Company Car or Private

[MarcQuinlivan]

A point was raised in the Car Colour thread about most members on here being company car owners rather the private buyers.

What better way to resolve than with a simple poll.

 

[phantom]

All bought and paid for ( with the aid of a little loan )

p

 

[S3IZZO]

I didn't say "most" I said "Fairly high percentage" - meaning perhaps 20% etc

Most company car owners wouldn't care enough about their car to post about it on a forum

 

[Amchlolor]

Perhaps a more valid question, these days, would be to ask if they have been bought or leased (PCP/PCH).
I think more and more people are turning, or will turn, to these options, rather thn your traditional purchase methods.
I won't 'buy' a car again, that's for sure.
I'm going to just lease/PCP/PCH for the duration of the warranty, then hand it back and get another one.
Fuss free motoring, which is exactly what we want.
They will be looked after as well as any other car though.

 

[Sohrob]

Financed it myself, my accountant didnt recomend putting it through my company.

 

[sleep envy]

depends what you want the car for and how long you intend to keep it

have been offered a company car (335d) but didn't want to pay £1k/month BIK for it so took the cash and spent a proportion of it on the A3, seeing as I never carry passengers or have much gear to cart around

will keep it until it's done 125k+ (some time in 2010) and then give it to the mrs

 

[MarcQuinlivan]

Forgot to say.... mine is also a private purchase.

 

[MarcQuinlivan]

I didn't say "most" I said "Fairly high percentage" - meaning perhaps 20% etc

Most company car owners wouldn't care enough about their car to post about it on a forum

Sorry, must have misread the post - although it does look like a fairly even split based on the first dozen responses.

 

[Matt]

Perhaps a more valid question, these days, would be to ask if they have been bought or leased (PCP/PCH).
I think more and more people are turning, or will turn, to these options, rather thn your traditional purchase methods.
I won't 'buy' a car again, that's for sure.
I'm going to just lease/PCP/PCH for the duration of the warranty, then hand it back and get another one.
Fuss free motoring, which is exactly what we want.
They will be looked after as well as any other car though.

Think the only time I will buy a car outright is if I buy 2nd hand. For brand new will probably always lease

 

[S3IZZO]

Mine is a company car, cash purchase - if I leased I couldn't fiddle with it, I wouldn't spend that amount personally on a car (or if I did it wouldn't be an S3).

 

[NHN]

Bought & paid for, wouldnt even consider finance ever again since my S3 was paid of years back, hate credit full stop, if you havnt got it then why spend someone else's money & give them extra money on top of what you spend, mortgage is different but everything else you would be crazy to do, false economy anyway, I would rather walk outside see my car & know its all mine rather than worry over how to pay the monthly charges which includes heeps of interest/admin charges anyway.

& 2nd I will never by a brand new car, you lose to much when 2nd hand with 5-10k are just as good & alot cheaper, will never buy from an audi dealership either, they dont deserve my money, never have never will & the cars I've had & got now have always been brilliant.

 

[Amchlolor]

have been offered a company car (335d) but didn't want to pay £1k/month BIK for it

A 335D is around £34k (SE model)
BIK is 26% for it (quite high Co2)
So £34k x 26% = £8840.00
You're not going to be a lower rate tax payer if you're being offered a 335D as a company car, so a 40% taxpayer would be £295.00 per month in tax.
You still couldn't buy/lease one for that.
Helluva car for £295.00 per month, and no running expenses.
Don't know where on earth you're getting £1k a month from...

 

[dipstic]

As a private buyer everytime I have looked at PCP etc I always seems to find that its costs as much on PCP as it does to buy it with a personal loan and there is no way I would pay cash, so where am I going wrong.
Also I never seem to keep my cars for long last three have been about 10-12 months each.
Opps might have answered my own question (knew there was some reason I picked Dipstic as a username )

 

[I'mRonBurgundy?]

Following on from Bowfer's original reply I PCP'd mine. Can't see the point in putting a shed load of cash into something that just loses money.

It's also hassle free. Previous car was also on a PCP and I was a bit nervous giving it back as is was in an awful state (split bumper, dented wing, paint missing) but it just got collected and driven straight to auction. Great!

 

[Sohrob]

Bought & paid for, wouldnt even consider finance ever again since my S3 was paid of years back, hate credit full stop, if you havnt got it then why spend someone else's money & give them extra money on top of what you spend, mortgage is different but everything else you would be crazy to do, false economy anyway, I would rather walk outside see my car & know its all mine rather than worry over how to pay the monthly charges which includes heeps of interest/admin charges anyway.

& 2nd I will never by a brand new car, you lose to much when 2nd hand with 5-10k are just as good & alot cheaper, will never buy from an audi dealership either, they dont deserve my money, never have never will & the cars I've had & got now have always been brilliant.

Because it enables you to have the things you want earlier and more inportantly keep liquid cash free to invest. Purchasing things outright isnt always the best.

If i had £27k i wouldnt buy a car cash, i would buy a house which could generate enough profit to pay for the car on finance. After 10 years who would be in a better position? the guy who paid cash or the guy who used his brain and purchased house??

You only buy cash if you are seriously rich in which case you wouldnt buy an s3

 

[phantom]

Bought & paid for, wouldnt even consider finance ever again since my S3 was paid of years back, hate credit full stop, if you havnt got it then why spend someone else's money & give them extra money on top of what you spend, mortgage is different but everything else you would be crazy to do, false economy anyway, I would rather walk outside see my car & know its all mine rather than worry over how to pay the monthly charges which includes heeps of interest/admin charges anyway.

& 2nd I will never by a brand new car, you lose to much when 2nd hand with 5-10k are just as good & alot cheaper, will never buy from an audi dealership either, they dont deserve my money, never have never will & the cars I've had & got now have always been brilliant.

Agree with most of that apart from the don't get credit/loan bit , some people can't just lay there hands on ££££ of pounds , but can afford to pay off a loan/credit.

I never had £26k sitting in the bank , so i had to get some sort of loan to make up the balance.

p

 

[PNH80]

A 335D is around £34k (SE model)
BIK is 26% for it (quite high Co2)
So £34k x 26% = £8840.00
You're not going to be a lower rate tax payer if you're being offered a 335D as a company car, so a 40% taxpayer would be £295.00 per month in tax.
You still couldn't buy/lease one for that.
Helluva car for £295.00 per month, and no running expenses.
Don't know where on earth you're getting £1k a month from...

I'm going down the lease route and i've been getting some very favourable quotes. All of them are prepared to haggle. For a 335d M-Sport coupe you can probably get down to about £600 p/m with a couple of extras.
I've offered to pay a bigger downpayment to get the monthly installments down.
Best way of owning a car in my opinion. I'm done with buying and selling new cars. In this day in age it's a bit of a mugs game to be honest (no offence to anyone who buys new cars!)

 

[Kontraband]

yup... Im 100% with Bowfer. Not bought a car for 10 years now... and happy to stay with the same car for 3 years. Come that time I am ready to ship it out and I make a call and someone tidies everything away and drops off a brand new car for me. Plus, my bum's been the first one in the seat *not including the build pilots which of course use the cover protections!*

 

[sleep envy]

A 335D is around £34k (SE model)
BIK is 26% for it (quite high Co2)
So £34k x 26% = £8840.00
You're not going to be a lower rate tax payer if you're being offered a 335D as a company car, so a 40% taxpayer would be £295.00 per month in tax.
You still couldn't buy/lease one for that.
Helluva car for £295.00 per month, and no running expenses.
Don't know where on earth you're getting £1k a month from...

it's not total BIK, I'd lose the car allowance

using the company ready reckoner a company grunt has to pay £557 (incl loss of car allowance) for a A3 1.9 TDI and fuel card

still not worth it IMO as I run a 2.0 TDI - all costs incl fuel costs me under £400

 

[Issac Hunt]

I bought my A4 for cash. I intend to keep it for a long time so its the right choice for me. Works out better in the long-run I believe. I could have leased one for £400-£500 per month. If I keep my A4 for 10 years (which I intend to do) the most I can possibly on it lose will be the £23k it cost me.

10 years worth of lease payments will be more than amount for sure. Yes, with leasing you get a new car every three years or whatever but that really doesnt bother me. I just wanted a reliable diesel car to put miles on and run into the ground!

 

[consilio]

I'm going down the lease route and i've been getting some very favourable quotes. All of them are prepared to haggle. For a 335d M-Sport coupe you can probably get down to about £600 p/m with a couple of extras.
I've offered to pay a bigger downpayment to get the monthly installments down.
Best way of owning a car in my opinion. I'm done with buying and selling new cars. In this day in age it's a bit of a mugs game to be honest (no offence to anyone who buys new cars!)

Yep, I agree. I'm paying £425 for 3 years (£15300) which also includes all maintenance. Thats roughly 50% of the cars value after that time, which is pretty close to the amount it will depreciate by anyway. In return i get hassle free motoring, no costs or hassle when it comes to sell, and a new car to replace it with

I'll never own a car again.

 

[Kontraband]

£425... good effort.

 

[consilio]

£425... good effort.

Haggled like a bitch! It came to £395 for a brand new S3, not including maintenance.

 

[Kontraband]

on PCP or business lease? That in unbelivably cheap in the market.

 

[consilio]

on PCP or business lease? That in unbelivably cheap in the market.

Thats a personal PCP

 

[Amchlolor]

it's not total BIK, I'd lose the car allowance/quote]

In your case, it works because you're willing to downgrade your car from a 335D to an A3.
It only ever works, IMO, if you're willing to downgrade.
If you want the same sort of car as you're offered by your company, stay with the company car option.

 

[PNH80]

Haggled like a bitch! It came to £395 for a brand new S3, not including maintenance.

Kontraband's right that is good work. I'm in the negotiating stage on a few cars at the moment. They do play hard ball at first but there are sooo many lease companies they all budge sooner or later.

If you'd like to PM me with the details of where you got that price from i'd be rather grateful!

 

[Amchlolor]

Do Audi (or anyone else, for that matter) class PCP/PCH cars as 'sold'?
Or do they do seperate figures for 'sold' and 'leased'?
I'm just wondering if they'll notice a drop in 'sales' figures, as more people switch to PCP/PCH.

Thinking about this, I suppose it depends on the definition of 'sold'.
For example, my car's V5 shows "BMW contract hire" as the owner.
Presumably, the dealer 'sells' my car to them?
So it would go down as a sale?

 

[MarcQuinlivan]

I assume they class them as sold since the dealership sells them to the PCP/PCH company and then you lease it (or whatever the proper terminology is) from them.

 

[Issac Hunt]

I think anything that they register is classed as sold.

 

[bacardi]

it's not total BIK, I'd lose the car allowance/quote]

In your case, it works because you're willing to downgrade your car from a 335D to an A3.
It only ever works, IMO, if you're willing to downgrade.
If you want the same sort of car as you're offered by your company, stay with the company car option.

funnily enough, being bored over the last few weeks I've been thinking of what do do in December when my A3 goes back - the conclusion I've come to is exactly that - like for like ,company is better

the only thing that may swing it would be to get a ex demo or 6 month old car?

 

[dsl55]

Company for me, as much as I really like it I wouldn't have spent £25K of my own money on one, but that's just my feelings. It's a cows opinion anyway as I didn't have £25K of my own money to start with! Wish I had

Agree with S3IZZO re most company car owners perhaps not bothering enough to post on a forum, I have got used to having a forum for whatever I'm driving and quite like it