Been offered a new job which comes with the option of either 6k car allowance or a company car up to about 6k value fully funded. So, already having a
4.5yr old focus thats not a bad little car (ok, 70k miles, needs clutch / duel mass doing but thats it).
What do i do?
6k i think works out as 340pcm in cash after tax
6k as a fully funded company car works out as a 407ish type car according to a lad at my current place, although i'm not sure of the tax
implication of that.
in my mind its ...
(340pcm + the tax hit on the company car) - (cost of running current car + tiny depreciation) to continue funding my car & save up to get a
replacement in a bit OR take a company car.
thoughts?
suggestions of cars?
are the numbers wrong?
what have you done?
As g/f car is fully funded company car with fuel card all major miles will be on that until it breaks (its an alfa). I'll only be doing driving
to work (36mile round trip), occasional pottering about and occasional trips to site.
Edited to update the pug from the outdated 406 to the 'current' 407 ... heck i don't keep up with french car numbers.
[Edited on 4/2/10 by MikeR]
My opinion is the cash is the better financial option, also if you change your car you have any option of car you want OR a new car that you will have
to pay shed loads of tax but it is new....for a bit
[Edited on 4/2/10 by Lightning]
I gave my company car back 5 years ago and have never looked back, I run high end cars, not new, and still save. My car allowance is 22K PA, but pro
rata I'd still take the cash.
New cars are a waste of money IMO, let someone else take the depreciation hit.
Yes, I agree gave my company car away over 8 years ago, best descision I ever made concering cars (Apart from deciding to build one)
For pottering, I'd take the cash.
If doing high mileage, take the car.
S
Left my company cars behind in Jan 1999, never looked back and the money I save, proportionate to the tax implications, the cost of running my car and
the depreciation vs the allowance I get, means I make a fair chunck of money each month.
I worked this figure out and I take this and put it in a separate account called 'racing'! I do need to top this account up, but it does
cover a significant part of my annual race budget! 
Might be worth finding out if there's a clause saying if you take cash your current car must be less than X years old.
My sister got caught up in this, bought herself a new-ish Micra second hand and took the cash but her company insist that her car is less than 5 years
old so now she is going to have to sell the car for less than what's left on her loan and go with the company car option but that means
she's £300 or so a month worse off because she's gotten used to having that extra £.
She's only young though and useless with the ££.
I've always taken the car allowance. In fact so many people have in my firm that they've knocked the company car scheme on the head. Company car is worth it if you do high private mileage - particularly if you live quite a way from work.
quote:Yes, check the "own car policy". Quite often there is an age limit plus other criteria such as 4 or 5 doors etc
Originally posted by eznfrank
Might be worth finding out if there's a clause saying if you take cash your current car must be less than X years old.
My sister got caught up in this, bought herself a new-ish Micra second hand and took the cash but her company insist that her car is less than 5 years old so now she is going to have to sell the car for less than what's left on her loan and go with the company car option but that means she's £300 or so a month worse off because she's gotten used to having that extra £.
She's only young though and useless with the ££.
They may also insist on Class 1 business use insurance.
quote:
Originally posted by stevebubs
For pottering, I'd take the cash.
If doing high mileage, take the car.
S
never had a company car myself, so don't know all the ins and outs.
my dad took a company car 7 years ago and was getting taxed a fortune on it. after the 4 year period, he had the option of giving it back for a new
one, or buying it for less than market value. he decided to buy it and get the car allowance, still got it too. its only got about 40k miles on it as
he works away mostly.
he now takes the car allowance, pays it into and account and only uses it for repairs etc to the car. it worked out a lot better off for him too.
as said, if your not doing high mileage, take the allowance
your pickup really is coming on in leaps and bounds isnt it bud
[Edited on 4/2/10 by cd.thomson]
I took the car allowance as it gave me the option of going for a better car. I was then made redundent 12 months later. I had an redundency insurance policy that covered the CAP value on the car but not the sale value. I was left with a bill for £2500. Just what you need when you've been made redundent! I'm going back to the company car!
quote:
Originally posted by cd.thomson
your pickup really is coming on in leaps and bounds isnt it bud
[Edited on 4/2/10 by cd.thomson]
finished it, drove it, got bored of it and sold it, doing another one now, which is up to the same stage as the old one was last week
quote:
Originally posted by blakep82
quote:
Originally posted by cd.thomson
your pickup really is coming on in leaps and bounds isnt it bud
[Edited on 4/2/10 by cd.thomson]
yep
It totally depends on the mileage, I have a company C8 and do about 40K a year after 3 years they are usually 150K and need replacing I couldn't do that with a cash equivalant, there are web sites that let you punch in the numbers and it tells you the best option.
Every time my company car is due for renewal, I do the number crunching to determine which would be best value. I'd love to take the cash
allowance and buy my own car but the fully financed company car wins hands down every time compared to the cars I'd like to own. I do about 25K
miles a year, all private mileage. My head always rules my heart but maybe this time it'll be different.........
Phil
If you are happy with an older car go for the cash. If not a company car is best.
I don't get a choice, but would opt for cash if i could as we have an all diesel fleet so best I could get is a C class merc diesel, which to me
is a bit dull.
Stu