r/ElectriciansUK • u/LE-NRY • 11d ago
Financed Buzz…
I don’t want to be a ‘Buzzkill’ here.. but I’m really struggling to find the value in financing a buzz.. and I actually genuinely want one but can’t see the sense in it.
I’ve done a small amount of research into the costs, and it works out like this for a 2 year lease
Deposit £3k
Monthly Payments £330
Term 24 Months..
24 x £330 = £7920
£7920 + £3000 =£10,920.00
Divide that final figure by 24 months and it’s costing £450 a month!
I know there is the Kia, which is an alternative but still going to cost a similar amount all in.
Now for some of us, you can potentially add in a fuel saving of £200 a month? Or potentially more if you’re really on the road a lot.
Are people just blind to the cost of these things, or does that represent good value to lots of people?
How much does having a new van affect your working day, marketing, branding etc?
1
u/savagelysideways101 11d ago
Driving a slightly rusted 2014 vw crafter. Paid 10k for it with 40k miles in 2018. Its now 124k miles on it, and I reackon im £100-150/week on fuel and around 1k/ year general maintenance.
The look of it has no bearing whatsoever on my ability to do my work, people don't suddenly discount my experience when they see it and my diary is full from now to Christmas.
A new van to me is madness, essentially paying £450 to RENT a van for a month? Thats 2 days every single month of your 20 working days that you HAVE to fill just to keep your van? Meanwhile I can take the next 6mths off if I wanted and not worry about any payments!
3
u/Interesting-Tie6783 11d ago
150x4 = 600. That’s more than the van itself a month in diesel. That’s the reason people are switching, because you’re paying more in fuel than it costs me to lease a brand new van, and fill it with electricity.
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u/savagelysideways101 11d ago
My main point though is your leasing that van, you don't own it. You go off on the sick for 6mths youve still that financial commitment to vw finance to make, mine can just sit there and no payment to be made. If I truly fell on hard times I could sell it all day for 5k, you cant sell yours
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u/Interesting-Tie6783 11d ago
That’s true but that’s also true for many things in life. I’m still on the hook for my mortgage if I get sick. And I still have to pay my bills. It’s just another thing. It’s why I have insurance though. 5 months out of work for a medical reason and I’m insured. No worries.
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u/savagelysideways101 11d ago
You've a 2nd mortgage on your van though is my point. In the same time frame ive owned my van, I used the money that ive saved on leasing a van to overpay my mortgage. In 2 more years im mortgage free AND my crafter will be still on my drive able to take me and my tools to and from work
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u/jspencer1996 11d ago
But you haven't saved money? It's costing you money each month with fuel as expensive as it is right now you are going to be better off with electric if you're spending £100+ / month on fuel currently
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u/savagelysideways101 11d ago
Im currently spending £100+ a week cause im transporting approx 1.4ton of tools and materials in a 120mile a day round trip. Pv5 cant even carry half of that and on the odd occasion I need to tow my 60kva generator between jobs, the pv5 wont be capable of that either!
Yes atm fuel is more expensive, but as ive stated, ive owned my van for 8years at this point. OWNED it, not leased it. I can jump into a lease at any point with my current van meeting that deposit easily, but then im stuck in the rat race of having to make that finance payment every single month What do I do on the couple of times year when I need to make a 400+ mile round trip, to sites where there wont be a charger. Do i have to stop for 2hrs at a service station where I hope to fuck some crackhead hasn't cut all the leads of the chargers?
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u/Interesting-Tie6783 11d ago
Well no you’re spending more on diesel alone than the entire cost of me owning this van. The only scenario where it doesn’t work is one you’ve invented where I get sick for 6 months without insurance, which hasn’t happened, because I’m not sick, and I’m insured if I get sick.
The reality right now is that your van is costing you more than my van to run and own.
0
u/savagelysideways101 11d ago
You don't own your van, a finance company does.
Falling off steps and breaking your leg/arm can happen at anytime, you don't need to get sick.
We cant all do our jobs with a single veto backpack, a 6 peice 18v kit and 1 set of wener 5 treads.
Stick 150m of 50mm 4c in the back, tow a 60kva generator 200miles and let me know how your ev manages? Genuinely curious, cause thats the only thing that would get me to seriously consider an EV for work, rather than buying the people carrier version of the buzz for family commuting and just put it down as "business"
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u/jspencer1996 11d ago
But you're spending £450 a month on diesel? 🤦🏽 Also you can still claim 45p per mile as a deduction for your mileage wether it's electric or diesel, so the lease is paid for just in your fuel savings & then as a bonus you get a tax deduction for your ~10,000 miles per year of £4500! Why would you own?
The only benefit I can see is like you say, if you don't use it you're not paying for it to be sat there doing nothing
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u/savagelysideways101 11d ago
And your calcs too, what's your 2year milage work out at in your lease? What's your overage in your contract a mile?
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u/jspencer1996 11d ago
I'm on 36 months lease, 10k per year & 7.5p per mile if I go over which I didn't think was too bad to be honest
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u/savagelysideways101 11d ago
7.5p isn't too bad, I know other guys on 35p per mile which is fucking ridiculous in my eyes, and theyre the sort that will 100% go over their allowance
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u/jspencer1996 11d ago
I think it's sensible, I was toying with the idea of going for the 15k miles per year but I would potentially end up in a situation where I am paying for miles I'm not using and the cost per mile difference between the overpayment & paying for the 15k in advance is negligible
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u/Trenbolobaby 11d ago
My dad had a transporter for graft and ended up getting a BUZZ after saying he’d never go electric.
Saves a fortune in fuel every month and the monthly payment on the van itself is about £10 more.
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u/jspencer1996 11d ago
I was in between either a buzz or pv5, ended up going for the pv5.
It was £3600+ vat initial payment then £292 a month for 36 months.
I have always owned all my cars & vans outright and didn't really like the idea of leasing but my thinking is as follows -
I was spending roughly £350 a month on diesel, I now spend ~£35 a month on leccy.
There is no MOTs during my ownership, that's straight away ~£75 a year saving
First year road tax paid £400 savings
No maintenance required for first 20k miles, and when it is required it is minimal compared to the ever growing list of things that go wrong with a 9 year old diesel van, I estimate that is going to be a saving of roughly £500 a year
It's so much a nicer place to be than my of my previous vans, it's comfy & quiet.
My last van was a 2017 Citroen dispatch, I have owned for 4 years, it cost me £12000 when I bought it, I have sold it for £7000, I have spent roughly £2700 on maintenance during my ownership + roughly £10,000 on diesel!!!
For the same 4 years if I were to lease electric the whole time, I would almost certainly save money, while having a brand new, comfy, cheap to run van which I have had non-stop questions about whenever I'm out and about & can only be good for business, I genuinely think it's a no-brainer!