BL

Been offered the option to get a company car so trying to decide what to go for.

Any recommendations??

My current list of choices consist of:

Lotus Elise 111S
Honda S2000
BMW Z3

Diablo

Lotus will be much less painful as far as the Inland revenue's cut is concerned.

Personally, I'd have the Honda 1st, Lotus 2nd

Scumbag

Do you get the option of a cash allowance instead...if you do think very carefully about it...I make a fortune (and have a better car) by NOT having a company car. You may also have the option of a fuel card...very good if you have a private car)

If you do say so, and I'll find some of the calculations that are relevant

CarpetCleaner

BMW Z3???.........don't even think about it

Lotus Elise.......crap to get in and out of

Honda S2000 (I'm a recent convert) revs to 9000revs, electric roof and 2 litre

I'd go for the Honda.........also the engine in the Elise is the same used in the MGF...says it all

Merc_Cosworth

Thinking mans choice

Skoda Octavia vRS

Power, handling, reasonable emissions, and against a taxable list price of £15,000

Getting a car like the ones you listed will kill you on tax on emissions against list price.

druddle

Have a look at http://www.cashorcar.com to see if its better to take the money.

Dave

BL

Wow

Cheers for the quick response guys.

Ive currently got a scoob so may sell depending on the situation.

Wouldnt want the money option as the mileage will be crazy (circa 30,000 per annum)Love my scoob too much for that.

Love the idea of the lotus but cant imagine what trips would be like (although a brilliant tax saver)

Honda S2000 looks like the best option at the mo. But tax payments are rather high.

So any more input??

Cheers

Bob

TaviaRS

Hm, lets see on the taxable benefit bit:

Lotus Elise 111S 163g/km 16% of £25,995
Honda S2000 237g/km 31% of £26,995
BMW Z3 2.2 222g/km 28% of £23,410
BMW Z3 3.0 228g/km 29% of £27,730

If you are looking at it from a pure monetary point of view, Elise. From I wouldn't mind driving it lots and lots in all conditions, S2000.

I went for the Tavia RS, as someone mentioned a bargain at 192g/km 22% of £14,100 (list price when I bought it)

Scumbag

Bear in mind that the cashorcar above does not allow you to choose an 18 month old car that has already undergone plenty of depreciation,

Remember that you claim back a tax allowance from the IR for every business mile you do....
I do 30,000 miles pa, 25,000 business. IR allowance = 10,000 x £.40 + 15,000 x £.25 = £7750 (Thus I have £7750 on which I do not need to pay tax...ie this equates to £3100 in my pocket - tax I am not paying)
car allowance (from Company) = £480 p.m. = £5760pa (taxed at 40% as it goes into my pay packet) = £3456 in my pocket
Thus total amount(in my pocket) is £6556

Therefore by not taking a company car, I get £6556 in my pocket.
If I take the company car...let's assume your s2000 in the example above (Do you REALLY want to drive an elise for 30,000 miles pa?..braver man than me), the taxable value in the first year (remember the % you pay goes up every year) is £8370...on which you are taxed at your highest rate (40%)...Thus you lose £3348 to Gordon Brown.

Hence your company car costs you £5760 + £3348 = £9108pa (and I'm not adding in the 1-off bonus that the company paid to me for opting out of the company car scheme, as they have to pay loads of wonga in tax for the privelege of offering you a company car)

I know the benefits of a company car...I had them for many years, I didnt have the choice of the same cars as yourself (we have to have four doors and a hard top!!). However if you buy a two year old car, the depreciation isnt massive, the insurance shouldnt be too bad, and our friendly independent specialist can service it cheaply).

for me, the choice was BMW330, or at least £10,000 in my pocket every year...I took the money, and have a 280bhp B4, spare change in my pocket, and havent regretted it for a second

SB

ps - be careful with fuel cards if you have a company car...expensive if you do a high % of business miles, and the company offers you a good rate for business miles if you do not have a fuel card...but thats a completely different calculation!!!

dba

Polo 1.4 FSI,144 co2,you know it makes sense