NZ Politics

I personally know two tradies with 4WD vans, and of the builders who worked on our house back when we were building, half had 4WD vans.

Sure, it's just as easy. But then why have a ute with a canopy when a van can hold more cargo, and has a bigger roof for long items like ladders, pipes and wood? And even if we say a canopy is great, most of the actual tradie utes I see don't have any bed cover. The ones with canopys are invariably white collar workers.

Just today, I saw 5 utes with signwriting on my morning commute. One was a landscaper hauling bark, fair enough. The others were a engineer, an farm insurance company, an electrical wholesalers and a power tool salesman. They sure needed those utes didn't they?

And if you’re self employed, you can do whatever you want with your work vehicle.

Of course, although you have to be careful about how to claim the gst and tax on fuel etc. You are supposed to track work-related use separately.

Most tradies are not self employed though. I rarely see sparkies, plumbers or builders driving in their company vehicles during the weekend. I have a sparkie mate, and he's the only one in the whole company who is allowed to use his van for personal use, all the others aren't (except the boss of course).