How efficient are off-road commercial vehicles?

I am looking into purchasing a second hand diesel vehicle but I'm in two minds about what direction to go i.e. I can buy a commercial vehicle and put it through my own company or I can buy a diesel car and expense the mileage and claim VAT on the Diesel.

My question is how efficient are off-road commercial 4 x 4's? Will it cost me a fortune to maintain and fuel it? Examples of vehicles which I am thinking about buying include a Hyundai Santa Fe 2.0 Turbo Diesel but then again, maybe a Seat Ibiza 1.9 SDi Stella (2005) would be more efficient to own and run? They both cost more or less the same amount to buy ex-VAT.

Any thoughts or helpful insights are welcome, thanks.

Santa Fe's combined fuel consumption is 29mpg, Ibiza's is 55mpg.
Leo

Thanks Leo... I guess that kindof sums it up and answers my question.

Much appreciated!

Leo said:

Santa Fe's combined fuel consumption is 29mpg, Ibiza's is 55mpg.
Leo

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The Sante Fe combined fuel consumption is actually 35 mpg....for a mix of all types of driving. Maybe if you drive in city only it would be 29mpg...but then I doubt you would get 55mpg from another vehicle then either. The Sante Fe has much more space than Ibiza, much different animal altogether. The Ibiza would deliver more fuel economy certainly, but the SanteFe would have other advantages eg grip in frost / snow etc.

From talking to friends with 4X4’s, they’re very heavy on fuel, never achieving the official figures (12 MPG if driven anyway hard). They’re great for going up mountains…… if you have to.

As rabbit says it's not really fair to compare a Santa Fe and an Ibiza. Most 4x4 commercials will average in the mid to low 30's (mpg) Unless you really want/need the load carrying or off road ability I'd go for a good car instead.

Thanks for all the comments. Sorry I wasn't looking to compare a 4x4 with a car/van, I was just wondering what the typical MPG would be for them types of commercial vehicle. I guess I could always have one of those converters installed and run the 4x4 on vegatable oil although I only know of a friend of my brothers who does this so I'm not sure how viable it would be.

Don't touch the veg oil conversion.It's a disaster!! As I posted in previous posts,m.p.g was seriously reduced along with starting and the smell was atrocious!!!

Thanks caff, I'll have a search for some of them posts as I have been thinking about doing that for some time but if it's as bad as you say it is, then I would probably avoid it.