Keep A8, or Brand new A4?!
 

Hey all!

I know this is a slightly silly question to ask on an 8 forum, but it has gotten me thinking more than I expected it to.

I had an interview today (all seemed to go well, its working for a travel agent who specialize in the Non profit sector) I would be doing business development and New Business.

The question has come up, if I did get the job (or any other that could see me in a similar scenario) They provide their Sales execs with brand new TDI A4s or provide the option to "opt out" and take the extra cash on your wage instead which means you have to use your own car.

Benefits of company car are
Brand new car
Insurance paid for
Road tax paid for

Or use the A8...? I didnt have the option at my last place because you didnt get the choice, you had to use your own motor, but now I have the choice Im not sure. The 8 is a great car, but its getting a little dated. If I sold it and took the company car I know I would miss it.

Speaking from experiance, I would now never be without my own car. The grass always seems greener etc etc.

I would personaly take the extra wage, the A8 is a well respected car, regardless of age.

Just my opinion of course, and I am sure you will be happy either way.

Bex +++

Company car also == More tax.

You pay based on the CO2 emissions and a percentage of the car's value.

http://cccfcalculator.hmrc.gov.uk/CCF0.aspx

Using a new 136HP standard A4 Diesel @ 25k (120g CO2) gives you a tax liability of about £1300/year (assuming no fuel card) which means your tax allowance goes down by 3250.

If you go with the SE Quattro 170PS @ 29k (145g CO2), takes that tax code down by a whopping 6 grand, meaning you would pay out nearly 2.5k extra (assuming you'd be on 40% tax).

I'd go with the allowance option.. If you get a decent accountant, they should be able to get you more money back at the end of the year too.

Well I Guess I'm in a position to answer here as I have a company car A4 2.0T S-Line and an A8 personal car but I'd still recommend the company car. A lot of it depends on your mileage and how many miles youve got on your 8 and what size engine etc, Miles per gallon on my A4 is still nearly double that of the A8 even though its petrol and the only thing I'd do different in retrospect would be to have had quattro on the 4 too as I find myself using the 8 more in the snow.
The A4 is 212bhp which is pretty spicy for a 2 litre.

I suppose another option is to do what I do - take the Company car then keep your 8 for smiles and weekend fun! best of both worlds and also the 8 will need less money spending on it so often as you wont run up so many miles in it :D

Hi Bex

Yeah I have had lots of company cars in the past. Passats, Vetras and Astras. I do prefer my own car, but it does put a smile on my face when I have a company car and a brand new tax disc arrives in the post from Head office! :D I think one of the lures of the company car is that its a brand new A4. If it was another vectra, Passat or Nissan I think I would be certain than my own car is the way to go!

Yeah company car does work out more expensive on tax, but even when you opt out you still get taxed on the car allowance you get given. I think its not as much though. If I opt out and keep the 8.. i really need to pull my finger out and finally get the LPG. I would also want to upgrade to a better head unit (currently RNS-D) so it would mean spending a bit on the old girl. Which off sets the fact that I am opting out and earning money on it. another plus for opting out is that I the revenue for what ever the cars worth (resale value) when I am done with it. Which you dont have with the company car.

HA HA!
The Misses wouldnt let me keep both, especially as I have the Mini pick up for weekend smiles. I think I would be a lot more attracted to the A4 if it was quattro.. I like having the option to drive to a ski resort when the airports are closed and my flights are cancelled!

I think the best thing to do is keep the 8 for now, work my butt off and work my way up to director level! Then I can get a brand new 8! +++ lol
Its not actually so ridiculous in this case, the role is available because the guy I would be replacing has been sent out to the US to run one of their new offices! Not bad career progression! ++++++

If your doing mega miles, I'd opt for the A4 without a doubt, or even better a 3 series. The 8 is a great car but you never know when big bills are looming (are you still on your original gearbox?) or when/where it may leave you stranded. With the A4 you will have warranties/replacement cars from Audi and lower everyday running costs. It will be less headache in the long run, if however you can afford to keep the 8 as a weekend/special occasion car then that would be ideal.

I'd opt for the 3 series over a front wheel drive A4, its a better drive. The BMW service in my experience is in another league to what Audi offer and then there is the fact BMW have enough faith to put an unlimited mileage warranty on their cars rather then the pesky 60k capped one that Audi offer. I know its a BMW but its hard to ignore what a fantastic product they put out, just my unbiased opinion.

hmmm you do make a good argument amar, but being a classic mini fan do you know how much ribbing I would get for driving about in a BMW?! :-(

When its a company car I dont think the warranties etc matter all that much?

My 8 is still on its orig gear box i believe... :( i guess that something I need to think about.

I dont think i will be doing huge miles (in the 8) as most of my travel will be done out of the country or in and around London by train. its only those odd customers in the uk outside of London that i will be driving to.

I havent even got the job yet, so this is all "what if" but at the end of the day there is a strong chance I will be in this situation weather it be this job or a different one.

I think If I get a chance, I will pop to the BMW show room and go back to the Audi one and check out the cars so at least I know what I am getting myself into. Or I could just get a brand new 8 on finance! lol........ god the misses would KILL me! :ROFL:

If you want hassle free motoring.. Company car all the way, I used to have them up until about 5 years ago.

I do about 20k/year in my '8, though possibly a bit less now that I've started a new job a few months ago and we use the XC90 for family trips with the dog.

Do some more sums and yes, you get taxed on the allowance as it essentially becomes part of your salary, but if the '8 is essentially paid for, and you can put that money away every month by standing order to a completely seperate account, you'd be surprised how quickly all the bills can be paid.

There's rarely a right or wrong answer for this, and sometimes it's even just down to 'which car do I like more'. Just don't buy Bavarian (unless it's beer!). :D

I've come at this from every which angle over the years, and heres my take on having a company car:

Pros:

Fixed cost motoring
Park it anywhere and not care
Brand new motor, can be nice, A '60' plate is always impressive +++
No insurance / tax / service worries
No concerns your private motor might let you down just before an important meet.

Cons:

Usually stuck with the same car for 2/3 years
Usually limited as to what options etc you can have
Usually cant modify it to make it more useable (eg sat nav etc)
Unless you do a lot of personal miles, the co car tax usually isnt worth it
Terminating your private car insurance usually loses you 3rd party cover etc for other cars
In my experience, most jobs with a 'company car' usually start with a 6 month probationary period where you get the drive the fleet offcast before getting a decent shiny new motor, so prepare for some aging un-tax friendly heap if thats the case :o


Of course, opt out schemes these days have become more and more complicated with HSE implications, so its common place now to be limited on age / engine size etc depending on whether they are providing fuel etc.

Personally, I love my 8, and driving around the country getting from A to B is what it was built to do. I genuinely avoid any jobs that constrict in any way the potential for me to run my personal A8 as an opt out as I just know having to drive anything else would be pants in comparison.

So, in summary, if you're a car enthusiast, I'd recommend the (usually) increased flexibiliy of an opt out. Alternitively, go for the company motor, but either way, good luck +++

My fourpence says a company car, kind of ties the company into you, a little. This could make a difference if decisions are being made about who goes, who stays.
I personally would not want to put heavy miles on an ageing 8. You won't be impressing anyone when it lets you down and being realistic, she will.
A4's, 3's they are all great motors and you can always go back into personal ownership, with a newer 8 if you want, at some future date.
Good luck with the outcome +++

I don't know enough about co cars to give any advise, but a quick look at Parkers says the cars worth 3.5 - 4k i know this isn't a reflection of what the cars really worth but maybe worth putting the feelers out to see how much you can gat for it. You'll obviously have a idea of how much you'd like for it. But if you can't would you sell it for peanuts just to get rid of it to make room for the A4?

I suppose the other thing to do would be to sell it for as much as you can get for it use the A4 if things change or you miss the 8 too much you could alway buy a cheap 8 for thrashing the living pi** out of at week ends.

Or sell the missis and keep both cars:ROFL:

PMSL. If I got my engagement ring back I could make a fair bit of cash off that! :D (my mate made it for me, he works for a firm that makes rings for Hatton Garden and he has been in the trade all his life.) I paid material costs only for it..... lol must not think like that!

Certainly is food for thought. And IT has a good point, I could make a fair bit of cash (as I was doing in my prev job) off the opt out scheme.... providing the 8 behaves itself (which we all know it wont!)

I havent ever been into BMWs before..... but when Amar mentioned it I looked into it and I could get an ok spec'd 5 series (which also means I could more than likely get an A6 also) So thats more food for thought. The BMW 2011 BMW 5 series does look dam tempting! Not sure the A4 or 3 series are enough to lure me from the 8, but the 5 series could (not sure about the A6) God the thought of the Tax on the 5 series does make my heart skip a beat though (but ive never been on to think about things like that too much! you only live once!)

I would miss the Quattro though. But how often do I actually use the 4wd?! Its just a bragging point once (or twice) a year that I can still go out to work when my colleagues are all stuck at home on snow days. And how the hell is that a good thing?!!!

Also, someone mentioned a good point about the probationary period. I really dont want to get stuck with the company dog (did that once before at a Christmas party! :mad: ) lol. Pool cars are never good.... so I might keep the 8 during my probation and sound out my would be colleagues about their choices and sum up my options a little further. after my probations over hopefully I can choose to opt in or out then (If I do ever get this or another job!)

Just had a look at the BMW 5 series park assist........ Giggerty! pretty awsome!

If you go for the new 5 series you will be really impressed, the interior is really very good. A lot better then the current A6 and our D2 interiors. I didn't want to get out of the one I had the pleasure of being in. The 5 series is also more powerful, more economical, quicker and kinder to the environment then the A6 by a fair margin. Its hard to ignore what a great package BMW put out, they drive fantastic. I really wish the Audi engineers could make an Audi drive as well as a Bimmer.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1294839050

Its worth noting that Audi have a new A6 out now though, it will be interesting to see what that is like.

Like most here I've had both. My 8 is the nicest car I've ever owned and I love having a couple of tons of metal round me on nasty motorway days in the rush hour. In my experience the money I got for using my own car [plus I got modest mileage money] paid for all the servicing/breakdowns/insurance etc. Just about broke even. But for me the biggy was that more than once I suddenly found myself without that particular job, and at that moment its walking home and taxi to the supermarket and with suddenly much less money I had to buy some truly rubbish wheels just to get about.

Although it is nice to put the car in the garage and not think about the bill. One six month old XR 4x4 threw a gearbox. Not only did I not pay but they gave me something else to drive away in.

If your 8 has been mostly good, keep it, take the money and feel superior to repmobiles.

Either way good luck with the job

Thank man,

the 8 has been ok. Need ball joints and a few other things. The thing is if I compare it spec wise against the 5 series, it looks very very dated! The only plus is Quattro.

Btw, does Audi have their own version of the BMW park assist? Its pretty dam neat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7DxzsbAZxs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfFv8J1ephU

Yes audi have park assist and also park assist plus now which eyes up the spaces side on or end on to see if the car fits and then does all the steering while you just control brake and accelerator lol. Gulp!!
I think the A7 I'm borrowing soon has that so full report to follow!

Yeah thats exactly the same as the 5 series park assist. I wouldnt mind having a go at that!

Well... I didnt get the job I hoped for with the Business Travel agent. apparently I came across to "salesy" in the last interview, which wasnt exactly what they were looking for. Which is a pretty lame reason, but hey ho. Its still nice to know that once again I was one of the last candidates to be dismissed from the process, but being the one that was almost recruited doesn't pay the bills. Really gutted and disappointed, the job would have been amazing for my career but I got a few other irons in the fire.

One is selling a high level Chauffeur service. So I would have access to some pretty nice motors, Loads of Volvos, E and S classes. It wasnt exactly what I was looking for, but I need to get back into work and its a job that I could buckle down in, work hard and bring home some pretty quick results. The wage is disappointing but the OTE is impressive, and as I already have a huge stack of leads from my old job at the Airline I should be able to hit the ground running.

What is it they say....? Onwards and upwards (All be it said it a pretty depressed tone)