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Post by Humph on Jun 14, 2017 21:26:39 GMT
You may have a bit of a point there.
Very van-ish sort of a van though.
If you see what I mean.
Awfully van like. But, it might be an answer. Those double cab pick up thingies, well, some of them anyway, qualify as vans. Thirsty things though. And, I might have to get a tattoo.
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Post by tyrednexited on Jun 14, 2017 21:41:54 GMT
And, I might have to get a tattoo. ....back to being an Edinbugger, then? The kombi is less van'ish than most. Couldn't live with the lower speed limits of proper vans ( motorhomes motorcaravans campervans are strangely exempt up to 3050kg unladen weight - I got a fellow motorcaravanner off 9 points and a big find a few years ago when he was wrongly charged by Cambridgeshire Police!) |
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Avant
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Post by Avant on Jun 14, 2017 23:14:13 GMT
But of course this isn't just about money, as we all, being petrolheads, know.
If you're driving 40,000 miles a year and also having to give of your best in meetings with customers, you have to be in a car that's fast enough for you to enjoy and comfortable enough for you to relax in. Your lovely old Mondeo passed those tests, as does a Mercedes (although personally I'd never have another 4-cylinder diesel Merc, having had one and hated it). The Dacia would surely fail (too slow) and the VW Transporter also (too unwieldy).
The question is - can you find something along these lines that doesn't cost so much in tax? That was why I thought of the Passat GTE or the Superb estate: am I right in thinking that a Sitty Uppy Vehicle (like, say the new Kodiaq) is the wrong shape for the kit that you need to carry with you?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2017 1:58:58 GMT
Awfully van like. But, it might be an answer. Those double cab pick up thingies, well, some of them anyway, qualify as vans. Thirsty things though. And, I might have to get a tattoo. Don't forget your copy of the Sun to leave on the dashboard and a few coffee cups, not Costa or Starbucks !!! You could always lend/hire it to WdB while he's in denial about the size of vehicle he needs for the family Tall. If it's just about BiK what about a new Vauxhall Insignia? Handling is supposed to be mince according to the German manufacturer funded press but the list price is upper supermini for some of the models. That would get the BiK down wouldn't it? I'll leave that one there...😎 What is it about this place? No one sleep anymore? |
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Post by tyrednexited on Jun 15, 2017 7:52:59 GMT
......go the whole hog.... As posted elsewhere, I saw this in Aachen on Monday. Distinctive enough to catch my eye, but (to my eye) strangely proportioned. Range-extender Fisker Karma ( I had to look it up) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisker_Karma....can't be many around.   |
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Post by Humph on Jun 15, 2017 8:29:33 GMT
Do they do an estate?
😬
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Post by tyrednexited on Jun 15, 2017 8:39:10 GMT
Do they do an estate? 😬 ....I think that probably should have been did they...... (though it has been recently reborn here: www.karmaautomotive.com/....still no estate though  ) |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2017 9:06:42 GMT
I did a long drive from Sarajevo to Ljubljana last year as some may recall, in a the lowest specced, smallest engined, lowest powered VW Transporter minibus available. It was fully laden with 8 people and skiing luggage. It was excellent. Powerful enough, refined enough, comfortable enough. Didn't feel in the slightest frazzled, it drove like a big car really. Even with the indignity of a manual gearbox. I bet one with a poky engine and high spec would be bloody brilliant.
Then, also, there are these:
www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/range/caddy-c4/caddy-maxi-life
I've driven one of these as a hire car in Spain with the weedy 1.6 diesel, 105bhp I think, and the same comments as above apply really.
Also, a Touran with the seats folded would be a great load carrier - I've owned two of those and the 150bhp DSG model I had was fine for just about every use imaginable.
Any Merc MPV/vans available theses days which would qualify for commercial BIK? Vitos or something?
(EDITED link from Caddy Life to Caddy Maxi Life) |
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Post by Humph on Jun 15, 2017 17:17:14 GMT
It's hard this isn't it? Everything I like and is reasonable on BIK, is too small, everything that's big enough and still ok on tax, I don't really like, and everything l like, and is big enough, is expensive on BIK.
Then I think to myself, for example, tomorrow morning my alarm will go off at 04.00, I'll be in the car by 04.45 and will get out of it again sometime tomorrow evening having put another 550 miles on it during the day and had a couple of heavy-ish duty meetings as punctuation.
Quite nice to have a bit of a cosseting wafter to do that in really.
I'll never be rich.
😕
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Jun 15, 2017 18:43:58 GMT
The difference is about £100pm. So a £2500pa pay rise might just about cover it. I am sure you are worth it.
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Post by Humph on Jun 15, 2017 19:13:36 GMT
It's ok, I've worked it out. All I need to do is start smoking again for a month. That'll cost me about £300. Then I'll give up again saving myself £300 a month.
Sorted.
😜
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jun 15, 2017 20:47:32 GMT
Are you sure the way you operate is the only way it can be done? The world these days is full of companies who specialize in moving stuff, sometimes tp very specific places at very precise times. You're operating in a system that was designed to accommodate van drivers and business managers, but not people trying to combine the roles of business manager and van driver. Have you explained the problem to your employer, in case they can suggest a solution other than Rob's cash-based one?
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Avant
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Post by Avant on Jun 16, 2017 9:43:07 GMT
I'm not sure that it can be done any other way. As I understand it, Humph is sales director of a company selling high-quality, luxury-end products to wholesalers and/or retailers who don't have to take them. His suceess is no doubt down to building up relationships with the people he's selling to (plus having examples of the stuff with him in the car), and that's something that is much hard to do online or over the phone.
It's a hard, high-pressure way to make a living, but no doubt having a car that can be relaxed in helps to make it rewarding and enjoyable.
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Post by Humph on Jun 16, 2017 15:23:59 GMT
That'd be pretty much how it is Avant. Oh well, as I suggest in the thread title, it's a 1st world problem eh?
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Post by tyrednexited on Jun 16, 2017 16:18:20 GMT
...fraught with difficulties, and a few practical issues as well, but one thing you might want to have a look at is absolutely no private use of the business car at all. It appears to be possible, even if you are working from home, as long as every movement is business related, absolutely no private use at all.
That way you could avoid the BIK on the company car (and retain something of a reasonable size, quality and value), and either get something else for private use, or a little runaround and upgrade SWMBOs car.
Pretty stringent conditions, however, and a good accountant and pre-agreement with HMRC would be a given.
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