New company car time

Can't believe it's nearly 4 years since I ordered the last one.

Currently doing 30-35k miles / year.

The government is really hammering diesel drivers - a like for like replacement of my 520d would cost £410 / month in BIK tax.

Shortlist at the moment...

BMW 330e MSport. Can't add anything, due to the £40k 'luxury car VED' which bumps costs by £25/month if you spend £40,000 rather than £39,999. Only get the best from it if you plug it in overnight, which, frankly, is never going to happen. On the positive side, you do get a burst of

290bhp (non boosted is around 250bhp) if you have a decent charge in the battery. BIK £160 / month.

Lexus ES300h. Lots more kit - most importantly, lumbar support and electric adjustment of the seats. Also comes with a decent Pioneer audio system vs. the awful BMW standard system. Doesn't need plugging in, but 'only' has about 240bhp. BIK £280 / month.

I like the saving on the 3-series... but they feel a bit pokey and cheap after running a 5 for the last 100k miles.

We're limited to Audi, BMW, Lexus, VW and Volvo - but VW and Volvo hybrids have awful residuals, so a Passat GTE is out of my lease banding by £50 / month, meaning it's £100 / month more to lease than a 520d MSport!

The alternative is to hold on and see if the new BMW X1 hybrid is any good. But that's just a jacked up Mini.

What woudld you do?

Reply to
Steve H
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It'd be Lexus for me, no question.

Reply to
newshound

If you were paid by the company 45p/mile for the first 10,000 and

25p/mile for the next 20,000miles that would give you £9,500 pa to play with.

Why not lease your own car? Then no BIK.

Or is this all private mileage?

Pickup? BIK is zero if you only use it for work and commuting.

The BIK of £3,430(company van) + £655(fuel) = £4,085 or £340/month probably makes it uneconomic.

Reply to
Fredxx

I have a fuel card for business miles. I pay back private miles at my average cost per mile each month.

Because it's not an option due to the business miles I do.

95% business.

Not an option due to CO2 emissions.

I don't think you've quite got that one right.

Reply to
Steve H

For 1500 private miles a year can you not use one of your fleet and make the company car business use only with no BIK ?

Reply to
Nick Finnigan

No - it's the availability of the car, not the use, that is taxed.

Trying to prove no private use of a car parked on your drive just can't be done!

Reply to
italiancar

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Permanently activated GPS logging, verified with odometer reading.

Reply to
Nick Finnigan

That does not show the car was not /available/ for private use. (The tax charge does not require /use/.)

Bear in mind too that ordinary commuting is private use and I don't know that Steve never drives between home and a normal place of work.

Reply to
Robin

Couple of issues - I don't want GPS tracking on my car. We've successfully avoided that at work so far and I'd be the most unpopular person in the wor ld if I voluntarily signed up for it, opening the floodgates for all new co mpany cars to have it... and it also needs the support of the employer as t hey can be investigated and fined if an employee then uses the car privatel y.

I know of very few people who've got away with a company car parked at home without incurring BIK - it's much easier to do this with a commercial vehi cle than a luxury car!

Reply to
italiancar

My 'normal place of work' is my spare bedroom, so I don't have any 'commuting' mileage, even if I visit the office.

If it was easy to avoid BIK through no private use, I'd just order a new shape 5-series!

Reply to
italiancar

Indeed - although with no commuting to worry about you might be a candidate if your employer played ball and formally prohibited private use. As you may well know already HMRC's line on that is set out at

Reply to
Robin

My employers won't run the risk - as they also get prosecuted if any issues are pulled by HMRC.

Not many employers will entertain this kind of arrangement due to the high risk nature of it.

Even moving the car to get another car out at the weekend could be construed as private use - and if you do try to claim you have no BIK on a company car, HMRC watch you like a hawk.

Reply to
italiancar

Definitely a first world problem. ;-)

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

It would show "no private use of a car parked on your drive".

If he did, he could leave the company car at work overnight.

Reply to
Nick Finnigan

Most certainly is!

I'm a tight northerner, though, so the thought of sending £120 / month more to the tax man than I really need to hurts me.

But I'm bored of BMWs and fancy a change - especially as I've noticed that modern BMWs don't quite get the pedals properly in line with the driver's s eat in RHD examples, so I constantly have some right hip problems. This is an ageing rather than first world issue...

Looking for someone to persuade me that I'm not totally insane in going for the more expensive option!

Reply to
italiancar

I haven't had any great dealings with company car tax since the mid-1990s but one argument runs roughly as follows:

a. you do around 30,000 miles a year in the car

b. so you spend around 300 hours a year in the car - possibly more if you /don't/ drive like the Cavalier drivers of those days :)

c. work out the extra cost per hour and ask if it's worth it for the greater comfort plus the element of life insurance that brings. (I gathered the latter often played well with spouses.)

I haven't tried put numbers on it as I didn't follow your figures. Eg I thought the Lexus would be over £40,000 for VED purposes. But what do I know: I drive a 2008 Focus and 2012 Fiesta :(

Reply to
Robin

Unbelievably, the ES300h is under £35k.

It?s actually a bit of a bargain.

Reply to
italiancar

There are leases that go up to 40k per year.

I presume green company credentials.

Please do indicated where I got this wrong. The figures were straight off the government's website:

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Reply to
Fredxx

There are, but once you've taken a car allowance *and* paid for a maintained lease on 35k miles / year, the maths doesn't work. Additionally, employers have a duty of care to their company car users, so many won't allow an opt out if the car is integral to the role, rather than being a perk.

Yes, we are limited to 120g/km.

Yes, you got it wrong. The benefit charge is the amount effectively added to your salary for tax purposes - you pay your normal tax rate on that. But that's for private fuel use, which doesn't apply to me anyway.

Reply to
Steve H

ok

Then just the van BIK of £3,430 + cost of fuel.

Reply to
Fredxx

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