Been offered a company car

iaind

iaind

iaind

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Joined
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Think the bloke who runs the fleet at work got fed up of me asking for a pool car every few days :)

Basically, one of the company cars has been returned and I've been asked if I want it, given I'm doing a fair bit of driving and I'm only going to be doing more. Haven't had a chance to talk to them about the implications of taking it, so hopefully someone here can clarify.

The car in question is a 59 reg Audi a3 1.6 TDI with stop/start. Not the sort of thing most people would choose, but it's not too bad really. So could someone help clarify what the benefits and downsides would be?

To run the Honda, I'm putting £100 aside each month which covers everything except fuel - so its a tiny amount really.

So, pros and cons?

Pros -

Free car, hassle free
A better car than the Honda
Sell the honda, go on holiday

Cons -

More tax?
I do a fair few long journeys, at the moment I'll end up in a passat or Mazda 6 where I can or the new 320d pool cars when they get them. This way, I'm in a smaller car every time
I'd have to take it to work every day, obviously, whereas now I walk a fair bit. Exercise is good for you

Anything else I'm missing?
 
It is a long way from being a free car, and would cost you much more than just a bit more tax if you were using it for personal mileage too.
 
Ask for a cash alternative, every single one of our lot were happy when we started doing that and stopped company cars :)
 
Gilly said:
It is a long way from being a free car, and would cost you much more than just a bit more tax if you were using it for personal mileage too.
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This is why i was asking - it sounds like a no brainer but I'm not so sure,

I dont know what the deal with personal mileage would be, some people have it, some don't. If I get personal mileage included, what's the implication?

I've just never been in a situation to even consider it before, so it's all new
 
DiamondMark said:
Ask for a cash alternative, every single one of our lot were happy when we started doing that and stopped company cars :)
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I don't think they'll do this as nobody is expected to use their personal cars for work as there are loads of pool cars.
 
more tax (ask the company they should know how much more)

but

1) no road tax/mot / servicing / tyres/ insurance
2) no depreciation

my missus was offered a 1.4l TD, she got rid of her 2l TD (£1000 car) and I worked out the company car will COST her £400 more a year (taking into account some deprication on her £100 car + tax, insurance, typres, serviceing, AA cover)

however that assumed NO issues with her old car so as soon as it needed some work on it that £400 was being eaten away...
 
Depreciation isn't a consideration really, the hondas so cheap it's not an issue - I was either going to sell it for only a small amount less than I paid or put it in a skip when I was done with it.

Likewise, there's no finance or anything, so running costs are insurance, tax, servicing and maintenance - most of which I'm doing myself
 
I book my personal mileage each month through the lease company website, they calculate the cost per mile through the amount of Diesel I buy (fuel card) and business mileage.

I probably do around 100 private miles a month which costs about £10 from my wages.

If you go with free fuel it works out something like £60 a month, not 100% sure but if you do a lot of private then it might be the better option.
 
This is probably going to work out quite expensive to drive around in something quite tedious but with a posh badge.

Guess it comes down to whats important to you.
 
[TW]Fox;17825938 said:
This is probably going to work out quite expensive to drive around in something quite tedious but with a posh badge.

Guess it comes down to whats important to you.
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It's a nice enough place to be and does have a better image than the honda. I think its relatively obvious that image isnt really important to me though! How would I go about figuring out the cost to me? I had a half day so didn't have a chance to talk about it in depth.

If it's going to cost me much more than the ton a month the honda does, I can't see it being worth my while.

The other option is to convince the fleet guy to let us have one of the new 320d's as an IT pool car that we manage between the 5 of us
 
If you ask me its about that time, time you got yourself another proper car :)
 
Provided I correctly understand the company car system its going to cost you about 90 quid a month given it's in a £20k car in the 13% tax bracket and you are presumably not a higher rate tax payer.

To be honest compared with your Accord I'd be half tempted to go for that. It's really not much money is it?
 
DiamondMark said:
If you ask me its about that time, time you got yourself another proper car :)
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Maybe :D got anything good in stock?

On a side note, that new 1.6 is really impressive for what it is. I was expecting it to be woeful, but its only mildly tedious and impressively quiet :)
 
iaind said:
Maybe :D got anything good in stock?

On a side note, that new 1.6 is really impressive for what it is. I was expecting it to be woeful, but its only mildly tedious and impressively quiet :)
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I got a **** load out there and a son that has suddenly become very interested in selling diamonds rather than cars, that kid does my head in.

Still on the up side im going to get hammered tonight then go argue with everyone at the lodge :)
 
You need to know the CO2s it puts out and the list price of the car on the day it was delivered (the P11D value) to calculate the tax.

If you use it for personal mileage and if you are a 20% taxpayer I'd guess (and be pretty sure!) at that coming in at well under £100 a month on tax. If your company give you a fuel card and allow you to use it for personal mileage the BIK is ridiculous and I would leave it given your alternatives :)

EDIT: If Fox is right about the 13% rate for that car, that is £43 a month for a 20% taxpayer...
 
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