Friday 29 March 2024
LIFESTYLE

5 tips for buying a company car

Thinking of buying a vehicle for your business? Here are five tips for helping you to save money and get the best out of your vehicle.

Consider a lease

Unlike a personal car, a company vehicle has to be in good condition – if you’re driving around in an old rustbucket it might reflect badly on your business’s image. Buying a vehicle outright can be expensive and may require you to take out a loan. To spare the debt, why not consider owning a vehicle on lease. There are plenty of companies out there offering car and van leasing deals. Yes, leasing means that you don’t physically own the vehicle – however it may urge you to look after the vehicle more, which could be a good thing. Some leasing companies may even pay for repairs.

Think practical

When shopping for a company vehicle, keep the practicalities in mind. If you need to carry tools around, you’ll likely need a lot of boot space. You may even need features such as a ladder rack or a hook for a trailer. Performance might not be necessary, although reliability could be. That isn’t to say you can’t still have a few personal comforts, just remember that you’re not shopping for another wholly personal vehicle.

Get the right insurance

If you’re using your vehicle for commercial purposes, you’ll need specialist business vehicle insurance. This is more expensive than standard insurance, although there are tricks to lower rates. You might be able to get business vehicle insurance at part of a business bundle containing other policies like employer’s liability insurance. You can also increase your deductible – this is the amount you’re willing to pay before making a claim. Increasing this lowers your monthly insurance rates. If you’ve got staff who are also driving your business vehicle, make sure that this is allowed on their personal insurance scheme.

Claim it on expenses

The beauty of a business vehicle is that any running costs are tax-deductible. This includes lease fees, insurance, road tax, repairs and fuel costs. It’s worth keeping receipts of all transactions involving your vehicle so that you can use them as proof. You might want to consider hiring an accountant to help you calculate these expenses.

Consider branding

Branding your vehicle can be a great way of marketing your business on the move. You can get branding painted onto your vehicle, however this might not be possible if you’re leasing. Another option could be vinyl wrapping, which can be removed when you need to give the vehicle back to the leasing company. There are lots of graphics companies that specialise in vehicle wrapping.

** This is a collaborative post

1 thought on “5 tips for buying a company car

  • Branding is a great point and a cost-effective way to promote your business.

    Reply

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