Small Van for business and family

paddylonglegs

Hi Folks,

Looking for some friendly suggestions on what way to go with this.

Running a business for a year now, all is going well thank god.

I am currently using my Opel Astra estate for operations with ladders, tool boxes, materials and jobs being carried in it. Putting down the seats regularly when I need the space and can even fit in 8ft lengths when needed. Its not fit for the purpose I need really and looks incredibly unprofessional when arriving at a place of work (I try to park away from the site if I'm honest!)

Family being carried in wifes car, but she will be going back to work soon, so it means i will need to be more involved in lifts and school runs etc.

I'm looking to get a small van (caddy,connect etc) that can carry seats in the back, but can either be folded down well or removed completely for any large jobs I need to carry. I would prefer a smaller van as i am working from home at the moment and would prefer a smaller option, so a crew cab large van isn't ideal and the back space of those are smaller.

There is the likes of a Cady maxi life https://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/volkswagen/caddy-maxi-life/used-2019-191-volkswagen-caddy-maxi-l-louth-fpa-201809030101551 and probably similar vans like this. I do wonder though if these are built as vans or as specific 7 seaters - and where does it land with insurance/ declaring it as a commercial or not/ tax etc.

Do I need to look at just converting a standard van?

As its the business I will most likely be getting this on finance and not an older type.

A bit dazed and confused at this stage so any advice appreciated!

GavMan

Might not be what you're looking for but a chap on my road is running a Renault Traffic with a single seating bench in the back for his nippers and their seats

Its not much bigger than the caddy you linked

_Brian

I know a carpenter and he recently bought a Vauxhall Vivaro or similar, anyway imagine it has the crew cab seats in the back you can still slide 8*4 sheets into the back as they go up under the crew seats. Very handy to get the 8*4 sheets in and have the crew cab.
Got it from Van Monster

colm_mcm

You have the whole complication of not being allowed to use a crewcab taxed as such for non business activity.

paddylonglegs

colm_mcm wrote: »

You have the whole complication of not being allowed to use a crewcab taxed as such for non business activity.

Yes this is something I'm trying to get my head around.

The technicality is I can't do a school run as its not a business activity?

colm_mcm

Yes. Now there’s a lot of people at it, but its still not allowed.