Which way to a new car?

[Timo]

I need to glean knowledge from the more financially astute of members here.

I currently have a Mk1 octy vrs remapped etc etc but with 125k on. I 'may' be in line for a car allowance of £333 a month.

I am looking to get a MkII Octy vrs pref derv just due to fuel prices now. What would be the best way of going about buying one?

Would it best to chop this in with a dealer (if so how much) and get hp for the rest through them?

Sell the car (if so for how much) and get a loan for the rest (if £333 is enough)?

Get a loan for the full amount, use the mk1 money to pay debts?

Where would be recommended for getting a car, would really have to be used I think, unless find deal of the century.

Are there any tricks that can be employed when blagging things relating to the car when buying it I should consider?

Winchester or Newbury are my local stealers.

Many thanks and Happy New Year

[cheezemonkhai]

I found Winchester were not very flexible on prices, but that Freebourne in soton could be moved a lot more and quite easily too.

If you can sell the car privately you will get more for it so it just depends if you can afford to buy a new car then sell the old one, or better still sell the old one order the new and either get a loaner or a hire car for a couple of weeks until it arrives.

Have a look on drive the deal as even if you don't use them it's a ball park for what you can get a car for. I have got dealers to match theses prices on new cars.

[radders]

Who would be paying for the fuel? If you claim it back, at what rate?

The monthly allowance is £4000 per year(before tax?), which is not a lot but if you only do a few miles a year and this is seen as a perk so that you can get a new car, all well and good. It is £4000 a year off your bills for a new car, isn't it.

As for tricks, try buying at the right time, usually at the end of the month or quarter, particularly if registrations are about to change. If that is when you are looking, ask the dealer if they know of anything that is about to come in P/X.

As a side point, what are your experiences of the Winchester dealer as my car is due a service in about a week and I live near there.

Mark

[cheezemonkhai]

My experience of Winchester was that they used to be good, but that changed after my car went there ok and came back with a dent in the bonnet that they claimed they didn't do.

Then when they left screwdriver marks in the bumper after replacing faded trim and the best of the lot parking the car against a wall and scratching up the front bumper trim.

I also found them not cheap.

On the back of this however there are far worse dealers IMHO, and if you have a look at Westover in the reviews section you will get an idea for what I mean.

I find Meadens in Sway have been excellent if you are towards that end of Hampshire.

[Timo]

Only going by what the company policy docs say with regards to my grading. Think that petrol is 14ppm however can claim some thing back through tax or something, not too sure. Will confirm everything before I go flying off to get something and end up out of pocket.

My only experience of Winchester was drove all the way down there for a de-mister switch told them which car model etc, paid a fortune for it, drove all the way back took the car apart opened the bag to find the right part wrong car:(.

[Silverware]

I have just gone through this process and have a useful spreadsheet that will do the work for you - after some data input which goes into some detail.

If you want me to do a bit of work for you I am happy to try and help

You would either have to try and fathom out the spreadsheet - not easy unless you know how or without explanation, or I could pm you a list of things I need information for and give you an answer.

[dan123]

The tax people allow you to receive 40p/mile for the first 10k business miles and 25p/mile thereafter.

As you will receive 14p/mile you can claim tax relief on the difference, use tax form P87 for this if you don't do self assesment.

So if you do 20k miles you can claim back £1480, £1040 for the first 10k miles (40% of 26 x 10000) plus £440 (40% of 11 x 10000). This assumes you are a 40% tax payer, you would need to adjust this if you are a low rate tax payer and would get less back.

Remember no one really tells you about this, you have to actively claim it.

Also remember that if your employer is giving you £333 this will be taxed (and NI'd at 1%) leaving you with about £200/month (again if you are a 40% tax payer). From this you need to not only buy your car but tax it, insure it, new tyres, windscreen excesses, service. If the £333 is gross that is't going to get you much car.

Finally you need to remember to add in to the mix the company car tax you now won't be paying.

I would sell your old car privately and purchase new from a broker (if the dealer wont match the broker price)

As you may have guessed I used to opt out of a car scheme (I'm now back on a company car) so know this stuff fairly well. It can be worth it, I had a petrol vRS and loved it however I don't think you can beat that feeling of never having a bill to pay with a company car.

Hope this helps

Dan

[Dr Zoidberg]

Yes , £333 a month before tax is pretty poor and won't cover the costs of running a VRS.

[dan123]

Yes , £333 a month before tax is pretty poor and won't cover the costs of running a VRS.

Didn't really want to say that...but you are absolutely right!

[gadgetman]

Yes , £333 a month before tax is pretty poor and won't cover the costs of running a VRS.

I got £350/month (before tax) years ago which along with dipping in my own pocket, as I'd have to anyway, I got my first Octavia 1.8T Elegance. I went for a private lease with Lex on 20k/year, but in hindsight could have easily simply put £x away each month into a hight interest savings account to cover maintenance costs.

Doing more than 1k a month in mileage actually made me a profit based on the rates I was getting, and managing to get around 42mpg on motorway trips (fill to brim method not comp). I also got myself a fuel card to help get lower fuel rates too

Never did do the p87 claim back tho. What's the time limit on those bad boys?

[dan123]

I got £350/month (before tax) years ago which along with dipping in my own pocket, as I'd have to anyway, I got my first Octavia 1.8T Elegance. I went for a private lease with Lex on 20k/year, but in hindsight could have easily simply put £x away each month into a hight interest savings account to cover maintenance costs.

Doing more than 1k a month in mileage actually made me a profit based on the rates I was getting, and managing to get around 42mpg on motorway trips (fill to brim method not comp). I also got myself a fuel card to help get lower fuel rates too

Never did do the p87 claim back tho. What's the time limit on those bad boys?

I'm pretty sure that as long as you have mileage logs (which they can ask to see) and the proof of what your employer paid you for business mileage you can go back a fair few years....give your tax office a call, I always find mine pretty helpful.....have I just made your new year?!

Dan

[gadgetman]

I'm pretty sure that as long as you have mileage logs (which they can ask to see) and the proof of what your employer paid you for business mileage you can go back a fair few years....give your tax office a call, I always find mine pretty helpful.....have I just made your new year?!

Dan

I have the expenses forms, which employer said must have start and end points.

This any good? If so yes, you have

[dan123]

I have the expenses forms, which employer said must have start and end points.

This any good? If so yes, you have

I always used my expense forms, the last 2 years the tax office asked for them and they were obviously happy with what they saw as they paid out.

As I say the form is the P87 and the claim is called Mileage Allowance Relief.

Give the tax people a ring tomorrow, I'd love to know how you get on.

Dan

[dan123]

You can't claim between home and permanent workplace, so tends to work better for field based sales reps.

Here's last years form.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/p87.pdf

dan

[gadgetman]

Thanks dan.

No these were from home to appointments. Contract says home based

[radders]

Windfall incoming then.

Always nice when the cheque is signed my the tax man.

Happy new year sir

[billybskoda]

If its not too far, Sparshatts at Fareham or Chichester are top geezers on proce and trade in.

Billy

[tchapm]

2008 doesn't look like a great year to be buying a new car, what with record fuel prices, rising cost of living and an uncertain economy... :eek:

But then I've just done it.... I worked out the man-maths, and I am actually saving money by buying the new car....

[tchapm]

I need to glean knowledge from the more financially astute of members here.

I currently have a Mk1 octy vrs remapped etc etc but with 125k on. I 'may' be in line for a car allowance of £333 a month.

I am looking to get a MkII Octy vrs pref derv just due to fuel prices now. What would be the best way of going about buying one?

Would it best to chop this in with a dealer (if so how much) and get hp for the rest through them?

Sell the car (if so for how much) and get a loan for the rest (if £333 is enough)?

Get a loan for the full amount, use the mk1 money to pay debts?

Where would be recommended for getting a car, would really have to be used I think, unless find deal of the century.

Are there any tricks that can be employed when blagging things relating to the car when buying it I should consider?

Winchester or Newbury are my local stealers.

Many thanks and Happy New Year

With a £3500 deposit, £300 a month x36 will buy you a £19,000 car on a 25,000 mile a year PCP Finance (Skoda Solutions) at 5% APR (approximately) - assuming a GMFV of around £7,000. (Excess mileage 6ppm).

Skoda Solutions applies to second hand cars up to a certain age as well as brand new ones, (usually at the end of the plan, the car should be no older than 5 years, somthing like that).

£333 a month at normal tax rates is around £250 net. With a similar deposit as above, you might get a £19k car with a 10,000 mile a year limit.

Looking on this site, a £17k petrol VRS hatch may be attainable in your budget with the above factors considered.

If you are interested in a PCP finance deal check out www.car-finance.net which is about the only place on the internet I have found who will give you a real quote for these PCP finance deals. The downside is that their standard APR is about 11% now, which will skew your figures somewhat.

[Timo]

Thanks a lot everyone. When and if I get an approval for costs then I will sit down and work things out.