Company Car vs Monthly Car Allowance (Page 2)

They'll claim fraud and use recission to deny coverage.  Occasional business use is OK.  The difference is the insurance company's exposure to risk is higher when you drive for work (especially if you routinely drive with clients in your car, like a realtor does). 

That'd be another thing to check.  If I use my personal vehicle for business (I work for a Fortune 500 company), it's MY insurance first and then the company picks up anything my insurance doesn't cover. 

I'm in the same boat right now and having to make a selection. 

Do you have more details on the IRS calcuation for tax season?  There was reference that the amount you are taxed for personal use can (or some of it) can be captured when filing the return at the end of the year.  Is this true? 

In my case, I get a fuel card regardless, and taxed for personal mileage (they recommend to log 20-30/week so nothing is suspicious come tax time). 

What to do here? Company car (subaru outback most likely) or 600/month car allowance?  My current car (Civic) is 10 years old, and I'd have to get a new car to satisfy the allowance reqt's (4 yr old max, and 4-doors)

Company care here too.  I put on 35,000 miles this last year and didn't pay for any gas, any repairs, any maintenance, or anything else.  We get a new car every two years or 60,000 miles.  I'm driving a 2010 Ford Edge, (so I can put my bike in the back of course), and would never use my own car for the traveling I do.

I get to use it for personal use at 10% of business miles and then get charged a minimal fee, but I travel on their gas and if I have a problem, I just call in to fleet services.

I'm normally one to endorse taking the cash but if that comes with the requirement of buying a car, I'd say take the company car.

My company has a large fleet of vehicles and every 2 years, when they change them out, they offer them for sale to employees at a discounted price. 

Just a thought for the longer term, taking the company car and treating it like you would a personal car (oil changes, washing, etc) may be worth the opportunity to purchase it at a discount when you are due to swap it out, and then take the allowance and use the car.

Fuzz is right about the company car being on personal insurance if you take the allowance. If you are honest with your agent he/she will have to list the car as business use which is much more expensive.

A late model car classified as business use might eat up more of the expenses than you think. The insurance companies charge more because the risk is so much more. I commute to work but my annual mileage is less than 8,000 miles. Someone using a car for business use might have upwards of 25k miles a year. That is a lot more time on the road and a lot more exposure.

I also agree with the mileage thing. I would hate to have a payment on a car I had driven 30k miles every year for four years. That car is going to be worth nothing with those kind of miles.

I'd probably take the company car, set aside what I would normally pay in a car payment, pay my personal fees for driving the car and save the rest. That way I have the money for whatever personal car I want in the next few years and all the miles are being piled on someone else's car.