Here's What You Need To Know When Buying A Vehicle For Your Growing Business
Despite global economic setbacks, businesses have been redoubling their investments to foster better growth once the economy rebounds. The current upward trend of business vehicle purchases is a major example of this. Commercial vehicle sales broke 24 million units in 2020, according to Knoema. Whether this trend was driven by panic buying or by inventory surplus driving down prices remains to be seen, but in the face of a growing vehicle shortage, it may be wise for businesses to purchase their own vehicles now while prices have not climbed back up yet. If you’ve been wondering how best to facilitate that for your business, read on.
Leasing for more flexibility
Leasing is one of the most common ways growing businesses finance their vehicle purchases. It requires the least amount of monetary commitment. Lease costs are often only less than 10 percent the full price. This averages out at around $460 per month, with lease periods often lasting 3 years. It’ll take a few lease periods to fully own the vehicle, but you can opt out at any time if you decide that you can no longer afford it. This flexibility is perhaps one of the best advantages for businesses who are still in the process of growth, when it’s still up in the air whether things will keep going well in the future.
Buying new to dodge maintenance costs
Purchasing a new vehicle is the most expensive method, but it’s also the most hassle-free. If your business has a lot of disposable funds that are just going to get dissociated into trivial upgrades that you probably don’t need anyway, it might be better to just pool them together to buy a new car. Brand new vehicles require practically zero maintenance and come with the latest quality of life features. In contrast, depending on the age of the vehicle you buy, you may need to set aside over $400 for the yearly maintenance of a secondhand car, and that’s not accounting for the myriad complications that might result from age. Buying new lets you circumvent that. The only problem is the price tag. But even if you decide to buy new, there are still ways to cut down on costs. If you’re savvy enough to hunt for good prices and deals in your area, you can get a brand-new, fully reliable vehicle with money to spare. You just need to take account of all the dealerships near you to compare car makes and models, and get discounts that are available at the moment.
Buying secondhand to save money
Secondhand purchases carry the one-off benefits of buying a new car, but without the hefty price tag. Alternatively, if you take out a car loan, you can immediately own a car for lower monthly payments than you would get if you leased a car. This method of accessing a business vehicle is ideal if you have some money to spend, but not enough for a brand new car. Used cars boil down to a cost-benefit assessment of maintenance and lower purchasing price. If you can justify your overhead for an older car, this may be the more advantageous way for you to obtain a business vehicle. As with purchasing new, learning how to shop around and having a good eye for cars can net you a reasonably reliable vehicle for a fraction of the price of a new one.
It may not be the best time for everyone to buy a business vehicle, but for those who can afford to do so, this might be their only window in a long while. If getting your own company vehicle is vital to your continued growth, then you’re best advised to figure out a way to get your hands on one while supplies last.
