It may transpire that I have the option of a company car soon. In short there are a number of car options (which I'll be negotiating), but for the purposes of this post I can choose a Focus / Astra or Mondeo / Insignia, then spec options as required.

It seems like it'd be about £1000 cheaper per year to have the Focus company car than keep my vRS. Obviously options would eat into that a bit. Having the Mondeo would be about £900 per year cheaper.

My question is this. How much value have / or would members place on the 'having your own car / ease of a company car' decision? How much would you have to save if anything before you'd give the car up?

Edited 29 December, 201411 yr by 73henny

Company car all day long, it'll do 70 in reverse FFS, you can park it nearer the supermarket door, it'll cost you way less to run and you couldn't GAF about it.

 

However, all sense of pride and self-esteem are gone and you're in a Ford !!!

Focus - I don't find them very well made inside

Astra - OK but nothing to get excited over

Mondeo - Nice cars on the inside but a bit dull on the outside (they were too conservative with the design)

Insignia - I like the design outside but the inside while a nice place to be is fussy

 

The questions you need to be thinking about is what model in the range is the company car going to be. Will it be sporty like your VRS? Will you get paid mileage for using your car, what about insurance, tax etc? If the company opted to pay my mileage costs then I'd keep my car as I've grown attached to mine. Also your one is practically new so would cost you to send it away packing.

Focus - I don't find them very well made inside

Astra - OK but nothing to get excited over

Mondeo - Nice cars on the inside but a bit dull on the outside (they were too conservative with the design)

Insignia - I like the design outside but the inside while a nice place to be is fussy

 

The questions you need to be thinking about is what model in the range is the company car going to be. Will it be sporty like your VRS? Will you get paid mileage for using your car, what about insurance, tax etc? If the company opted to pay my mileage costs then I'd keep my car as I've grown attached to mine. Also your one is practically new so would cost you to send it away packing.

 

 

I'd agree with your comments on the cars above. Focus and Mondeo are new models however.

It'd probably be a mid spec car, but I can option it as I want. 

They'll pay me mileage to use my car, but not insurance etc. So I'd be about £900 - £1000 per year better off with the company car. The question is whether the car I have is worth effectively £1000 a year more than say a new Mondeo? As I own my car outright, I could sell it (ouch I know) then use the money to pay down my mortgage.

Are there only Ford's and Vauxhall's on the list? They are perfectly good cars but I would not want to replace my VRS with one, even for an ST3 with a £1k pa saving. Saying that I have a TSI so my heart overrules my head and running costs were not the deciding factor.

In answer to your question -  a lot as mines been great, however back to the thread,...

 

The VRS you have now, is it yours, have you paid for it or is it on finance? I only ask as you'd need to include depreciation into the equation as surely coming out of such a new car so early would cost a fair bit??

 

Sorry if I've missed the point and it's been covered already.

I'd agree with your comments on the cars above. Focus and Mondeo are new models however.

It'd probably be a mid spec car, but I can option it as I want. 

They'll pay me mileage to use my car, but not insurance etc. So I'd be about £900 - £1000 per year better off with the company car. The question is whether the car I have is worth effectively £1000 a year more than say a new Mondeo? As I own my car outright, I could sell it (ouch I know) then use the money to pay down my mortgage.

 

Sounds like you need convincing that the VRS is the car for you. At the end of the day do you love your car? If you do then it's got to be a no brainer as you wont enjoy any of those other models as much as your one.

 

Money as I was once told can be replaced a life wasted can't.

Are there only Ford's and Vauxhall's on the list? They are perfectly good cars but I would not want to replace my VRS with one, even for an ST3 with a £1k pa saving. Saying that I have a TSI so my heart overrules my head and running costs were not the deciding factor.

As far as I know its a Ford or Vauxhall, but there may be some negotiation to be had on that. 

 

In answer to your question -  a lot as mines been great, however back to the thread,...

 

The VRS you have now, is it yours, have you paid for it or is it on finance? I only ask as you'd need to include depreciation into the equation as surely coming out of such a new car so early would cost a fair bit??

 

Sorry if I've missed the point and it's been covered already.

 

Its my car - no finance. Going by What Car's 3yr ownership cost value for the vRS, and the tax implications of a company car I'll effectively 'pay' £1000 per year to have my vRS over a company car. Plus of course the stress if you like of owning my own car. So its a case of whether my car is worth paying £1k per year to drive. I've been pretty conservative too with its depreciation calculation as I don't know what a 3 year old vRS with 60k miles will be worth.

Have to say from the options stated and given how new the Octy is; also how much money you'll have burnt in depreciation I'd just enjoy the vRS for a while...until such time that the use for work either starts seriously hurting your pockets in running costs/maintenance or the mileage increase will begin to really affect its residuals/saleability.

Its (I think) a fair point to say you're effectively just burning cash in residual loss if you sell up now....keeping the car for a while and running it upto a sensible mileage wont really hurt and at least that way you have got to enjoy an arguably better car for a while with no major pain to the pocket...actually getting some relative value out of the purchase.

Your call of course but thats what id be doing.

Have to say from the options stated and given how new the Octy is; also how much money you'll have burnt in depreciation I'd just enjoy the vRS for a while...until such time that the use for work either starts seriously hurting your pockets in running costs/maintenance or the mileage increase will begin to really affect its residuals/saleability.

Its (I think) a fair point to say you're effectively just burning cash in residual loss if you sell up now....keeping the car for a while and running it upto a sensible mileage wont really hurt and at least that way you have got to enjoy an arguably better car for a while with no major pain to the pocket...actually getting some relative value out of the purchase.

 

 

I'm not sure its the case I'd be getting any more value out of the car. At the end of the day it'll cost me about £1000 per year to keep it.

At the moment its 3 months old with almost 8k miles on the clock. So my worry is more mileage will knock it's value considerably?  

I have a loan insignia from the insurance company following my recent accident. The only thing Id say about the Impignia is they forgot to install an engine.... anywhere... nope, cant find one. Pressing the right hand pedal does nothing, not even change the noise the thing makes.... Just my two penneth...

I'm not sure its the case I'd be getting any more value out of the car. At the end of the day it'll cost me about £1000 per year to keep it.

At the moment its 3 months old with almost 8k miles on the clock. So my worry is more mileage will knock it's value considerably?  

Pipsyp maybe right to an extent, have you got a realistic valuation on your car yet ?  That could be a sobering process ! 

Since you would use the cash to pay down your mortgage, have you factored what you are saving in interest into the calculations? Depending on where you are in your mortgage it may go a long way to offsetting your loss for depreciation.

Have you considered what you would do with the extra £1000? Additional mortgage payment? Vacation? Track car?

Do you frequently drive purely for fun? Do you drive the sort of roads where a sporty car will come into its own?

Edited 29 December, 201411 yr by hobbie2k

I have a loan insignia from the insurance company following my recent accident. The only thing Id say about the Impignia is they forgot to install an engine.... anywhere... nope, cant find one. Pressing the right hand pedal does nothing, not even change the noise the thing makes.... Just my two penneth...

Wonder what engine it had?

In any case I'd probably pick the new shape Mondeo.

 

Pipsyp maybe right to an extent, have you got a realistic valuation on your car yet ?  That could be a sobering process ! 

 

Even if was only worth £15k, it'll still cost me £1000 a year more to keep it. There must however come a point where the drop in depreciation year on year is small enough that it becomes cheaper to keep it than have a company car. However I'd guess when you're at that point repairs etc will begin to mount up.

I have a loan insignia from the insurance company following my recent accident. The only thing Id say about the Impignia is they forgot to install an engine.... anywhere... nope, cant find one. Pressing the right hand pedal does nothing, not even change the noise the thing makes.... Just my two penneth...

Beause its 300/400kg heavier than the Octavia and therefore requires a bigger engine, if you can afford one. On the plus side, the comfort in Insignia is on the next level compared to Octavia.

Since you would use the cash to pay down your mortgage, have you factored what you are saving in interest into the calculations? Depending on where you are in your mortgage it may go a long way to offsetting your loss for depreciation.

Do you frequently drive purely for fun? Do you drive the sort of roads where a sporty car will come into its own?

 

Using the capitol would save a fair bit in mortgage interest, and would indeed make good economic sense in the long term.

We also have a new A class AMG Sport that my wife drives, and whilst it doesn't have the power of my vRS its great fun to drive. I don't drive purely for fun anymore (those days are gone when I had stupidly quick Subarus), the roads I travel daily can be great for sporty cars. Hence my choice of a vRS.

Another option would be to pick a Focus as my company car, and sell both the A class and vRS and get something that the Mrs and I both like. 3 series or something like that.

I'm not sure its the case I'd be getting any more value out of the car. At the end of the day it'll cost me about £1000 per year to keep it.

At the moment its 3 months old with almost 8k miles on the clock. So my worry is more mileage will knock it's value considerably?

Its a tricky predicament.

Sadly buying the car and driving it off the forecourt just lunches its trade value, sure it will continue to devalue but you're in the bleakest position right now...for arguments sake you have a circa 25k car thats now worth 17.5/18k trade if you're v lucky....you'll get offered pretty weak money by most main dealers if you're not part ex'ing as they need to retain as much margin in the car as possible to sell it on.

Being so soon into a new purchase I would probably just bite the bullet and look to run it for at least 9 months, maybe 12 and review selling it on then.

With approx 24/32k miles on the clock if its condition and history is spot on it value wont be hurt severely. Id say 1 year with the approx mileage you are doing is an approx tipping point.

Wonder what engine it had?

In any case I'd probably pick the new shape Mondeo.

 

 

Even if was only worth £15k, it'll still cost me £1000 a year more to keep it. There must however come a point where the drop in depreciation year on year is small enough that it becomes cheaper to keep it than have a company car. However I'd guess when you're at that point repairs etc will begin to mount up.

 

This was an Sri, a diseasal, but absolutely no torque, what I can say is its like riding a two stroke motorcycle, really gutless...

Beause its 300/400kg heavier than the Octavia and therefore requires a bigger engine, if you can afford one. On the plus side, the comfort in Insignia is on the next level compared to Octavia.

Like I said, its a loan car, would never spend my own money on a Vauxhall... And the level of comfort is on a whole new level... exquisite lower back pain and man-parts.. .so bad its only useful for short journeys. And there is no way I can feel what the tyres are doing or even if theyre all still in contact with the road, which is lovely given the ice about at the moment. Thankfully, being so heavy, it will just go straight through whatever it crashes into...

The O3 is unusually light compared to its sector competitors. Consequently even a 150 TDi on paper is notably quicker than a 163 CDTi Insignia or 180 TDCi New Mondeo; start comparing power to weight and you'll get the message.

In a way you're comparing apples and pears. Your saying its £1000 a year less to have a company Focus compared to owning a vRS Octavia, but if thats a normal spec, basic engine Focus it should be cheaper as would be a lower spec Octavia. Having driven the Astra,Insignia and Focus I would encourage you to take a test drive before deciding. I think you'll notice what the extra grand gets you.

I've been on Company cars about 4 years now and was in a similar situation.

 

Mine was a Mitsubishi Lancer GS4, 3 yrs old and owned from new, less than 30K on it and drove like a dream. Then a promotion entitled me to a fully expensed company car - I just pay tax and the company foots everything else, including fuel. Other option was to keep the Lancer and claim business mileage (and receive a payment monthly for using my own car - to cover costs, insurance, wear and tear). Personal mileage i'd have to continue to pay for myself.

 

It was a tough decision, but I went with the company car and after a few HireCars (a couple of Vauxhalls included....) ended up with an Audi A3, then a 1 Series. As much as I missed driving the Lancer, the cost of the company car was peanuts in comparison and the right decision. and the 1 Series was nearly as nice to drive.

 

Since then I've moved companys, but still managed to keep a company car & fuel - and yesterday finally took delivery of my Skoda Octavia SE Business (1.6TDi). For the past year i've been on Hire cars again and been mostly lucky with Seat Leons (4 of them, they tend to change every 10K miles) then one ugly Peugeot 2008.

 

The worst hirecar I had was without a doubt the insignia (although an Astra came pretty close). Yes the insignia was big, with armchair seats - but it gave me the most unbelievable backache it was untrue, even after only 30 mins in the thing it was killing me. The astra had the same effect. Both had no feeling to drive - you just turn the wheel and hope it goes where you want as it lumbers around like a tank (yes, they feel that heavy and sluggish).

The fords never caused a problem, and have a nice feel to drive and seem nicely finished (if a little pridictable and 'samey').

 

What it boiled down to for me was cost. The company car saved me a fair few hundred quid a month, then eliminated any motoring costs usually experienced (servicing, Tax, MOT etc).

 

If you do choose a company car - i'd stay away from Vauxhall.

Like I said, its a loan car, would never spend my own money on a Vauxhall... And the level of comfort is on a whole new level... exquisite lower back pain and man-parts.. .so bad its only useful for short journeys. And there is no way I can feel what the tyres are doing or even if theyre all still in contact with the road, which is lovely given the ice about at the moment. Thankfully, being so heavy, it will just go straight through whatever it crashes into...

Surely you would rather have this than the VRS? 

 

http://suchen.mobile.de/auto-inserat/opel-insignia-2-8-v6-turbo-sports-tourer-4x4-aut-opc-ebern/189554890.html?lang=en&pageNumber=1&__lp=3&scopeId=C&sortOption.sortBy=searchNetGrossPrice&makeModelVariant1.makeId=19000&makeModelVariant1.modelId=35&makeModelVariant1.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant2.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant3.searchInFreetext=false&minPowerAsArray=223&minPowerAsArray=KW&minFirstRegistrationDate=2013-01-01&transmissions=AUTOMATIC_GEAR&export=ALSO_EXPORT&readyToDrive=ONLY_READY_TO_DRIVE&noec=1

If you are a low rate tax payer, go for the company car, it will save you £££s, if you are high rate tax, that makes it viable to buy/own your own car, unless you stick with the really slow-motion/green-line options to keep the tax bill down. Personally, I opted out when the company car choice was Ford or Vauxhall only!... but now they have changed the car policy, it would be more difficult to choose as full VAG Group plus some BMW and Merc are on the list, but with a few options on a decent spec motor you have to contribute up to £70 per month, so financing your own over 4 years can still work out cheaper taking residual values into consideration.

Surely you would rather have this than the VRS? 

 

http://suchen.mobile.de/auto-inserat/opel-insignia-2-8-v6-turbo-sports-tourer-4x4-aut-opc-ebern/189554890.html?lang=en&pageNumber=1&__lp=3&scopeId=C&sortOption.sortBy=searchNetGrossPrice&makeModelVariant1.makeId=19000&makeModelVariant1.modelId=35&makeModelVariant1.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant2.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant3.searchInFreetext=false&minPowerAsArray=223&minPowerAsArray=KW&minFirstRegistrationDate=2013-01-01&transmissions=AUTOMATIC_GEAR&export=ALSO_EXPORT&readyToDrive=ONLY_READY_TO_DRIVE&noec=1

veilelicht, aber veilleight nicht, es ist endlichkeit ein Vauxhall, das ist zu teuer ein preis (und nicht nur in geld!!!) :-)

as full VAG Group plus some BMW and Merc are on the list,

Hence why you are choosing the VW Up for your next car?