Dilemma

Long Onion

What to do?

Car has been declared beyond economical repair after falling out with a rock. Insurance co are making an offer today - garage told me to expect circa €7k. It will likely be €2k from a breakers and €5k from insurer.

Have sourced a replacement fully refurbed engine from the UK for €1k which is guaranteed for 6 months from a company called Saab specialists I would then need to get it fitted.

So do I;

a) Take the insurers €5k and my 2003 2.2tid vector with 130K on the clock and pay €1k for the engine plus costs of fitting and carry on, pocketing any profit left (but continuing to pay €860 road tax

b) Take the cash, head up north and buy an 05 skoda superb 1.9Tdi 130bhp 120,000 miles with full RAC report and 12months AA parts and labour warranty appling to any registered garage in the South

c) Take and keep the cash and opt for a company car - paying circa €300 per month for a car that I won't own but will have no insurance, tax, servicing etc (probably a subaru legacy diesel)

the last option does sound tempting but I really could doo with keeping the outgoings to a minimum and if i leave the job, i will have no car?

Confused - any advice appreciated

alias no.9

C sounds like a good option assuming that €300 covers fuel. €300 per month is a full tank of fuel a week. Put the €7k in the bank and keep it there as a backup to buy a private car, should you need it.

biko

The heart says A but the head says C.

poreilly101

No question about it.

If you are covering over 35K miles per yr the BIK will only be sitting a 6% leaving the annual costing on a 30k car working out at an annual charge of a little shy of €800 per year...

If you're not travelling the distance now that's another story

Long Onion

poreilly101 wrote: »

No question about it.

If you are covering over 35K miles per yr the BIK will only be sitting a 6% leaving the annual costing on a 30k car working out at an annual charge of a little shy of €800 per year...

If you're not travelling the distance now that's another story

I'll only be doing in and around the 25k mark mileage and the monthly cost doesn't include the fuel.

As it stads at the moment, I get a car allowance as i use my own car, if I opt for the Company route, I lose the allowance and have to pay BIK - it will mean around €300 per month less in the pay packet. It would be nice to have a brand new no hassles car but it seems that €300 per month is a lot to pay for a car that i won't own.

Probably looking like option a or b are the only runners I guess

no1beemerfan

Sounds a bit expensive for option c, especially you'll have to pay fuel. Also if I'm correct don't you lose your no-claims if your insured under the company you work for?

smash

I'd take the €7k and buy something else, you'll do better than a 05 skoda with 120 on the clock!

Long Onion

steve06 wrote: »

I'd take the €7k and buy something else, you'll do better than a 05 skoda with 120 on the clock!

What would you recommend though? I don't want to go older than '05 if possible, I want something somfortable and reasonably well specc'd - it has to be diesel and have 130ish bhp. I will be a cash buyer and am prepared to bargain - will go up north if needed. Want to keep to 2l or below for road tax purposes.

R.O.R

What would be your declared annual business mileage for BIK purposes, and what sort of car would you be looking at with option C?

Currently I'd estimate your annual spend on the car for maintenance, tyres & tax to be around €1,500 (1.5 Service, Set of Tyres & Tax). Add your annual insurance cost, breakdown cover, replacement cars (or loss of earnings) for service on top of this to give a good idea of what it actually costs.

Personally, I'd take a company car at 25k per annum for peace of mind, but I might be slightly biased