Tell me about the Alkermes car allowance.

That is pathetic! And with the loss of mileage deduction in 2018 it is even worse!

 

What about fuel costs? Is that included in the 3 cents per mile. ?

 

Not 3 cents a mile, low 30s cents per mile. Don’t believe a lot of what you here. My allowance right now is $585 and I a. Getting 32 cents a mile. More than enough to cover all bills

 

Sorry I mean 3.24 a gallon....my bad.

 

The car allowance is below the current industry standard of $600.00.

 

The car allowance here is fantastic. I came here from another company that also had an allowance. My flat rate an my prior company was $610 a month, but they only gave me between 12 to 14 cents per mile. Here my flat rate is $528 per month but I get an average of 34 cents per mile. I drive about 2,000 business miles per month so I'm get roughly $1,200 a month. I purchased a totally loaded Ford Explorer and in the past year I've figured I make between $25 to $58 per month after all my expenses (cost of car, insurance, maintenance...)are paid for my Explorer. That's pretty nice and I walk away owning the car. I love having the car allowance. I pick what car I want to drive and own it and still make $25 to 58 a month. It's like getting paid to buy myself my own car. When I had a fleet vehicle I had to drive a crappy chevy malibu or ford taurus from wheels, inc.

Believe me, you will love getting a car allowance instead of some crappy fleet cars that big pharma jam down your throat. Car allowance here is bliss .

 

New Tires, oil changes, maintenance, repairs, wear an tear , one major engine or Tranny repair and your losing money on that car allowance.
Plus car insurance, and you have to pay for your own gas an then get reimbursed, which is a huge pain in the ass.
And using a app, omg using your own car and they still track you.

 

Just offer both. I know a big pharma company that offers a company car or you can enroll in the motus program. So you can decide. Big territories eat up cars before they are paid off.

 

Idiot! Mine is well over that amount.

 

Ok, well a couple of things you write are completely wrong. First of all, the app is there to help you track your miles only if you want to turn it on. I don't use mine. Second, I buy my car outright. I could make even more money a month on the car if I bought a more regular car like a chevy malibu or even a ford escape instead of an explorer. I've factored in oil changes, tires, gas, insurance and regular upkeep and maintenance (windshield washer fluid, care washes...) and any way i slice it an allowance beats a fleet car. I was used to having a fleet car before coming here about 3 years ago and was upset that this company didn't have fleet. after about 5 months I realized how much better allowance is.

 

The above poster is kind of right. You are not really going to make any money here with the car allowance unless you buy a really inexpensive car that would be worse than a normal rep car given to you by fleet. If you buy a malibu or escape you will pretty much break even and maybe make a little. My prior company had fleet cars and I always had to pay a monthly base of like $55 just to use for personal than then get dinged for each personal mile I drove. The really great thing about having an allowance is that I get to pick the car I want to drive and then get reimbursed for all business use. I have an explorer just like the one my old company gave me and I break even, BUT I own the car when I'm done. I buy and do not lease. If lease payments are lower than my 36 month finance to buy then I would make a bit of money each month. ANd yes, that is taking into account gas, insurance, maintenance, tires, depreciation and everything else. Right now I get $539 a month base allowance and 35.924 cents per business mile. I had roughly 1,500 business miles last month which gave me a monthly allowance of $1,078.

Ask most people who have had fleet and allowance what they would prefer and most would say Allowance. It just gives you so much more freedom and ability to pick what you drive and have the company finance it.

 

Most companies with fleet are now charging much more per month. I had $200/ month taken out of my paycheck at my previous job, regardless how much i used it for personal use. Unless I was to blow an engine or something I'd take a car allowance any day.

 

You should be asking about the culture, leadership, chances of earning stated bonus target, etc. The car is the least thing you should be worried about.

 

I don't think they will like the answers to those questions.

 

Car allowance here is pretty good. Get a loaded ford edge or escape (or similar vehicle) as a rep and you will make a little money. Basic explorer or decent equipped Altima (or like) and you will break even. I went big and got a fully loaded Toyota 4 runner SR. Happy I get to drive the car I want while the company allowance pays for most of my loan and covers most of my gas and insurance and maintenance and I end up owning the vehicle in 4 years. At first I didn't like that they didn't have fleet cars when I came here a little over 4 years ago. But now I hope we don't ever get fleet cars. I used the company car allowance to cover 85% of my car loan on my 4 runner I bought when I started and the allowance covered all my insurance and most of my gas and maintenance. After 4 years my 4 runner was paid off and mine and now I'm selling it and already have an offer for $29,000 on it and I have it listed for $32,000. I apply that to my next car as a down payment and I'm going to have that allowance covering the total cost of the new car in less than 2 years. IT's a great thing!

 

It really doesn't matter anymore what anyone thinks of the car allowance after the email that came out today. All I can say is what an AWESOME company we work for. Not only is the culture great and the products we sell great, but they really seem to listen to the field. I've been here about 3.5 years and I am so happy I'm here.

Starting this summer, we will be able to choose to go full fleet vehicle or decide not to go full fleet and keep the allowance. It's up to each individual. With the survey split they did the best possible thing for us. Those who want to go fleet can. Those who want to stay with the allowance can. Just another reason I bust my hump for this company. I love this place and I've worked for 5 other pharma co's over the past 19 years. So refreshing. I hope we can keep our culture and small company feel as we continue to grow.

 

Oh boy oh boy oh fucking boy. Now we have a choice of cars. It’s nice but perhaps some could think a little more big picture. For example is 5461 likely to get approved? Will quotas ever be realistic? Will the CCO ever get a clue? So much promise for the company but so little in terms of performance. Maybe the new guy from astellas will do his jon

 

I want a Company car. I don't want to buy my own car. I'm HAPPY about this news. You're ungrateful.

 

What are the car choices? I'm interviewing. Bonus structure? I appreciate any information and it's nice to see someone not negative on these boards.

 

Aak the people your interviewing with