Company Car - opinions please

[Tenesmus]

A couple of former colleagues had to do the company car thing simply because the mileage was going to be so high, so one had to get rid of a Bini Cooper S and the other a very nice Accord estate V6 auto (wood, beige leather) that he'd converted to LPG. But they did have a choice of cars, one went VW and the other Ford.

[tonybel]

if you take a car allowance it will be taxed so you loose 20-40% of the money straight away, business miles fuel will be paid for at a given rate and the company can set this but its usually 45 p per mile for the first 10 k then it drops. Most of my colleagues go for this option and get a car on a personal lease.

I am now the sole company car left in the company and although the car is all paid for, I get taxed heavily and this cost me over 2 k a year. The rate depends on the cost of the car and the co2 emission. I used to also get free fuel but the tax on that is so huge now i have opted out and pay my own for private uses, getting paid a miserly 11 p per mile for business miles.

for most people a car allowance is the way to go these days. I could actually use my MG and claim car allowance but its a bit thirsty and i don't want to run up the miles, plus i think reliability could be an issue, what do i use when it breaks down? it is after all over 10 years old. I think this could also apply to you, even if they relaxed the 3 year rule.

BTW, I have had 3 Mazdas as company cars 2x Mazda6 and a CX-7 They were all brilliant cars

[SideValve]

Thanks guys - good info. I think I'm going to press for keeping the Rover, if it lets me down I can probably borrow the missus' and I'm not that worried about adding miles. Its got 70k on it at the moment and I've been using it for work at my previous job. Should be good for another 100k / 5 years and I rarely keep cars that long.
Sounds like its definitely financially better to keep mine. I've also been thinking about how much driving a British car is sort of part of my self image and I really can't picture myself in a modern box no matter how good they might actually be.

[stocktake]

I had a company car Skoda Octavia VRS, you do pay tax on them all different rates, the vrs tax rate was 19% of the value of the car. this worked out that I lost around £3900 of my tax free allowance. I am supplied with a fuel card and have to record any business mileage and private mileage each month.
Private mileage is charged pro rata miles against fuel cost per month.

I have just changed my car as it reached 4 yr old. I had a choice and picked the golf GTE hybrid. although it retails at £33.800 the tax on it is 5% this equates to around £1700 off my tax allowance, ( 202 bhp as well )

I keep the rover on a 3,000 miles per year policy to maintain my NCB.

[MSS]

The tax is for private use of the employer provided car.

I would check if the employer would allow use of the "company car" only for work i.e. not private use. This may be the best option if the logistics can be made to work in the OP's situation.

[tonybel]

You could ask for an exemption to the 3 year rule as you have only just taken the job and need time to sort out a newer vehicle. this sort of exemption is quite reasonable and as long as you don't let them down with your car breaking down that could be quite sometime. They will probably be ok with this as you will also be on a few months trial.

May I also suggest siphoning off the car allowance after tax and putting it in a separate car fund? That way you will have the money to pay for service, tyres, repairs and probably upgrades, (satnav, Bluetooth, maybe even LPG).

[SCP440]

If you keep your car and only do business mileage in your company car you don't get clobbered.

A good friend leaves his company car at work and uses his own car or even cycles to work. He pays no extra tax but it did take a bit of sorting with the tax office. Last year he only did 1500 miles in the company car. He is due another car soon and keeps telling them he doesn't want it but it is ''company policy'' apparently. Somebody will get a good buy, a 3 year old car with under 7k on the clock.

[tonybel]

yes, i have had a go at that, its called a pool car. it stays at work and you commute to collect it, do the job and then commute home. you are allowed to go home in it in exceptional circumstance only. you have got to consider its that this sort of thing that the revenue look at hard as its in their view a loophole that is used by cheats, and if they catch anyone not following the rules then the fine and back charges - to you and your employer are quite massive, not to mention fireable. Every mile must be logged and attributed to a driver as the car is not 'yours' in any sense but solely belongs to the company.

I did it for a couple of months when i was between cars and it worked ok (i only live a few miles from work) but driving past my house at 9pm to go and switch cars to drive home again gets less fun after a while.

All good stuff for the OP though, gives him some options to consider.

[Sector-9]

I was forced to take a company car last November and I hate it - not only was there no choice of vehicle but I've been clobbered with the double-whammy of paying co. car tax on it (for something I won't ever own) and losing out on the car allowance. True the car allowance is taxable (the tax office just treat it as wages), but even with £200/month net, that was far more than any repairs or wear and tear were costing me and I was loving it. Now I've lost that extra bit of income, paying around £70/month in extra tax for this so-so car and I'll have nothing to show for it when I leave! The only plus point is if it breaks down and I can't get to a client then it's not my problem.

My next job will be car allowance or a pool car unless they agree to give me the vehicle after x years.