3 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Buying a Vehicle for Your Business

Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz.

3 Questions You Should Ask Yourself Before Buying a Vehicle for Your Business

Buying a vehicle for business is a very important decision and your choice will have a significant impact on your operation. Buying an unreliable vehicle that costs too much to run might eat into your margin and affect your performance. The appearance of the vehicle will also make a difference if you're in an image-driven business. Fortunately, finding a good business car is not that complicated when you know what to look for. Here are some of the questions to ask before buying a business vehicle.

Fuel or Electric?

Fuel-powered vehicles are still the most common for businesses, but you should consider electric vehicles too. They cost less to run and could work if you only have to drive short distances. They do depreciate much faster than other vehicles, however, and breakdowns can be very costly. And they won’t work for people who routinely have to travel long distances, so look at how you intend to use the vehicle first.

New, Used, or Leased?

The next question to ask is if you should get yourself a new, used, or leased vehicle. If you want a vehicle that will be fairly new, don’t want to worry about maintenance too much, and want to limit your initial cash flow hit, going with a lease could be the best option.

Know that there will be mileage restrictions on the vehicle, however. So, if you have to do a lot of driving and want to use the car as your personal vehicle too, it might not work. A lot of people will have an issue with not owning the vehicle as well.

If a lease is not an option for you, then you can get a used or new vehicle. There are very few cases where we would recommend a brand-new vehicle there. A new car will cost you much more and your asset will depreciate sharply the minute you leave the dealership. And, if what you wanted was to benefit from the warranty, you can't always get a used vehicle that is only one or two years old and still be covered.

If you decide to buy a used vehicle, be very careful who you buy it from and choose a supplier that has a solid reputation in your community. If you happen to live in Burton on Trent, look for car dealers Burton on Trent that have been established for years and make sure that they offer a solid warranty on all of their vehicles.

How Reliable are the Brand and Model?

This is an extremely important question to answer before you pick a model. Do not pick a car only because it looks good or it's the industry standard. Even if it's under warranty, you don't want a vehicle that has constant breakdowns. So, check the reputation of the manufacturer and the model and see if they're known for having specific issues. It's also important to know the cost and availability of parts in case you have to repair something that's not under warranty.

If you answer all these questions before you pick a vehicle, there’s a stronger chance that you’ll find a perfect one for you. This is your business we’re talking about, so don’t rush your decision and compare multiple models and options before making your final decision.

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