Car Allowance or Co Car

How's the Prius ? How's HSP plant ? How's CEO s Degree !

 

Not offering that lame Prious anymore!

Anyway what y'all are thinking about getting? Split between Volvo S60 and Audi A3.

 

God, you dipshits will argue about anything, won't you? If you want a fleet vehicle, then take it and shut up; if you want to choose your own ride, then buy something reliable and used that gets decent gas mileage. It's not too hard to figure out that the federal reimbursement rate is in fact a tax advantage that the company is allowing you to take instead of them. (that is a perk; tell them thank you) Haven't you ever wondered why so many companies have fleet-only policies? It's because their fleet departments are revenue-positive for the company. That's why the company car is in fact NOT a perk. But you can view it however it best suits you...

 

Trolling your thread, work for another company by wanted to chime in. I had company car for years first year now with an allowance. I'd take allowance any day of the week. My company is a little different - we get a 650 allowance (taxable) and a .19 reimbursement for mileage (non-taxable). I've got a large territory and drove 36k miles last year.

Here's why it works for me. I bought a used, still in great shape Mini Cooper convertable - great on gas. At the current gas rates I make .10 a mile just on mileage = $3600.00 last year. My reimbursement more than pays for my maintainance, ins and monthly payments. Now, here's where it becomes awesome for me. Because the IRS reimbursement is .575 and I am only being "partially" reimbursed .19, I get to claim the difference as an unreimbursed business expense. Bottom line is even though I come out on the plus side even before tax season and get to drive a car I enjoy, I have a $13,860 (36k x .385) unreimbursed business expense deduction to take this year! However the company sets it up, a smart rep will make out better with allowance vs. fleet.... unless - you go out and lock into a three year lease and get laid off; you buy something expensive and get laid off; buy or lease anything expensive at all even if you keep job; you buy something that has shitty gas mileage.

Buy used, dependable, good gas mileage, low maintainance and something you enjoy driving. Let everyone else have the four door sedan the company chooses for you.

 

A Mini Cooper? I am 6'3", no way i could fit in a girly cartoon clown car. Also, i would go with a non descript car, wouldn't want to have docs and patients see me exit an Audi,Benz,etc.

 

Lol. I get that a lot until you actually drive it. Fun car, fast as fuck with the Sport package and 6 speed manual transmission and it's very roomy inside for me at 6'. But hey, my choice. Just saying if be pissed if I had to go back to the company picking for me or giving me limited choices. Allowance is way to go especially if you buy well. I have to ask though, how many pats and customers do you run into in the parking lot and who cares? Buy what you want.

 

Anyone see the Mercedes for new car at NSM!?

 

Cheaper Mercedes are real POS. Owned ML320 16 yrs ago with piss poor interior and spent a lot of time for warranty work at the dealer. Sold it on 5th year after Merc did recall to fix rear differential oil leak.

Had CLA250 rental (hatchback version) from Avis in Basel and it drove and felt like Hyundai Elantra rental (they share same engine!). Poor handling, ridiculous location for auto transmission shifter, cheap after thought GPS, etc. Also had C class station wagon rental from Hertz at Frankfurt airport during Roche biz and though better than CLA did not come close to company A4. I'd stick with Audi and also liked Volvo S60 (thought better than A4).

 

The Benz replaced the audi

 

Which cars would you like to see in the program? I just want comfortable and nice, but not too nice. I think that may be the Audi A3 or A4 whichever is available to me. I would love a broader opinion on what the allowance drivers like? Thanks

 

I was pleasantly surprised with Volvo S60 and almost bought it.

 

Is the Benz an suv or is the jeep the sub

 

The Benz looked kind of hybrid but it's not 4wd

 

The Benz is a compact crossover. I haven't heard anything good about it.

 

The Benz is a disposable model, it's a cheap model overall. I stopped at a dealer to test drive one and they said it was a designed as a fleet car. The Nissan Rogue is a crap box. Our company is slowly but surely going to move all reps into company cars and phase out the car allowance program to keep tighter control on costs. Even the car program will go the way of big pharma

 

I like my jeep. The only thing that could make it better is something more than a 4cyl

 

Yep Benz cross over is based on CLA250 (real POS and always lost in comparison test against A3) and co-designed with Nissan (expect Infiniti version). I had hatchback version of CLA250 while in Basel and it was awful POS with strange location for shift knob on steering wheel stalk and tacky after thought GPS screen. Interior was not even close to even A3 or S60. Engine was awful so I looked into to see that it was a platform engine used on Hyundai.

Now Nissan Rogue - yep had a rental and AWFUL CVT tranny.

Yep we're headed back to the likes of big pharma big 3 (GM, Ford. Chrysler) rental mid sizes so those making a killing on mileage allowances will end up with extra car in near future.

 

wow, very interesting thread here. I know I'm about a year and a half late to the game, but I really need to chime in here for anyone like me who ends up on page 3 of an old ass msg board: I work for a fleet company currently, and am in the process of looking for another job in pharma/med device sales. I don't care about opinions on that. I'll make my decision and be happy doing so. But what I want to bring to everyone's attention when weighing the difference between mileage reimbursement vs company car, is that the car market is cyclical. It goes up and down with market trends. So your return on mileage reimbursements and car allowance are in fact subject to the car market at a particular point in time. They are also subject to the TYPE of vehicle you buy. Some cars are worth more than others when you decide to trade it in. There's a lot of realllllyyyyy terrible math happening on this thread and for anyone who reads it PLEASE for the love of God don't believe everything you read. For someone to say they have no depreciation costs for a $12K used vehicle, is incredibly wrong! That vehicle is not worth $12K at the end of its lifespan (um #depreciation). It's true that you can come up with a way to win overall in the end with mileage, but market conditions HAVE to work in your favor to do so. So if a company is offering a company car its more of a safety guard than anything to make sure both they and YOU don't get screwed. Company cars are strategically purchased/cycled by fleet companies to ensure they break even on the purchase of the asset. That includes the models provided to ensure maximum return and a good washout prediction. Soooo yeah sorrynotsorry for the rant. But if you really want to know which is the better option, the answer really depends on how much you like to gamble

 

wow, very interesting thread here. I know I'm about a year and a half late to the game, but I really need to chime in here for anyone like me who ends up on page 3 of an old ass msg board: I work for a fleet company currently, and am in the process of looking for another job in pharma/med device sales. I don't care about opinions on that. I'll make my decision and be happy doing so. But what I want to bring to everyone's attention when weighing the difference between mileage reimbursement vs company car, is that the car market is cyclical. It goes up and down with market trends. So your return on mileage reimbursements and car allowance are in fact subject to the car market at a particular point in time. They are also subject to the TYPE of vehicle you buy. Some cars are worth more than others when you decide to trade it in. There's a lot of realllllyyyyy terrible math happening on this thread and for anyone who reads it PLEASE for the love of God don't believe everything you read. For someone to say they have no depreciation costs for a $12K used vehicle, is incredibly wrong! That vehicle is not worth $12K at the end of its lifespan (um #depreciation). It's true that you can come up with a way to win overall in the end with mileage, but market conditions HAVE to work in your favor to do so. So if a company is offering a company car its more of a safety guard than anything to make sure both they and YOU don't get screwed. Company cars are strategically purchased/cycled by fleet companies to ensure they break even on the purchase of the asset. That includes the models provided to ensure maximum return and a good washout prediction. Soooo yeah sorrynotsorry for the rant. But if you really want to know which is the better option, the answer really depends on how much you like to gamble

 

Seriously which one?