Company car allowance

road_high

Hi all,

I have a €800 per month allowance for company car. Want something along the BMW 3 series or Audi A4 line. Willing to pay a bit extra on top to get the car I want. Any thoughts on what should be achievable?

R.O.R

road_high wrote: »

Hi all,

I have a €800 per month allowance for company car. Want something along the BMW 3 series or Audi A4 line. Willing to pay a bit extra on top to get the car I want. Any thoughts on what should be achievable?

Is that a monthly allowance on the lease, or is it a cash allowance paid to you?

If its an allowance on a lease it should give you something decent but you'll need to find out the term and mileage to quote over and whether the €800 is ex. Vat, ex. recoverable vat or Inc vat.

If its a cash allowance then its only about €400 a month after tax and you won't run anything new and decent for that.

road_high

No it’s a lease amount and I’d prefer go the traditional lease route rather than taking the cash- as you point out would be halved by taxes anyhow

Shefwedfan

That amount if very decent.....

The thing about company car is BIK, have you worked out how much BIK will affect you?

I know my company offers car, a guy joined and was like a kid in sweet shop, we warned him but got top of range Golf which was grand but he added every single extra and the first month he couldn't believe his wages after BIK hit....

To get around that you could go for electric and you wont get any BIK. Now selection is poor at the moment but eNiro out now and available so might suit....or wait a few months for Tesla model 3. Other option is eGolf.

Apart from that your selection should be open, the 3 series and A4 should come in under that budget.

I did have company car, swapped it and took the cash. Put the money then towards my own car and buy it. Having the same car for 4 years was my problem :-)

road_high

Oh I’ve had a few company cars...and know all about the robbery that is bik! I think you’re snookered either way but at least if you go via lease company you have no responsibility if a major bill arises. I’m not too bothered about “owning” a car as with the ravishes of depreciation and time it’s a bit pointless.

Bik is a tax on top of a tax (list price of car already includes a huge vrt and Vat) and it is infuriating for those of us that genuinely need a car for work

Shefwedfan

road_high wrote: »

Oh I’ve had a few company cars...and know all about the robbery that is bik! I think you’re snookered either way but at least if you go via lease company you have no responsibility if a major bill arises. I’m not too bothered about “owning” a car as with the ravishes of depreciation and time it’s a bit pointless.

Bik is a tax on top of a tax (list price of car already includes a huge vrt and Vat) and it is infuriating for those of us that genuinely need a car for work

I know and I need a car for work, I just felt it was better to move off...


I am always thinking about moving back.....

road_high

Shefwedfan wrote: »

I know and I need a car for work, I just felt it was better to move off...


I am always thinking about moving back.....

I’ve had fleeting moments where I think take the allowance but it seems even worse proposition. My last job you had to take the car there was no option of an allowance at all. Unless you came into a new job already owning a very good car then I could see yes, it would work.
But I’d be starting from scratch and to get into a good new car would be very costly

Damien360

My allowance is 640 lease and gets me a Skoda Superb Combi 150 dsg ambition. I don't like to put extra into something that is a toolbox for me. That's Leaseplan. That allows for 10% discount on purchase. Should give you a ballpark of pricing retail.

800 gets Sanfe Fe fully loaded top spec. You should easily get a 3 series for that money but you won't have too much change for extras. BMW X1 floats somewhere around that allowance also. Mazda 6 oddly is off the charts in pricing.

If you cover the mileage then spending big is fine. But BIK once you hit 12% bracket and worse is a killer. If you have a lot of foreign travel, that hurts unless you get a full 4 weeks in one financial year as then the reduction pro rata in BIK occurs. Less than 4 weeks and it is full 48000km needed to hit 6%. Also there is a extra few percent added for poor emmisions.

So do you like toys ? Not going premium, BMW/Merc/Audi and aiming for next bracket down and you can load that car to the gills with spec and get change out of your allowance. My employer pays back the difference if I don't hit the allowance. Not a lot but it's a nice extra.

road_high

In my last job had a Mazda 6 actually and yes it was expensive- Leaseplan tried talk me out of it as they said they had poor service from Mazda Ireland in the past!
We weren’t allowed “premium” makes so id like to have a bmw or Audi as I’ve never had one before. Want to see what the fuss is about! I know I could get a higher spec Skoda or VW alright.
Good tips and advice in last poster, thanks very much you know more than me about leasing and bik! It’s an odd system that rewards more driving (not very green is it?).

Didn't know about the travel clause? So if you spend a month abroad fully you get a reduction in Bik?

Shefwedfan

I use leaseplan or did as well, they told me last time, always pick metallic paint, it reduces the cost because the car resale is easier

Few other things, depreciation is the killer for leaseplan.Mazda etc might be cheaper car up front but according to leaseplan it’s worthless when they try to sell so your monthly rate goes up

BMW, Audi etc will all sell soeven if more expensive you might get cheaper as they sell quick. Extras you will pay through the nose for because they write off straight away...

I used to have the full selection but now we are restricted to Merc/bmw/Audi etc, bit of a pain

Is the bik the same and better to buy diesel over petrol

road_high

Shefwedfan wrote: »

I use leaseplan or did as well, they told me last time, always pick metallic paint, it reduces the cost because the car resale is easier

Leaseplan are slightly more expensive aren’t they? But they’re the only supplier we can use in any case

Damien360

road_high wrote: »

Didn't know about the travel clause? So if you spend a month abroad fully you get a reduction in Bik?

You used to get a reduction in BIK mileage requirements for every week without use of the car as long as it was buisness related. So if you were 2 weeks out, you had to cover 48000km x 50/52.

But the rules changed about 4 years ago and now you have to hit a minimum 4 weeks before any pro rata reduction occurs. If your new job has loads of training upcoming for the year out abroad, and it's less than 4 weeks, then it makes it very hard to get to 6% when you factor in your holidays also which gives you no BIK reduction for them.

Either way you will pay 6% of value of car per year in BIK which amounts to a real payment of 50% of that out of your pocket when tax comes into play. Don't hit the magic 48500km per year and you have 12%. Don't hit 40000km and it's 18%. Higher emmisions (those that don't hit 156 road tax) and add a 1% levy on to those percentages above.

Cars I've had on rental abroad make me wonder would I pay for premium. BMW 5 series 520d in Switzerland, lovely car to be in, didn't like the gearbox. Merc CLA200 in Germany, small car, amazing gearbox, interior is a bit plastic in parts, (expected better than Superb), hard to park. Audi A4 in Germany, disliked this drive but loved interior. Audi A6 Avant 40tdi in Germany, what a car, stunning gearbox, gorgeous interior. The last one is a big step above Superb. What I'm getting at is you need to jump a level of premium to get that real difference. Top of the line lower class may be better value and you won't get hammered with BIK.

Damien360

Small addition. Today I picked up a V60 in Germany and although its power doesn't compare to the A6, it is unbelievably comfortable and no slouch. It is also the most silent diesel car I've ever been in and I inlcude the A6. If it's in your budget, look at that also.

Shefwedfan

Is the system still set up to get diesel card with car or have they at least try to update it?

road_high

Damien360 wrote: »

Small addition. Today I picked up a V60 in Germany and although its power doesn't compare to the A6, it is unbelievably comfortable and no slouch. It is also the most silent diesel car I've ever been in and I inlcude the A6. If it's in your budget, look at that also.

I had a Volvo in the past and it wasn’t reliable so never on my radar since. Isn’t that S60/V60 around a good while now. Doubt it’s any cheaper than the A4 or 3 series to lease and not as complete a car

Edit: I see there’s a new model out I did t even know about. Looks a lot bigger than the outgoing S60

Casati

Damien360 wrote: »

You used to get a reduction in BIK mileage requirements for every week without use of the car as long as it was buisness related. So if you were 2 weeks out, you had to cover 48000km x 50/52.

But the rules changed about 4 years ago and now you have to hit a minimum 4 weeks before any pro rata reduction occurs. If your new job has loads of training upcoming for the year out abroad, and it's less than 4 weeks, then it makes it very hard to get to 6% when you factor in your holidays also which gives you no BIK reduction for them.

Either way you will pay 6% of value of car per year in BIK which amounts to a real payment of 50% of that out of your pocket when tax comes into play. Don't hit the magic 48500km per year and you have 12%. Don't hit 40000km and it's 18%. Higher emmisions (those that don't hit 156 road tax) and add a 1% levy on to those percentages above.

Cars I've had on rental abroad make me wonder would I pay for premium. BMW 5 series 520d in Switzerland, lovely car to be in, didn't like the gearbox. Merc CLA200 in Germany, small car, amazing gearbox, interior is a bit plastic in parts, (expected better than Superb), hard to park. Audi A4 in Germany, disliked this drive but loved interior. Audi A6 Avant 40tdi in Germany, what a car, stunning gearbox, gorgeous interior. The last one is a big step above Superb. What I'm getting at is you need to jump a level of premium to get that real difference. Top of the line lower class may be better value and you won't get hammered with BIK.

48,000 excludes private km’s? Is it assumed you 8,000 private so to qualify for the 48,000km business you have to put up 56,000km?

road_high

Casati wrote: »

48,000 excludes private km’s? Is it assumed you 8,000 private so to qualify for the 48,000km business you have to put up 56,000km?

Exactly, it’s only business miles accounted for in bik. The more you do the less you pay in tax.
Very eco friendly joined up thinking from the numpties that run the country

Casati

Casati wrote: »

48,000 excludes private km’s? Is it assumed you 8,000 private so to qualify for the 48,000km business you have to put up 56,000km?

Say you drive 56,000km+ but most is private, do revenue still assume you did 48,000km?

Damien360

Casati wrote: »

Say you drive 56,000km+ but most is private, do revenue still assume you did 48,000km?

Not 100% sure. I keep a daily diary of my buisness mileage. That gets submitted to finance. I don't count the weekend stuff. So I have never assumed 8000 private miles. To be honest, when you cover 1000km per week, you don't want to drive at the weekend. I let the wife drive me around in her car.