Toyota Prius for vending vehicle

[HustliN]

Hey guys,

would you guys consider a Toyota Prius a good vending machine vehicle for the current and long term?

i currently have 7 of those healthy vending machines (lol) and looking to potentially expand in the near future as I understand the business more. Been in it for 1.5 years. I currently work about 8 hours a week I say. Machines are tracked and I preload the stuff At home. I would imagine I would always do this a part time gig possibly up to 20 hours a week.

also note we here in Vancouver Canada we have the highest tax rate in all of Canada on gas as we are trying to be the greenest city on earth . I like the Prius as its great fuel mileage and as a hatchback has great space. I know it will suit my needs for now . I'm just a little concerned about the future.

or any other vehicle you guys recommend for a part time vendor.

[AngryChris]

There are two three to keep in mind:

1) Your space is very limited and you MIGHT have to drive MORE miles because you keep running out of product.  Imagine having to drive 30 miles for 3 accounts, driving 15 miles to a grocery store, then 10 miles further for another account that you already passed on the way to the grocery store, then 25 miles home, etc...  That's 80 miles when it could have been 60.

2) If you have to make multiple trips due to the lack of capacity, your time will increase quickly.  This is a frustrating problem to say the least when you have a lot of accounts to get done.

3) The wear and tear on your car may be far more than you ever thought.

Obviously, you'll get great gas mileage out of a prius.. and it's very possible and reasonable that you will save fuel money by using such a vehicle, but the money saved in fuel might not make up for the difference if the cost of a mini van or cargo van is significantly cheaper.  Personally, I would never buy a new vehicle if I was just starting out, but buying a used minivan might be a good way to get rolling.  I use a Chevy Express box truck and it literally broke down on Monday (ball joint).  

I only had 25 accounts to service this week and I already took 2 off the list because I simply cannot get to them... I did 5 yesterday in my truck and 12 today in my car.  I would have done more yesterday but I broke down so that obviously didn't work.  To put it into perspective, I had to load my car (scion xb) PACKED at 8am.  I did 5 accounts and came back at 12:15 to reload.  I did 3 more accounts and came back AGAIN at 5:00 to reload AGAIN.  Finally, I did 2 more accounts (and on the way to 2 more) before an issue prevented me from getting to the last accounts, so I got frustrated and went home.  If I were to guess, I collected $1,000 today.  It probably would have been over $1,200 if I had gotten the last two accounts but that obviously didn't happen.  The point is that I went through a LOT of work to collect that money.  I only have 8 accounts left for tomorrow but who knows if I will get them all done.  Did I save money in fuel? Absolutely, but if you saw how low my car looked after being packed full with soda and snacks, you would seriously wonder how bad that was for the car.  Oh, and I didn't have everything I needed because I didn't have enough space to hold a variety of stuff like my box truck.  A mini van would have been way more capable.

Yes, you can pre-kit and use a smaller vehicle but pre-kitting requires some space too.  I would recommend that you start off with a fuel-efficient used mini-van.  Your local laws and taxes might treat you better with a minivan than a cargo van but that's far beyond my knowledge.  A cargo van is very good but you might get 15 mpg and they are generally not as comfortable and cost more in taxes here.  I will stick to my box truck though.

[Southeast Treats]

Chris pretty much covered it.  I would just ask, since I know the Prius is an expensive vehicle (and probably your daily driver), do you really want all the extra wear and tear shortening the lifespan and resale value?  A good used minivan can also get good mileage, can be dedicated to your business, carries more product to make routes more efficient, and can be loaded with business items all the time (tools, spare parts, etc).  Yes, it costs to have two vehicles, but it should work out much better in the long term....

[HustliN]

thanks so much for the replies. I guess I will stick to my parents mitsubishi outlander right now. its more than enough to serve my machines right now.

 

and I will consider a nice used minivan in the future.

 

thanks again.

[joshnosh]

For what it's worth, I load up my VW Jedda to the TOP 4 times a week to service my 21 accounts. Pretty good gas mileage and holds a ton.

 

 

 

 

[AngryChris]

On 11/28/2016 at 4:14 PM, joshnosh said:

For what it's worth, I load up my VW Jedda to the TOP 4 times a week to service my 21 accounts. Pretty good gas mileage and holds a ton.

 

 

 

My truck broke down the week of Thanksgiving.  On one single day, I reloaded twice to service 8 accounts.  One account, alone, required about 5 cases of bottles.

You absolutely CAN do things out of your car but it's no fun once you have enough accounts and good ones!

[AZVendor]

It must be because it's a "Jedda" and not a Jetta.