Quick rant thread.

[richard 384]

19 minutes ago, coop said:

 

I guess this goes for most tradies but they seem to persist with the Ute. I can only put it down to sheep mentality and upholding an image. 

 

there's safety in numbers.

[lord_jagganath 421]

30 minutes ago, richard said:

there's safety in numbers.

democracy is a farce. Thanos was right. 

[NZ BMW 368]

3 hours ago, richard said:

there's safety in numbers.

I think the popularity of utes for business use has more to do with it being not only a good tradie wagon but an excellent weekend vehicle. 

As I understand it from some casual conversations the tax write off on a Ute is also far superior to say an SUV. Whilst a van might be better for hauling stuff to the job site, it can’t tow the boat or haul the family...

[gjm 3191]

On 4/24/2019 at 2:14 AM, NZ BMW said:

I think the popularity of utes for business use has more to do with it being not only a good tradie wagon but an excellent weekend vehicle. 

As I understand it from some casual conversations the tax write off on a Ute is also far superior to say an SUV. Whilst a van might be better for hauling stuff to the job site, it can’t tow the boat or haul the family...

They make good tax sense, and at the lower end of the market, just make financial sense. Under $30k will buy a brand new, basic, double cab ute. Useful for work, useful for the family. That's cheap motoring.

[kiwi535 538]

its the other end of the market i cant understand.The super cat (colarado) is 80k,tricked out by hsv .The ranger raptor is 80k.Thats Prado and Everest territory.As a ute the twin cabs arent very good cos the tray is so short.A prado,everest,pajero etc can actually take longer items inside if you can push them right through to the front.You can fold the seats fully flat in the wagons and sleep inside and the wagons are shorter overall than the double cabs.I have a hankering to drive a raptor cos the ride of these things is most important thing for me.And the raptor comes with proper tyres,the ride deterorated somewhat on the fortuner after adding bfg all terrrains

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

As a slight sideways step, I am fairly certain an E39 touring has more boot space than an E53 X5.

Edited April 25, 2019 by Young Thrash Driver
E53

[dirtydoogle 383]

1 hour ago, Young Thrash Driver said:

As a slight sideways step, I am fairly certain an E39 touring has more boot space than an E53 X5.

You know damn well it's true 

Can't fit bugger all in my 53. 

[Olaf 3235]

Yes, would be a shame if the Mercedes X-class fails.  James May rather liked his during S3E4 of The Grand Tour ("tested" against VW Amarok and Ford Ranger)...

 

[B.M.W Ltd 950]

Bit off an update. After 3 weeks. Total replacement with a brand new car with all the extras I had paid for... plus upgraded to the Elite Black roof model. I've gone for Lagoon Blue this time. I couldn't go with the Red again.

 

 

[qube 3568]

should have gone with the fluro yellow!

[B.M.W Ltd 950]

19 minutes ago, qube said:

should have gone with the fluro yellow!

I like that but the wife doesn't. It's called Acid Yellow

[Jacko 2076]

2 new doors and good to go? Or is the B pillar caved in?

[BreakMyWindow 1870]

1 hour ago, B.M.W Ltd said:

Bit off an update. After 3 weeks. Total replacement with a brand new car with all the extras I had paid for... plus upgraded to the Elite Black roof model. I've gone for Lagoon Blue this time. I couldn't go with the Red again.

 

 

Presume this will get repaired and sold, damage doesn’t look too bad at all.

[lord_jagganath 421]

were the pillars and sills compromised? 

 

On another note, the Maxima decided to keep its HIDs on all through the night, apparently a sign of a dying battery. just wonderful for it to suddenly just start flickering. spent the night tricklec harging it in the garage

[B.M.W Ltd 950]

23 minutes ago, Jacko said:

2 new doors and good to go? Or is the B pillar caved in?

The Insurance repair cost was going to be $40,000 It doesn't look that bad but the car was f**ked. It saved me. I got "T" boned by 4 little f**kers evading police at high speed

[Michael. 2312]

That Russian guy would sort that out no problem! 

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

@B.M.W Ltd you said it hadn't even had it's first oil change yet. What are the service intervals for these?

Hyundai is doing some nice blues nowadays.

[B.M.W Ltd 950]

9 hours ago, Young Thrash Driver said:

@B.M.W Ltd you said it hadn't even had it's first oil change yet. What are the service intervals for these?

Hyundai is doing some nice blues nowadays.

The service intervals are every 10k. Mine had only done 7k. They go in for a 1k / one month inspection initially

Edited April 30, 2019 by B.M.W Ltd

[B.M.W Ltd 950]

13 hours ago, Michael. said:

That Russian guy would sort that out no problem! 

I'm sure he could Michael, but I wouldn't drive it ?

[Olaf 3235]

16 hours ago, B.M.W Ltd said:

Bit off an update. After 3 weeks. Total replacement with a brand new car with all the extras I had paid for... plus upgraded to the Elite Black roof model. I've gone for Lagoon Blue this time. I couldn't go with the Red again.

Very impressive performance, Glenn.  Looks as though those doors will still open, too.  Do you have long to wait for the new replacement?  I trust you've had a straightforward ride with your insurers.

"there I was, minding me own business, like, ...'"

[B.M.W Ltd 950]

Yes the doors still open Olaf. The rear subframe / chassis was all distorted and the R/R wheel smashed when the rear of the car was punched into the high kerbing. I'm also impressed by how well the car took the hit. I'm told by witnesses they guessed the speed of the other car to be about 80kph

The only hold up with the insurance was getting the police report and the long holiday interval. Get my new car next week after the tow bar fitting, PD, window tinting and Dura Seal paint and leather protection. Hyundai have given me a car till mines ready. 

Edited April 30, 2019 by B.M.W Ltd

[BlackrazorNZ 83]

On 4/24/2019 at 2:14 AM, NZ BMW said:

I think the popularity of utes for business use has more to do with it being not only a good tradie wagon but an excellent weekend vehicle. 

The popularity of utes for business is in my view significantly down to the way Fringe Benefit Tax works in NZ.

By default, a signwritten Ute is classed as a 'commercial vehicle' for FBT purposes. What that means, is that you only pay FBT on days that you used the vehicle solely for personal usage without any work usage at all. 

Given there's lots of ways to completely eliminate 'personal use' legally (e.g. making a customer visit), this means that entire fleets of utes are running with almost no FBT payment despite extensive use as a personal vehicle either side of work hours.

Contrast that with a Station Wagon, which is only classed as commercial when the seated are physically bolted down, or a sedan, which is never classed as commercial no matter how much it is signwritten, and you can see why Utes provide such a tax benefit.

Given FBT annually is either 22% of the purchase price, or 40-something-% of the residual depreciated value, it's a huge difference. For example, our company buys cars outright and holds onto them for 7 years before replacing - and over that 7 year period, if it's a full-FBT-due vehicle type, you'll pay 1.54x the original purchase price of the vehicle in FBT. If we bought utes, and were clever, that might be lucky to be 0.2x

It's the reason we as a business haven't pursued electric vehicles for managerial use, despite our desire to - all current electric passenger vehicles incur full FBT, and since FBT is based solely off purchase price and not operating cost, paying $70k for an electric vehicle and then paying another $108k in tax over the life of the vehicle, is a pretty shite financial comparison to just buying a diesel-fume-spewing Ranger for $45k, paying for some fuel over the life of it, and paying practically no FBT at all.

[NZ BMW 368]

You must have missed the second para of my post then which mentioned this. Although thanks for the detail. 

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2914]

FBT is only part of the tax equation, a commercial vehicle has a GST element that can be claimed back by a business user as well I believe.

Imho the biggest factor is still the "lifestyle image" of the double-cab ute, the rough, tough, outdoors, huntin' shootin' fishin' good ol' boys fitting in well with the psyche of a lot of Kiwi buyers. The editions, and the names, of some of them now - Wildtrak, Raptor, etc. with big black wheels, and black guard flares, and fake roo bars etc. all add to the tough image. Even though half of them are 4x2s and can't do diddly off road.

The government has made a few noises about changing the tax rules around company vehicles, and especially the utes, but I think this has gone the same way as the CGT, electoral suicide so has been binned. Needs to be addressed, otherwise we are going to end up with more and more of the proper USofA double cabs into the NZ market - and they make the Ranger look tiny by comparison.

Personally I would always favour a Transit van over a ute, much better carrying capacity, better access, you don't have to take any more than two passengers and you can sleep in it much more comfortably.

[BlackrazorNZ 83]

1 hour ago, NZ BMW said:

You must have missed the second para of my post then which mentioned this. Although thanks for the detail. 

Nah I read it, was was agreeing with you, I just didn't include that part in the quote for some reason