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Sun 6 Jan 2013 19:47

Advice needed car allowance car 35k miles a year - TR7

Hi I currently do about 35k miles a year and get a car allowance of £320 a month after tax plus 20p a mile fuel allowance.
The allowance stipulates the car must be less than 5 years old and you get paid more the lower the emissions. I currently run a Hyundai I30 that is coming up to five years old and not really big enough.
I need a reliable estate but max I can only pay is 5k plus px on the Hyundai.
Any advice appreciated.

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Mon 7 Jan 2013 00:44

Advice needed car allowance car 35k miles a year - Avant

See what sort of Kia Ceed SW or Skoda Octavia estate (1.9 TDI) you can get wuthin budget. There's an i30 estate now but probably too recently introduced.

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Mon 7 Jan 2013 06:20

Advice needed car allowance car 35k miles a year - oldtoffee

£7k would get you a 50k miles, 2009/10 Ford Focus 1.6 TDCi at Car Giant. Low'ish on emissions certainly compared to a VW 1.9 diesel, economical, reliable and plenty of people to service them at competitive prices. £500 more would get you a 60k miles Citroen C5 1.6 HDi (same engine as Focus I think?) although some here will tell you some Citroens can sometimes be problematical. £8k also for a 2009 Ceed estate only 35k miles and some warranty protection - only if the car has full service history. Another £500 and a Toyota Avenis is within reach - very comfy cruiser, decent reliability, good dealers and prone to handling out of warranty issues sympathetically.

I don't think its worth your while looking for a low mileage car as you'll pay quite a bit more for it and you'll be putting so many miles on it you won't see that money at the end. 35,000 miles is a lot of time in the car so I'd worry less about finding an extra and theoretical 5mpg from a car and look to see what would be the most comfortable and also the most refined on the motorways (your second home.)

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Mon 7 Jan 2013 11:19

Advice needed car allowance car 35k miles a year - Falkirk Bairn

I assume you clim the tax back on the mileage allowance!

First 10K 45p rate less the 20p / mile = 25p

25p x 10,000 = £2500 @ base rate = £500 or £1000 @ 40% tax rate

>10K 25p less 20p = 5px 25,000 = £1250 @ base rate = £250 or £500 @ 40%

So you can reclaim £750 or £1500 each year....if you have not claimed in the past you can go back up to 5 years (IIRC)

When I was working it was always nice to get a wee cheque in July/August time - assuming I filled in the self-assessment form in May/June.

Now retired, I still have to fill in the SA form but now I get a demand, not a refund.

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Mon 7 Jan 2013 12:37

Advice needed car allowance car 35k miles a year - TR7

Thanks for the replies. My tax code has been adjusted so I no longer get a cheque!

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Mon 7 Jan 2013 20:28

Advice needed car allowance car 35k miles a year - tanvir

Forgive me if this is a stupid question, because my knowledge of company cars/car allowances is rubbish, but isn't this the perfect scenario for leasing? £320 a month on a business lease could get something tasty surely...?

Again, apologies if this is daft

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Mon 7 Jan 2013 20:37

Advice needed car allowance car 35k miles a year - TR7

I work for a company not self employed. The quotes for high mileage leasing are very high plus don't think I'd get credit.

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Mon 7 Jan 2013 21:59

Advice needed car allowance car 35k miles a year - oldtoffee

>>>£320 a month on a business lease could get something tasty surely.

Regrettably no. Apart from the fact that a business lease isn't available to a private person. at 35k a year a PCP would put the OP in something small in body and small in engine or many just wouldn't bother quoting beyond 2 years and after that it gets very very expensive. This has been my dilemma over many years. An attractive looking lease rate is usually based on 10k miles p.a. which is just an eye catching headline figure. Also funding your own car if you factor in depreciation and finance costs, £320 a month doesn't get you into anything big, decent or recent ie 2 or 3 years. Factor in two or three services a year including a big one and 2 cambelt changes in 3 years. So you're likely to end up looking for a 3 to 4 year old high'ish mileage motor because realistically thats all £320 a month plus a notional profit on mileage covers you for. IMO it's unfair for a company to pay that and expect you to find a car that they and you agree are suitable. If you do that mileage promoting the business, they should stump up for a decent company car. Obviously if the job pays very well then you can take a view and offset the nice to have wages against the car costs but in practice that isn't how it works.

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