CharlieWhiskey

Just on the verge of getting a 'package' for my new job and have to decide if it's worth the bother of driving sumat as tedious as a Focus?

Don't wanna get rid of the Scooby but can't afford the extra mileage in that every day

Any ideas as I'm clueless on this

SPEN555

Keep the scoob and get a diesel company car.

sti-04!!

Can you not opt out ??

CC's aren't worth it these days to be honest but thats just my personal opinion.

CharlieWhiskey

Would prob opt for a TDCi as the Duratorq engine is the best deisel engine about. I still don't know what my options are yet

I would rather have the money to spend as I please, but confusing messages as to alternative 'package'. If it comes out of the budget then it's less money for me I guess

Barstewards won't tell me up front and be honest

Wmscooby

iTrader: (24)

Just gave my focus 1.8 tdci back not a bad car but im buying a shi$$er for work and keeping my cc tax thankyou very much!!!

Bakerman

The missus gets a company diesel Astra and it is great not having to worry about where you park it, what happens to it, who insures it, taxes it, runs it, puts new tyres on it etc etc. There is a lot to say for having somebody else look after it, most cash equivalents aren't as generous as people think they are.

Jaybird-UK

My company car is a WRX

Devildog

CW - the biggest question is what value to place on piece of mind.

You can work out what it will cost in tax (car & road) & insurance. You can guestimate service costs and consumables like tyres. But don't underestimate the value of not having to worry about anything.

Also, when people compare own car to coy car, they very rarely take into account the cost of either the finance to buy, or the lost revenue from having capital tied up in the car. Or the cost of depreciation.

Here's a quick example for you.

My old Impreza was a company car. 3 year lease and the cost to me (including tax) by way of a reduction in take home pay was £450 per month.

Or £16,200.

If I'd bought it, it would have cost me the following:

Finance costs appx £3,000
Insurance appx £3,000
Servicing appx £1,500
Tyres - 1 set - say £600
Road tax, say £450
Depreciation, say £8,000
out of warranty repairs, say £500

Total £17,050

So, I got piece of mind, and saved around £1,000 in the process.

mightyyid

I went through the same issue in Feb when I joined current company. Offer was for a company car of my choice up to the value of about £22k to be kept for three years or less if the mileage was high - which it will not be. They charged me (as it was not a necessity, more a perk) 4k per year. This equates to £2600 in cash. So for three years it costs me nearly £8k but I get a brand new car where everything is covered.

Then decided to be smart, ordered an S-Max diesel for the cc tax to help, give that to the missus and will go and buy a fun car for myself. Win both ways in my book - well I'm happy with it.

andys

Hmm 3 grand for insurance and 600 quid for 1 set of tyres. Looks like you have been shopping in the wrong places.

Devildog

LOL

I knew someone would come back with that

On street city centre parking = £3,000 insurance for three years, and that was pretty good under the circumstances.

£150 per corner for tyres isn't that outrageous either.

Sub97

But if you are quite happy buying a 12 or 18 month old car, the cash payment makes more sense doesn't it?

Devildog

It can, but it depends on what you buy and how much you get as a cash payment.

The point is that there are so many variables its impossible to say one is better than the other.

Generally, like for like, you will be quids in taking the company car option, but if its not like for like, each case needs to be looked at in isolation.

Shark Man

Just makes sure you pick the right duratorq...ford call all their diesels duratorq yet they have 3 entirely different engines used in the Focus:

1.6 = new all alloy co developed PSA/ford unit - as also seen in the 207/307/Mazda3
1.8 = the Lynx aka Endura aka that old heavy cast iron gutless clatter banger from the mid 80's with new injection system and a fancy turbo (latest version has ironed out alot of the issue concerning noise, peakyness and loss of power sub 1500rpm ), goes well; a milestone from the 1.8 non-turbo unit found in the Escort Van.
2.0 = Puma engine - as seen in the FWD Transit and Mondeo

Just pointing it out incase you get wooed by any sales patter

As for a CC or not - personal preference and what car....Maybe if it was a top of the range 2.2TDci Mondeo I'd be tempted. I'm not exactly won over by the new Focus, so it'd have to be a top of the range model with all the extras if were to be tempted....I'm just into cars too much

rgv_stu

i had a company car with free fuel, was a 307 disease-l.
used to cost me about £150 a month in tax, but i used to put in over £200 worth of diesel for private use a month. so i was definately quids in !!

ru'

Same here, however I've recently jacked my job in (working notice as we speak) so that I can get a GTR (new job offers car allowance with no restrictions, plus a fuel card).

Happy days.

Devildog

I'd aslo point out that BMW make the best deisel engines in road cars at the mo

CharlieWhiskey

I guess it's the 1.6 I've driven, the same one in the Citroen C4 IIRC?

I don't know if it would stretch to a new Mondeo TDCi, but I can always ask

john_s

iTrader: (1)

If you do go for a Mondeo, go for the 130hbp TDCI... apparantly the 115bhp TDCI feels like someone forgot to put the engine in.

I've got the 130 model for my company car, and I think it's great for a diesel. OK it's no scoob, but my boss wouldn't let me have one of those!

In terms of being worth it or not, the way I look at it is that it costs me ~£130/month (tax) for a car and that's all I have to pay. Fuel, tyres, servicing, the purchase of the car, or any problems don't need figuring as someone else pays all that.

Apart from a complete shed, I don't think there's much that you could buy and run for £130/month all in.

John.

StudentScooby

Ive got a skoda octavia tdi its actually not a bad car

scoobynutta555

Just sold a golf tdi. Made £300 quid on what I paid, spent out £360 for alloys, servicing and tax. Had the car from last Sept, so £60 running costs apart from fuel (which wasn't much) is fantastic. No it wasn't a shed.

Every Golf diesel I've had I've managed neutral running costs, or even a small profit.

Steve vRS

I've got an Octavia PD TDi vRS as my company car and it's the best long distance car I've owned. I did the sums and it was slightly better for my circumstances to take the car over the cash offer. Everyone is different.

Steve

CharlieWhiskey

Without a car in the 'package' an Octavia vRS would certainly be on my shopping list Unfortunately I won't get the option to choose other than Ford family (includes Mazda). I have no idea exactly what I will be entitled to as I have not seen a list. Other people on same scheme have 1.6 TDCi Focus or 2.0L Ghia petrol Focus

Ads78

iTrader: (2)

Fuel is an important consideration here in a number of ways.

1. Your example above. I presume you don't drive for business (not commuting)? If you did do business mileage and used your own car you get 40p per mile tax free for first 10,000 miles, 25p per mile thereafter.

Factor that in and ... you are out of pocket with the company car!

2. If you do go the company car route you don't have to take free private fuel. Work out how many private miles you do (includes commuting) and see how much that would cost you. Compare it to the tax cost of free fuel from your employer. Take the cheaper option. You need to keep a mileage log though to prove what is business and what isn't. I know!!