New or Used Vehicle?

Hello everyone just wanted to pick your brains about purchasing a vehicle for my business.

I currently use my personal truck to run my window cleaning/pressure washing business out of.

I have no business debt right now and the vehicle that I want to use for my business is a van. A van seems like it will be the best option to protect my tools from weather and theft while at the same time providing a professional image (once I wrap or letter it).

The problem is I have been searching local facebook pages/craigslist for a while now and it does not seem like there is a large market in my area for vans. The vans that I do run across in my used van price range don’t seem very trustworthy or it’s some type of scam lol.

I know that purchasing a used van would save me a great deal of money but at the same time it would create more of a headache as I wouldn’t know the history of it. A new vehicle will cost a significant amount of money but it seems like it would save a lot of headache in the long rung.

I should also mention that I’m a newer business so I don’t exactly have a large cashflow at the moment (this is not my only source of income though).

If you guys were in my shoes what route would you take? Any input would greatly help me out, thanks!

Maybe talk to Jordie @Jordie ?

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Personally, I don’t ever see myself buying a brand new vehicle. I know it makes sense for some guys, but for the types of vehicles I buy, the depreciation hit is too great to ignore. My current vehicle was less than 1/2 the MSRP, at only 4 years and 112k miles young. My previous vehicle was less than 1/3 MSRP at 6 years old and 143k miles. Both are/were very reliable workhorses, though not cosmetically perfect.

You may need to expand your search area for a good used vehicle, though. I have averaged 3-4+ hours drive one way for the last 4 vehicles I’ve purchased, and have yet to regret the time invested.

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Did you finance those and if so what did your purchase them at? I was thinking about maybe going for a Certified used vehicle from a dealership for around $10-$15K. Another option I was considering

I got financing from local banks.

First one was $4,250 financed for 3 years at 5.75% (which was a pretty good rate at the time)

My current vehicle was $7,500 financed for 5 years at 3.99%, though we’ll be paying it off a little sooner than that. That was through a credit union.

Neither were certified pre-owned, but they were at reputable used car dealerships.

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Look at a Isuzu NPR… I picked this one up at an auction for 3 grand and zero issues, runs great. Still need to wrap it.

Depending on your budget you could get a real nice NPR with low miles for 8-10 k. Looks professional and would set you apart from your competition that’s hauling open trailers with personal vehicles

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Awesome looking Isuzu. What is that body style called or what model is that??

Ok, I’m honestly a little jealous. I couldn’t really see myself driving that thing daily, but they make for a sweet wash rig.

Do you leave your pressure washer inside the back while you run it? Does the heat concern you or the fumes?

Just got it this winter, still working on getting it up and going. I have a flatbed I run also, so will be using that from now til April. The washers will be mounted right at the rear door. Think if I keep the rear door open and and the side door it will stay ventilated. Working with a flatbed on an NPR would be better I think though

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Yah, it takes a little use to and definitely not the smoothest ride on the road ha

That’s actually a pretty sweet box. I’ve only seen them around here with the other style box. There one local with 31k miles I keep looking at. Only. Asking 5900$

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I have a 2016 Transit for sale. Hmu if interested.

@Infinity you weren’t in Epping NH a couple weeks ago were you?

No sir, haven’t been out that way in years.

It say’s you’re not accepting messages at the moment. I was saying that I may be too far away from you but where are you located and what is your asking price?

I agree Alex. Our business is rough on trucks no matter how careful you are they get sprayed, put a lot of stress on the running gear and engines sometimes. If I had a new truck I’d almost be afraid to use it. An older one that already has a couple of little dings or scratches, doesn’t bother me as much if I add to it.

Of course saying that, have spent hours this week looking at doing a lease on a new F250 for 39 months for just over 400/mo., since I’v been looking for several months for a used long bed and just can’t find. But just can’t bring myself to pull the trigger on a new one. But it would be nice to have one maintainence free that you just turn in in 3 years.

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4,000 cash can get ya a nice used pickup in solid shape with around 140k around here. stay on top of the regular maintenance and your gold. Hell of a lot better than a car payment and full coverage but to each his own

i agree 4k cash with no note or full coverage insurance is nice. That is what draws me to a used vehicle the most. I’m really looking for a van tho and it’s really hard to find a decent one for that price in my area. Maybe it’s just bad timing but I been looking for a while now

Here’s what I got. I pull a trailer. Was pretty tough to find something decent without rust around here but finally came across something.

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