A new survey by automotive warranty specialists Warranty Direct has found that the average cost of a mechanic is now £75.17 per hour.

And that’s only the average – rates at franchised dealers averaged £94.70 for every hour of spanner-wielding time…

Independents came in notably cheaper at £55.63 per hour, but even at this rate, costs will still add up fast if you need a few hours’ work doing.

The upshot of this is that owning a vehicle can be an expensive liability – especially if anything goes wrong. Many van users – both private and business – only need their vans occasionally. The rest of the time they either get used as cars or, even worse, just sit idle.

If you fall into this category then it might be worth crunching the numbers and working out whether you would be better off selling your van and just hiring a van when you need it.

This approach has a number of potential benefits:

• No responsibility for servicing or repair costs
• No insurance or road tax to pay
• Renting allows you to choose different-sized vans when needed
• Avoid owning a depreciating asset you don’t use much
• Own a cheaper, more practical vehicle for everyday use

In addition to these specific benefits, in my experience vehicles that sit unused most of the time suffer at least as many mechanical problems (if not more) than vehicles that are regularly used.

Let’s look at an example:

Ford Transit LWB, used as a van for two weekdays a month.

Rental costs with easyVan

£47.55 per day = £95.10 per month (rental costs valid at time of writing)

Total annual costs: £1,141.20 (excluding fuel)

Ownership Costs

Ownership costs vary so widely it would be pointless for me to try and estimate them here. However, I’ve produced a checklist below for you to work out the cost of owning you van for one year.

• Road Tax
• Insurance
• Servicing & Repairs (perhaps use last year as a guide)
• Finance/Lease/Contract Hire payments
• Depreciation – if you own your van, how much less will it be worth in a year’s time?
• Finally… think about the cost in money and inconvenience of your van suffering a breakdown or being stolen at the wrong time.

Once you’ve calculated this, work out how much a hire van would cost you.

It may be cheaper – it may not. Hiring isn’t a perfect solution but it does have a lot of advantages for occasional users, as long as you can plan your requirements a few days in advance.