Car or Van???

[Oli]

Sorry for the long post.

Basically as above..

Do you have a seperate work van or use your car for your work?

Those who read my introduction thread will know this but for those who havent, I am going to take up a career in tiling (hopefully!!) part time around my current full time job in which i have blocks of 4 days off (so hoping to eventually move to full bathroom sized jobs when my experience grows to a suitable level).

I am in the process of sorting a course, and costing up the things I need to buy to get up and running.

I'm really interested to know, particularly from those of you who similarly tile part time if you have a van or use your day to day cars.

I have a Vauxhall Vectra Estate, it has a really big boot space but is quite new it already takes some hammer from having two dogs driven about in it but has a protective boot liner because i dont want it to get trashed.

I'm considering using this for my tiling work saving the expense of buying a van, even a cheap one is going to be a real struggle financially for me by the time i've accounted for insurance, tax, running costs etc. ontop of tools and course, liability insurance etc.

But on the flip side I really dont want to be using my car for tiling work if the things i have to carry in it are going to ruin it.

(If i use the car i'd be getting a roof rack for boards etc).

Any advice / experiences would be very much appreciated.

Oli

[videoman]

I'd use your car carefully until you are sure you can make a living from tiling and you like your new career. When you have some money and experience behind you then make a financial decision if you can run both.

The problem with a van if it is your only vehicle is it will only have two or maybe three seats which can be limiting when using your vehicle for other occasions and leaving it in public car parks i.e. when shopping can be a problem with tools in the back.

I'm in a similar situation to you at the moment but am looking at buying an older estate car to see how it goes (half the price of a van to purchase and cheaper to insure).

[CJ]

Its got to be a van...............Small van to start off with.

It takes a lot more stuff............Is usually hidden from sight from the thieving little gits............and it looks more professional.

Also.........When carrying bags of grout/cement etc etc, it does'nt take much for a cloud or 2 of dust from the bags to go everywhere.

I did start off years ago with a car..........Fiesta hatchback (2nd car) in which I took the back seats out and it did'nt take much to fill it up...........also need to watch ya back humping tools/Gear out of it.

So for me...........Its got to be a van to start off with.

[Fekin]

I use my car, but really want a van, but parking issues prevent me getting one

[frostfree]

I started with a cheap estate car as it was all I could afford. Problems I found were that it did not portray a professional image. Some customers seem to think that if a tradespersons van is new and shiny, they must be a quality tradesperson! I do not subscribe to this theory but unfortunately my customers do, hence I now have a shiny van. Vans also offer more scope for being signwriten which is cheap advertising. You will also soon destroy an estate car carrying boxes of tiles and tools, plays havoc with rear suspension and interior soon gets tatty. As already stated probably best to start with your estate car, see how much work comes in, then buy a van.
Good luck hope it all works out.

[grumpygrouter]

Oli, I am a year in and still using my (estate) car, van would be nice for me but not essential yet.

[ryanclarke]

When I start up I'm just going to use my car to start with and see how it goes. If I get myself more and more business I assume there'll be no choice but to get a van after a while

[Oli]

Oli, I am a year in and still using my (estate) car, van would be nice for me but not essential yet.

Do you manage to keep it reasonably clean?

A friend of mine who is a plasterer part time, has been for many a successfull year has a van with some magnetic signs that he had made up, thought if i do use my car i could get some made up and whack them on the car when needed.

Funnily enough though he's on his second set now as some toe rag nicked the signs of his van whilst he was doing a job, he found it funny that some thief could be driving roung advertising his plastering business for free as the signs were permanent and printed with his name and company logo and contact details!!!

Back on topic though... my only hang up about using my car is ruining the interior with dust from adhesives and grout.

Posetives are that when i do get up and running, it's a new, smart looking estate, with the magnetic signs i think it would look the business.

[bigdaz]

I did plastering for 3 years out of the back of my mondeo estate. I used one of those waterproof tarpaulins to protect it. I sold it a few months ago and you'd never tell that it had been used for trade

I know wivers posted a couple of months back that he'd bought an ex RAC van for £2600

[chris.tiling]

I used my vauxhall zafira for 6 months but then ran out of room for the big cutter I took with me / couldnt do a supply and fit service without completely unloading the tools first, meaning two journeys. When I traded it in for a van, it was a mess, even though I had used a damp proof tarp for the back and tried to keep it clean...that grout dust gets everywhere! Traded it and £1500 for an 03 plate fiat scudo which now I have racked half of it takes all I need with room to spare, plus now is properly sign written has generated me more business

[Turkish]

Hi mate. Something tells me we are in the same full time profession! I tile part time and use my car but it`s a large 4 x 4 so plenty of room however i would rather not get it filthy dirty so am looking to sell this car and buy a smaller car and a van from the proceeds. At the moment i use polythene sheets to protect the inside from wear and tear but it is a pain having to be so careful!

Turkish

[MrSpoon]

i had a small vauxhall corsa not long ago, used to have all my plastering tools in iut, didnt mind about the intererior, just flip open the boot and sling it all in, spent an hour ro so giving it a good clean before selling it on, np probs! but you can just get a cheap set of car seat covers and line the boot with tarpaulin or cotton twill dust sheets and you'll be fine

[discoduster]

There's some good cheap vans around if you look.

I bought a £600 T reg Escort with 88k on the clock, it was an ex BT van fitted with a rev limiter so the engine's immaculate (still haven't needed to put any oil in!)

Sways a bit round the corners though when loaded up with tiles

[hillhead]

I started with a citroen xsarsa hatchback,done for a short while then bought a berlingo van,great article.But i don't hang around and soon noticed i need a bigger van so bought a new traffic with lots of power etc,now i can even carry tiles and addy up to 1.2 tonnes ! and all my tools.

[poynton phil]

definitley get a van, i used to have a audi a4 after first 12mths it was s**t up, dont matter how careful you are, got a astra van now, got a ply lining to seperate cab from the back, plenty room for tools ect, nice clean cab.lots better

[Twotanks]

Started my business a year ago at the same timewas going to buy a new Vectra estate to carry the gear. Then I had a rare moment of clarity and bought a Berlingo van. Best thing I have bought in years, although I could do with a bigger van now. Tax advantages are better with the van as well.

[Oli]

Started my business a year ago at the same timewas going to buy a new Vectra estate to carry the gear. Then I had a rare moment of clarity and bought a Berlingo van. Best thing I have bought in years, although I could do with a bigger van now. Tax advantages are better with the van as well.

Ideally I would have done this, but at the time of getting the car 12 months ago I hadn't really considered getting into tiling, to be honest i got the veccy because i got a second dog and needed it to carry them round in.

I cant afford to get rid of it now for financial reasons, at the moment i owe more that it would be worth part ex.

I think i'll see how things take off and reconsider a van in maybe 6 to 12 months.

[macten]

I was originally going to go with a Berlingo sized van but too many people said you'd outgrow it very quickly. Bearing in mind I'm doing the bath refit side of things as well as tiling I went for a Vivaro.
Bit thirsty though.

[sstilingservice]

I must admit reading this thred I have just started up, and working out of an estate but now i'm thinking of chopping this in to get a pickup with a truckman top on with a double cab so I can still take kids to school and football and things. I do regret getting a car as you can't just through your gear in at the end of the day you have to place it all in neatly everything in its place sometimes it can be a bit of a chinese jigsaw. but all fits in the end

[grumpygrouter]

Started my business a year ago at the same timewas going to buy a new Vectra estate to carry the gear. Then I had a rare moment of clarity and bought a Berlingo van. Best thing I have bought in years, although I could do with a bigger van now. Tax advantages are better with the van as well.

In what way?

[grumpygrouter]

Do you manage to keep it reasonably clean?

A friend of mine who is a plasterer part time, has been for many a successfull year has a van with some magnetic signs that he had made up, thought if i do use my car i could get some made up and whack them on the car when needed.

Funnily enough though he's on his second set now as some toe rag nicked the signs of his van whilst he was doing a job, he found it funny that some thief could be driving roung advertising his plastering business for free as the signs were permanent and printed with his name and company logo and contact details!!!

Back on topic though... my only hang up about using my car is ruining the interior with dust from adhesives and grout.

Posetives are that when i do get up and running, it's a new, smart looking estate, with the magnetic signs i think it would look the business.

Not really a big problem for me, car has 180k on the clock, but i have a £10 tarpaulin from Homebase spread over the back, keeps it pretty clean really.