So as many of you know i have a Nissan NV and absolutely LOVE it, it is beyond awesome. When i was slow a couple years ago i sold both my original box truck and my beloved mini and bought a new GMC sierra and a trailer, the truck ended up being a POS GM bought it back and i sold the trailer and got my Van.

I am so busy right now and honestly truly miss working out of a trailer. my van is bulging out of its seems and i just need more space, ive also slammed my head on the rear more times then i care to talk about, thank god i have a hard head :)

So im looking at getting another 8x14 trailer to tow behind my van, but im also exercising the Idea of cutting costs even more and selling my van (even though i love it) and the mini and getting a Jeep Wrangler 4 door hardtop since the trailer has so much more usable room then the van.

Im just exercising the Idea, im going to be buying a trailer anyway to help offload my van, all consultations and meetings are done out of the Mini and the van is only used on installation days. The 4door jeep would allow me to bring along more help and loosing the Mini/Van would free up alot of money to help expand even more

Just curious on your guy's thoughts :) Thanks!

My thoughts, if you are truly busy and willing to take some risk:

- Keep the van that you love. Hired help should have their own truck/van and insurance.

- Lose the mini; I see no value having this as far as the business is concerned. If the van is clean and presentable and presents the image well there is nothing wrong with using that for consults. You're an AV installer, not an interior decorator...clients are expecting a work vehicle (clean and presentable are a given). Plus the more exposure you give the van if it has a wrap or lettering the more chances of meeting new clients while at the current clients home.

- Hold on the trailer. Do you really need to bring every worldly possession to every job and also risk exposure of theft? If for just delivering TVs or racks, look into a daily fleet rental on another van or utilize drop shipping. If you have that much gear going out at once you likely have another guy or two with you...see point 1 above.

- Rent or buy small commercial warehouse/office space with a rollup to park your van. More secure, better image, more space and relieves you from using your home and garage as an office / test lab / warehouse / demo facility.

trailers are the shiz. i take a 6x12 to every project we do.

We have a 8'X14' trailer now and use it daily. I have a Dodge 2500 "work" truck that I pull it with and couldnt be happier.

Load the trailer with what we need, tow it with my truck and if it is a few days on one job we leave the trailer on the job and lock it up. Keeps the truck from being cluttered with tools, wire and misc. stuff we need. The only theft I have had to deal with was a roofer that I caught in the trailer while we were on the job.

Granted, the majority of our work isn't in major metro areas so crime is little to none. We are happy with it and I am thinking about getting a second to split one for rough in and one for trim out.

Trailer is the way to go, for reasons stated. I hate climbing in and out of a van. Trailer you can stand in and move around and even do some work. You can leave on jobsite, as I have done for 2-3 weeks at a time.
I have a 6x14 with an extra foot of height. I could have used bigger because I am out of room. Here are some pics taken last year but it has since filled in even more, i'll try to post updated pics later.

Left side


Behind looking in


Inside


Through side door


Looking from rear


inside


inside


right side


right side rear

love my high roof NV. I can stand up and not hit head ;)

He doesn't have to. He already did. But wait -- it'sback!

Zohan,
That trailer made me way too"Happy". that is amazing.

lol, thanks

wish I could get the pics to enlarge but it didn't work

SWEET!

Zohan - Sweet indeed! Great looking setup.

I'd never be able to pull a trailer... most jobs I have a difficult time finding a spot and parking my mini van.


Brendon - Don't take this the wrong way, but you blow through new cars almost as often as I change my underwear.  I know a lot of people (and businesses) only focus on the monthly payment and insurance for vehicle expense, but the truth is that you loose a ton of money to sales tax, fees and depreciation every time you change vehicles.

If you sell the new van & mini and then buy a new Jeep I'd guess you've lost $25K+ over the last two years compared to where you'd be if you had just kept the box truck you had?  If my guess is anywhere close, then over two years you've tossed away $1K a month swapping around vehicles not even including interest on any loans.

You have to drive something that you can work out of efficiently, but make sure you're looking at the big (long term) picture for cost of ownership on your vehicles.

If you need more room, and don't already have a vehicle to pull, just buy a box truck.
Why would you buy two items when one will do?

  OR

Keep the NV and tow with it.
If you keep the NV, you can use that for trim out and only use the trailer for rough-in jobs. Then the trailer can be smaller ('cause half of your crap is still in the NV). That also makes it easier to get around and park.
And, you can also leave the trailer on the jobsite if needed; if theft worries permitting.
Also, if you need to skip a day or two at a rough-in site, you still have all your tools with you in the NV.

Keep the Mini and sell out of it.

Yes it may be true but since Brendon and I are milking the heck Angie's List we are flush with cash and don't worry about depreciation and taxes ;)

Thanks Guys!

Zohan.. your trailer is sweeeeet, like seriously that is one of the nicest trailers i have ever seen, simply awesome! what do you think that weighs loaded? my 6x12 loaded was only around 2600lbs


99.7% of jobs we can easily get a trailer into, I do some basic city work but for the most part the Mini gets me through the city work, most places wont even allow a workvan so we have to park blocks away ( union bullshit, electricians/plumbers/carpenters can park in the garages)

Paul, I look back now and regret getting rid of my 1st Mini/box van, i was at a time where I had todo something to save me from going under, and the way out was to get rid of both my vehicles on a cheap truck. That saved me from going under so even though it was financially stupid (I really wish i hadnt) it got me through. The truck ended up being a total lemon and GM bought it back, I had every intention of just keeping that forever but when it doesnt run it makes it kind of hard to keep it :)

so that left me totally vehicle-less, and at that time the NV's had just come out so I got that, My Mini is actually my "personal vehicle" but its in the business name I also use that for consultations/service/city work and has worked out well, but as my personal vehicle i just dont like it, its just not my old mini, too refined and just isnt the same and i have a hard time writing that check each month for something i just dont enjoy. I am actually getting ready to lease trade it or have someone outright purchase it because i actually have alot of equity in it and hasnt depreciated as much as you might think.

The van is leased too, and I have 24months still left on it so ill probably just see that through the end of the lease.

As much as I LOVE my van its too small now (I NEVER thought i would say that) I need more room, (How do you do it out of your Astro?) I also truely miss working out of my trailer, it had a TON of space and I could "breathe" and not have crawl over boxes, I clean my van out after every job too.

IDK, like I said the wheels are turning. I do regret doing what i did a few years ago because everything would have been paid off now and i would still have my 06 mini :( . I HATE business vehicles they are such a drain on finances :) Im getting a trailer one way or another because I need more space. The Wrangler would be for personal/business use because I love the outdoors and want to get into offroading, just not sure if ill keep the van if I can get by with a wrangler/trailer.

BTW: for the record I am an avid car guy soooo :)

Thanks again guys!

Rather than pull a trailer, why not get a used box van?  You could pick one up cheap (because they don't have a great re-sell value).  Letter it, deck it out inside and park it.  Use it when you need it for the bigger jobs. 

One of my guys has a jeep. He was just telling me today that he needs more space. (He doesn't even use it for work).  Just not enough space.  

The only vehicles that have enough space usually have the word Cargo in front of them.