have a transit van, which is about the minimum sized van I can get away with to do the type of work I do (I've had smaller vans but it never works out very well). I plan to continue doing my own private work for customers at weekends and school holidays and also it's handy having something like this for a smallholding where I can pick up large items (hay, straw, feed etc). The van has three seats in the front so me and the girls do fit in it, the trouble is it's expensive to run and drinks the juice.
My wife has an estate car, which is ideal for the children, fits all the stuff she needs for school in and is quite economical to run.
We also have (and are trying to sell) a small Skoda Fabia, my wife's old car. This is cheap to run and is a good runner.
My wife has suggested that we keep all three as it would be better if I had the estate car (as I'd have the children all the time), she kept the Fabia for going to work and I only used the transit for when I've got work (to keep fuel costs down).
The trouble is I don't like the idea of paying to keep all three vehicles on the road.
What would you do in our situation?
We have the same difficulty about vehicles here. We need a 'proper' car for when we have visitors, and a van for the farm. I think we are going to get a trailer as a compromise for the moment, and perhaps get a van in the future. We need to do something, because at the moment our old beaten up Mercedes is full of bits of straw, hay, and other stuff connected with it being used as a farm vehicle, and it looks a mess! I think maybe a trailer might be the way to go for you, so you can let go of the van.
ReplyDeleteThe trouble with turning up on a job with a car and a trailer is it doesn't look very professional and it makes it very easy for someone to nick all my tools in one go! Tailers are a hot comodity round these parts with them frequently being stolen
DeleteI agree with Vera. You are only going to work part time as a carpenter so a trailer is the best way to go.
ReplyDeleteI've still got to look the part in that time. Also our drive would be a nightmare if I had to turn a trailer round every night!
DeleteWhen I retired we went down to one car. We bought a Berlingo, which is a hatchback on a Picasso chassis. It seats five, but the back seats can folded down or taken out with ease. We can get bales of hay and all sorts of stuff in the back. We also have a trailer for really big stuff. Our godson, who has three children and does garden/ tree felling/ fencing, uses a hatchback with a trailer too.
ReplyDeleteGill
The trouble is I always first judge a tradesman by the vehicle he turns up in and I'm not sure how well a trailer would go down. also we haven't got much room to store one at the moment as we have very little hardstanding yet.
DeleteA trailer sounds like a good idea, depending on your laws over there. Otherwise, would a top rack on a car work for bigger items?
ReplyDeleteI've got a licence for a trailer. I had to do my full driving test again to get it and it cot over 200 pounds with the training!
DeleteWhat about a pick up with a crew cab?
ReplyDeleteIt's the ability to carry an 8ft by 4ft sheet of ply that I need the most and the number of tools I have to carry is huge! I don't think a pick up would do it. Also I thkn they probably use more fuel than a transit!
DeleteI drive a berlingo
ReplyDeleteWhat do I know?
Good choice !
DeleteWhen ever I see one I always think "Britains BERLINGOing mad!" No idea why I think that but I do. Berlingo would be too small for me I think. I used to hae a connect which is a bout the same size and I was always struggling for space.
DeleteIn the US, they use full size trucks with ladder racks and tool boxes mounted on the bed sides but I suspect that your are better off with what you are doing. It would make sense to have 2 vehicles.
ReplyDeleteI think your right and just keep the van and loose the fabia
DeleteKeep the Transit. It's too useful. For a start, you can't get a sheet of 8x4 in anything else. AND use it to run the kids about - you've got to tax and insure it even when you're not driving it, so you may as well use it. You can buy *a lot* of fuel for the Transit, for the cost of a third vehicle(+tax+insurance+fuel).
ReplyDeleteThat makes a lot of sense really the extar cost would pay for a lot of fuel! Also if we have to go anywhere on the weekend we can use the car anyhow. The 8x4 sheet is one of the main issues as it rains so much over here you can't really put it on the roof!
DeleteI know what yo mean about fuel costs. Here we are paying 3.50U$ a gallon (3.7 liters) which by your standards is cheap. I just filled my truck yesterday and it cost me 65U$. That is the better part of our weekly food budget. It only gets about 18 mpg. (3.8 liter V6 engine w/automatic trans). For work I have always used a pick-up truck with a cap on it. Cary dimensional lumber on the roof rack, plywood and tools inside. Here in the US it is almost standard for carpenters. The difficult thing is finding a mid size pick-up with an 8 foot bed and 4 foot between the wheel wells so you can carry plywood and drywall boards. No one makes one any more. All the smaller pickup trucks are what I call Taliban trucks with a 5 foot long bed and double cab, they are useless for work. Then you have to jump up to the big Ford F250/350 with the 7 liter engine that gets about 7 mpg at best. There is no in between. The van sounds real appealing and keeps tools and materials dry in bad weather and you don't have to crawl on your knees to get things. But given your situation a trailer that may actually be set up as a mobile shop may be just the ticket.
ReplyDeleteThe other trouble with a trailer that big would be that we'd need a bigger car to pull it! Also when I work in towns it's tricky to park. Like your pickup being standard over there, transits are pretty standard for carpenters over here (or another make but that size). We always have to look how each other has racked out their van to hold their tools!
Deletekeep the truck. I feel very upset sometimes when I think about when we sold our land rover 110. we should never have sold it. cab up front and the back as a van. being able to lug stuff around for the smallholding and working. I feel you should never get rid of a vehicle that can help you make money.
ReplyDeletealso if you are self employed cant you off set the money to keep it by claiming mileage for the work you do? there are very few types of debt I believe in, only 3 really, a mortgage, a vehicle to get to work and to do the job and loans for further education. I vote to keep the van
Yeah the milage will be set against tax when its for work (I keep a diary of all work miles) and I like your point of never getting rid of a vehicle that helps you earn money!
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ReplyDeleteListen to your Mrs...if you know what I mean ;) LOL!
ReplyDeleteI always do!
DeleteOver 15 years we had several mini vans/people carriers. We liked imported Toyotas. Cheapish to to buy, not too bad to run or insure. We have four kids so needed more seats but the seats came out well and easily when used for a van and went back in easily for all six of us to use. You could try keeping one of those existing cars and selling one car and the van and going for one of these.
ReplyDeleteNo, he's already said he needs the van for his carpentry work...
DeleteThere's no cover on a toyota type vehicle for my tools or if there is it's not very big, so wouldn't really be much good for me. although the removable seats would be handy (I'd then have no where to store the seats - we're lacking on inside space a bit!) but changing vehicle is always a pain.
DeleteYeah, I see your point with the seats. In the end we had one each, both Hi Aces and steve left the seats out of his and just used it as a van keeping the seats in the garage. He used to renovate houses and could get all the materials he needed in there though, they are quite long. Not a patch on the xlwb crafter i drive now though!!
DeleteWe have the same sort of situation Kev, but one of ours is a campervan. It does gall me a bit that we have three vehicles, the expense and all, but as my other half says we're only actually using any one at any time so at least fuel-wise it's not costing any more, it's just the tax and insurance etc. Sounds like your wife's idea is probably the best in what's not an easy situation. ....Gosh, what was Steve Finnell's comment all about??!!!! Nothing to do with cars for sure!
ReplyDeleteYeah, apparently I should repent my sins! I didn't think I had too many but he must think otherwise!
DeleteThe extra insurance for the other car is about £28 a month plus tax so that could go towards the extra fuel for the van (I do love the van) if we sold it. Also it would be one less vehicle thats depreciating in value. We're still thinking about it - I hate making decisions like this!
Being in a similar situation a good few years ago . we looked at the numbers and found that the cost of keeping the extra car was more than the extra fuel costs . so we sold one car . used the money to have windows put in the van and put removable seats in the back .so we could all fit in . My girls always talk fondly of the van adventures and holidays . I would not go for a trailer as unless you get one big enough to get a 8 by 4 sheet in you will always be frustrated .
ReplyDeleteI think you've hit the nail on the head. at the moment me and the girls fit in the van and if my wifes around then we'll use the car. The saving in fuel won't really be worth the extra cost.
DeleteI used to love going off in the landrover with my dad to farm sales and can remember it well. Maybe my girls will have simular memories!
We put in a three seater bench seat , So we could add a friend . going on camping trips etc was much better in the van than the car . The seat fitted in rails on the floor and was easy to take out for work .
DeleteRight... I think you've missed the point a bit though.
ReplyDeleteDo you think I should get rid of the third car or not?
Funny my husband and I were just talking about a similar problem, with trying to cut back we decided we do not need all three vehicles even though they are paid off and only liability that is still expensive! Jim (hubby drives his company truck all the time) so we are going to sell all three and find a low miles car we can pay cash for and with just the one liability insurance it wil save us $102.00 a month :)
ReplyDeleteWe currently run three vehicles as we do need them all. But in your case as long as you can fit the girls comfortably and safely in the van I think the best option is to get rid of the Fabia.
ReplyDeleteThe money you save on running that car can go towards the slightly higher costs of the van and really you will be no worse off running the van, which as you say is the first sight of you your customers see when you pull up to do a job. I would never trust a workman that turned up in a battered old van (unless he had come to empty my drive of rubbish)!!
Gotta love these random preachers. I would also say sell the Fabia, but as I'm nearly 3 years behind, it's a bit redundant lol
ReplyDelete