Wheels.......

dev,
even though things have got a little heated in the past i would hope that i've always come across as not quite serious in my knocking of bmw's i drive a lexus for gods sake... prime candidate for rehashed toyota, or alan partridge drives one humor here so i'm definately in a glass house... not even a double glazed one.

racism is the most idiotic form of abuse, you've worked your b*lls off to be able to afford the car and then some loon starts on at you about it... unbelieveable. mind you if they ate the food and saved the money they wasted buying more food perhaps they would be able to afford one too. reminds me of the time we covered a colleagues car in shaving foam... but that was an old mk 3 escort and because he was a bit of a d*ck...

the MF stuff i'll just have to tut loudly, shake my head slowly and sigh.....

cheers


julian

 

Y reg (2001) Ford Fiesta 1.3 Flight... acceleration up to 50 is ok but needs serious thrashing for above that tho will do 90 ... wish i'd got a Zetec....

Standard apart from 3d number plates :MILD: and replacing absolutely crap Ford stereo for Alpine headunit, Kenwood components, Alpine amp and Focal sub

 

Modified 1994 Opel Astra Caravan 1.6. ("Modified"? New driver's seat (König). Original was uncomfortable and didn't come far enough forward for short wife). 180,000 Km, still going strong, sips petrol very gently (typically around 7-7.5L/100Km (37-40 mpg) (and it's an automatic)) and basically the automotive equivalent of the "Tardis" (small outside, huge inside, wonderful for DIY stuff). Moreover, it never breaks down. Can't ask for better than that.

 

Carlton Gsi 3000 24v.....

Regards

 

Scooby.

Pluses:
Practical for the family (this for SWMBO),
as reliable as they say,
goes round corners well,
goes fast,
goes round corners fast well,
people tend to let you out at junctions & get out of the way on dual carriageways (in my experience at least),
other Scooby drivers wave at you...
other Scooby drivers are a sad lot...

Minuses:
Looks cack,
expensive to run (but then what isn't....., and probably not too bad compared with the Mercs & BMs.....?)
sometimes tends to attract the teenage Nova driver to nibble at your back bumper.

 

Company cars are still good value despite the Govt's best efforts to make it otherwise. The cost to you in tax is based on the list price of the car (+ any accessories the company pays for), what fuel you use and how much CO2 it chucks out. Here is the Tax Calculator from the AA web site.

As a 22% rate tax payer doing about 30k miles a year a Mondeo 2.0 LX TD would cost you less than £900 a year. Think about it - a new car fully service, taxed, tyres and breakdown cover for £17 per week. That's cheap motoring!

Make sure you pay for all your own private use fuel. The Govt charges you a massive lump of extra tax if they see the company paying for even 1 litre of private fuel.

The only cons to running a company car are that you don't build up your no claims bonus, you have no equity in the car (it's like renting) and your car choice will be what suits your employer rather than what you might choose personally. It's still a good deal though.

The reason I've opted out is that I pay higher rate tax and do more miles. The same car would cost me closer to £1600 a year. Once you get to the executive cars and throw in a few options the costs really start to rocket.

 

That's how it should be IMO. Make company cars a reasonable proposition for the sales rep who needs a car to do their job where something like a Mondeo 2.0 LX TD is perfectly adequate and make it prohibitive to give out Mercs, Beemers and Audis as "perks" to execs so it can be used for the school run, trips to Sainsbury's and holidays in the Dordogne

Even so, the UK still has far too high a fleet car ratio, driving down residuals for s/h cars (by periodically flooding the market with 1yr old cars) to be the worst in Europe and at the same time putting a premium on new car prices because all the dealers' room for manouver on discounts to private buyers has been sucked up by big fleet buyers getting it all

Michael.

 

Well, our fantastic UK Gov't has done the opposite We used to have a tax system that reduced the liability if you were a high mileage driver, but now it favours those who have the "perk" car that does fewer miles.

Of course there is a good reason for this, it is to do with the total amount of pollution contribution a vehicle makes to the environment. Car in car park all day = low pollution.

I could make a very convincing arguement that all company cars should be BM's Merc's and Audi's.

 

I just find the whole idea of company cars, other than those that are specifically required for doing the job, ridiculous and silly. It makes as much sense for the company buy your HiFi, or a new kitchen

Even for cars which are required for the job, a lot could be replaced by pool cars which don't "belong" to any particular employee. Employee gets to work, picks up a pool car, does job, comes back to drop off pool car at work, goes home. You want a car to go shopping or driving somewhere for the weekend? Visit your local dealer and buy one

Michael.

 

Oh, a little harsh! How many dealers (and customers) would get to listen to new kit if the rep had to return to base each night to hand in his pool car

Company cars are a great way for an employer to extend the employees working day without paying overtime. 8hr working day ~ clients 200 miles away ~ 6hrs of meetings + 4 hrs driving = 2 hrs extra work from your employee.

The whole question of perks is very emotive. Have you ever used the phone at work for a private call, used their stationery, taken a pen home, photocopied something (including your arse at the Christmas party ) sent emails or surfed the web on the office PC. It's all verbotten if you go strictly by the rules, but then we'd have no fun at all!!

God forbid the Gov't ever works out the potential tax harvest by charging for all those little perks

 

OK - the pool car thing is a little harsh, and I know it wouldn't work for a lot of "need a car for work" situations.

Still I think "perk" cars should be abolished. Don't know how you'd define "perk" though . I hear what you say about personal calls at work, stationery, web surfing etc but there we're talking maybe, MAYBE in an extreme case, what, £500 a year? Substantially less in most cases, so not really worth taxing and bordering on what you'd really call a perk. There's a difference with the company buying you a £25k car.

Michael.

 

All rep's should be made to tavel in 125cc bubble cars with orange lights on the top, and the 'Jacket' firmly displayed on the inside rear window for all to see

 

micheal,
i think perk and fleet cars are great. driving down residuals is a good thing as it enables people to afford, safer, better made, more modern cars (not only safe for the driver but safer for cyclists and pedestrians involved in accidents too). only if you look at your car as an investment rather than a consumable is it a bad thing an i don;t think anyone would say that buying a new car is an investment... if anyone does think that then i;ve got some land in florida and some bridges you may be interested in too .

i think the rules should be that if you need a car for your work then you are lightly taxed otherwise the cost of the car divided by the lease term is added to your wage for tax calculations so in actual fact it's hardly worth the hassle.

also company cars should get a highter tax on the COMPANY not the individual after 2 years. that way you'd get more turnover at dealerships, better 2nd hand bargains that are still 'newish' and better cars on the road....

cheers

julian

 

It's only prohibited if it's company policy to do so.. anyway it's a bit of a weak argument IMHO... A company doesn't employ robots without an outside life.. we're all Humans... happy humans work harder and so a little "give" with respect to using "company" property makes for a more profitable company. The whole argument that it's theft etc.. is only brought up by extremely greedy company owners that begrudge every penny they spend... very often they are extremely shortsighted business people and have zero understanding of people management. They also usualy have the opinion that their employees should be thankful to them for giving them a job. When the reality is that both employers and employees are just as important to eachother. Anyway... surfing the internet or sending private e-mails don't cost the company anything extra.. (assuming they don't have dial up ISP access that is). On top of which..it all comes out of the company budget.. the company budget impinges on the profit margin which has a direct affect on the amount (or even existance) of any wage increases given to employees.. So it's all paid for by the employees in the end anyway. It could also be argued that it's the employees that are actually creating the revenue from which the budget is taken.. so from that point of view it's paid for by the employees in the first place.

The average T&Cs of employment caters perfectly well enough with people who are not pulling their weight in terms of work output/quality without giving employers more excuses to enable them to make someone redundant. Personally, I think the law is quite solidly set in favour of employers in this country anyway. For example if a company dismisses someone unfairly and it's found to be the case in court.. they are under no obligation to give them their job back.. IMO... they should be obliged by law to do so..as they had no grounds for sacking the person in the first place... and hence had no right to deprive them of their employment.


oh and I drive a Renault Clio 1.4 RT... K reg

GTM

 

Robs,

Used to have one, a ltd edition Catalyna or something. Black with gold wheels.

Once had an M3 overtake me on a dual carriagway in the dales on a wet evening before the road got wiggley, and he was taking the pish.

On the wiggly bit, Ok straight line, the M3 took off, but come to the corner we had some fun (I hate BMW drivers don't you - rankers!). As for an 328i that tried it once - well .....

4WD, flat four, light (for a 4WD), turbo boost - such fun.

Almost got a P1, but got a Jag instead - worst decision of my automible life. V8, crap gearbox, niggly little breakdowns and twice the price.

Got an X5 now, it's not to the liking of Merc boys, but do I care? Humf.

 

Well, that's what I'm driving. 98R Mitsubishi Galant GLS. 2.0 auto.

 

Nice greenhouse.

 

Have to say John, looks strangely familar , not too from where Chez WM is I feel.
If you still in the market for a P1, my Insurance broker has the first P1 done by Prodrive for sale (white), quite quick too, although I feel he's asking a touch too much. Tone

 

Cheers tone,

My "nutter car" days are gone now, I'm sad to say. These days as you know, it is diesel, big, safe twatmobiles.

One thing I will get, however, when I get round to it is a second-hand Caterham - £7K and as much fun as a totally active ATC system.

Seriously though, I had the pleasure of driving a race specced Caterham aroung the Silverstone full course. Hanger straight, blowing a 40mph gust at 95MPH -serious fun.

How come it is always sunny in Gloucestershire?