Cycle Scheme working out more expensive?

GiraffePencils · 18 Jun 2014 at 14:29

My companies bike scheme is you get the bike with no VAT, then pay it off over 12 months before tax. keep the bike at the end.
I have to take a train to work so the bike's much more useful as I can't drive (well it'd be far more expensive.)

SDK^ · 18 Jun 2014 at 16:07

Feek said:
I didn't think there was such a thing as a company car that costs the user next to nothing any more.

There are cars on our scheme which cost -£xxx per month. i.e. You get paid to drive it. From memory an Insignia 2.2 Diesel VX Elite was around £60 a month back. After tax it's nearly free.

Windle · 18 Jun 2014 at 16:19

SDK^ said:
There are cars on our scheme which cost -£xxx per month. i.e. You get paid to drive it. From memory an Insignia 2.2 Diesel VX Elite was around £60 a month back. After tax it's nearly free.

Yeah we get that occasionally, more often on cars that are sat from folk that have left. Company incentivizes you to take it so even after BIK you can get some cash paid.

matt_fsr · 18 Jun 2014 at 16:54

I debated using the Cyclescheme at work about 2 years ago, but then came to the conclusion that the benefits simply weren't sufficient, given that where I work has terrible semi-exposed cycle storage, and so the bikes get hammered by weather/rain all year round.

So a bit of shopping around 2nd hand picked me up a Specialized Hardrock with cable disk brakes, barely used for £200. Much saving.

I'm glad I did, because now I've gone and ordered an expensive bells-and-whistles carbon fibre toy, which is significantly more expensive than my car. Or all of my other bikes combined...

Gixer · 18 Jun 2014 at 17:17

Out of interest which cycle scheme do you use? if it is cyclescheme.co.uk then the £70 you have paid is a refundable deposit to extend the hire period. At the end of that period you'll get another email saying you can give the bike back and have your £70 back or keep the bike and they will use your £70 deposit to pay to purchase the bike. In all that £70 is the last payment you'll ever make.

My guesstimate is that including the £70 payment the bike will have cost you around the £800 mark to purchase. You had the payments split into 13 instalments and interest free so for some the scheme may still well be worth it if you want a brand new bike and not a new one.

You will find that cycle scheme companies have to be very careful how they word things as you only get the tax and ni savings if you are hiring a bike. If it were hire/purchase scheme you could not. This is what confuses a lot of people. In reality we all know that the scheme really is aimed at the all out purchase of a bike at a cheaper rate.

MrMoonX · 18 Jun 2014 at 18:56

It still works out cheaper than paying full price in cash or financing a bike, so it's like cheaper finance, you will own the bike and they use that £70 as final payment but have to say it's three years hire for the tax benefits

SexyGreyFox · 18 Jun 2014 at 18:59

In my first year I definitely saved 1/3rd of £850 because of my tax code and other savings but I then had to pay around £57 to hire it for another 3 years.
I can't sell it until that 3 years is up and I have been told that I won't be paying any more at the end of the 3 years.

SexyGreyFox · 18 Jun 2014 at 19:03

I thought I made a thread on this - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/sh...3&highlight=cycle+work+scheme+username_dimple

SlyReaper · 18 Jun 2014 at 19:08

estebanrey said:
Over £1,000 for a push bike!

You could have bought a decent second hand car for that.

That would defeat the whole point. :confused:

My bike was £600. I paid £500 for my car.

Raymond Lin · 18 Jun 2014 at 19:09

Just buy last year's model on sale and save yourself some money, mine was £600 off what it was 6 months before that. The current model is now £1500, although I haven't ride it in ages, it's not going anywhere. Might even get it out to have it serviced and for a ride this summer.

Gixer · 18 Jun 2014 at 19:55

That is all well have a spare £600 lying around but you tend to find most who use the scheme are using it to take advantage of the monthly payments.

I used to be the cyclescheme administrator where I work and it was great in the early days before they brought in the rules on final payments and stopped VAT saving. Since they have centralised things though and the changes in the scheme have been made the uptake is now far less.

I think you used to save about 35% on a bike over £500 but due to the changes you will now only save around 23% on a bike over £500.

arknor · 18 Jun 2014 at 19:57

Raymond Lin said:
Just buy last year's model on sale and save yourself some money, mine was £600 off what it was 6 months before that. The current model is now £1500, although I haven't ride it in ages, it's not going anywhere. Might even get it out to have it serviced and for a ride this summer.

sometimes the new models have cost cutting alterations to the specs as well

Castiel · 18 Jun 2014 at 20:26

Its a ripoff which is why when I was at my old firm we stopped offering it.

SexyGreyFox · 18 Jun 2014 at 20:33

Castiel said:
Its a ripoff which is why when I was at my old firm we stopped offering it.

Not according to post 48 that I made.
I've saved £229 on a £850 bike however it won't actually be mine until the 4 years is up.

Castiel · 18 Jun 2014 at 20:37

Dimple said:
Not according to post 48 that I made.
I've saved £229 on a £850 bike however it won't actually be mine until the 4 years is up.

Problem is that as pointed out, better savings can be had from retailers without the tied-in nature of the cycle scheme. It's both flawed and expensive.

SexyGreyFox · 18 Jun 2014 at 20:44

Castiel said:
Problem is that as pointed out, better savings can be had from retailers without the tied-in nature of the cycle scheme. It's both flawed and expensive.

Not in my case, the bike cost the same everywhere and was not inflated for C2W.
My second and third bikes were bought with cash.
I thought hard about going C2W again with my 3rd but the shop was going to put £50 on to cover C2W but took £50 off if I paid cash.
I did a rough calculation and I would have saved around £106 but knowing my workplace it would take 4 months to get the bike and I wanted it now (back in the 1st week of January).

LordSplodge · 18 Jun 2014 at 21:25

Castiel said:
Its a ripoff which is why when I was at my old firm we stopped offering it.

Indeed. I've got all mine and the wife's bikes (we have three each) from retailers for big discounts by getting last years models.

Often you get better spec than the current years model too!

MrMoonX · 18 Jun 2014 at 21:31

Dimple said:
Not in my case, the bike cost the same everywhere and was not inflated for C2W.
My second and third bikes were bought with cash.
I thought hard about going C2W again with my 3rd but the shop was going to put £50 on to cover C2W but took £50 off if I paid cash.
I did a rough calculation and I would have saved around £106 but knowing my workplace it would take 4 months to get the bike and I wanted it now (back in the 1st week of January).

Yeah you can still get sale bikes on c2w I did exactly that last time, was last years model

LordSplodge · 18 Jun 2014 at 21:32

SDK^ said:
Bike prices have inflated significantly over the last 6 years.

In 2008 I bought a Carbon Specialized MTB for £2,800, the same bike now with equivalent spec is £4,600 !!

Indeed. My 2006 GT Avalanche 1.0* had a very good specification. Cost me £550. The 2010 version wasn't any better and cost me lot more. My GT Zaskar has a nice spec but a hefty price tag too compared to the older models.

Best was my 2008 Focus. You can't get a road bike with full 105 gears for the price I paid back then.

I'm not sure why this is happening. You'd think prices would go down, not up.

* Loved that bike. Rode thousands of miles flawlessly. My Zaskar is white too, like the 2006 Avalanche so maybe it will be the spiritual successor.

Gixer · 19 Jun 2014 at 06:19

Castiel said:
Its a ripoff which is why when I was at my old firm we stopped offering it.

Your firm must have been doing it wrong then as the only thing the scheme offers is a benefit to those who want a brand new, latest model bicycle!

Yes we can hark on you can haggle in a shop or buy last years model but fact is the scheme isn't a ripoff and adds the flexibility of monthly payments.