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| I took a job as an independent contractor for a seed company. As part of this job I will be visiting dealers and farmers to talk about seed -- will occasionally need to take them out to dinner in my vehicle and occasionally deliver some seed to the farm / dealers. So here's what I'm looking at - my current situation is I have a small SUV for family use thats in good shape - and a older farm use pickup thats pretty rough -- my philosophy has always been buy cheep and run to death. I'm guessing I'll run about 25-30k miles a year -maybe a touch high - the more I know the territory/dealers the less driving I'll have to do.
My wife actually likes to drive the pickup the most -- and it is very comfortable to ride in - just not the nicest to look at. I'm debating if I trade the Nitro (suv) I actually get something for it vs the other vehicles - or do I get a nice pickup to replace older one and use that for deliveries and I drive the SUV for on farm visits. I've got to cover 10 counties so I want decent gas mileage. One of the advantages of this job is nearly every mile I drive would be deductable for either farm use or as a seed expense - I will just have to document it very well. Most seed reps have a company provided truck / car -- many are brand new -- do I have to go this route or if I get a 5-6 year old nice vehicle how would you percieve that if I pulled onto your yard. I just hate to spend 30k and have a dealer/farmer/myself crunch it when loading seed. Also theres the thought of leasing -- never done this before but I'd get the new vehicle and then my understanding is the entire payment would be deductable -- would I also be able to deduct miles -- if so thatd have some advantages too -- almost get paid to drive then.
Id just appreciate some thoughts as to what would look the best if I pulled onto your yard to talk seed, or to walk thru an issue in your field, and what would give me the most bang for the buck. Full size pickup vs like a Dodge Dakota size -- figure I need to be able to pull a weigh wagon and an have seating for 4 -- but 5 mpg of fuel economy is worth just over $100 / month figuring 25k a year -- my Nitro only gets 20 mpg- so some of these newer pickups can get close / match it. | |
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