Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Company Car vs. Mileage Reimbursement???

Not sure if this is posted in the correct forum or not, figured it's campfire conversation!

I'm currently working for a company traveling daily for work in my personal vehicle and being reimbursed for "business" mileage only at the govn't rate of $0.55/mile or something like that. Average about 20k / year.
I'm looking at changing jobs, doing the same type of work, same travel and being offered a company car. The company pays for the car, insurance, gas, maintenance, business and personal mileage.

Has anyone ever been in this situation before? I know I make some $ on the mileage but is the company car worth more $? Any advise or experiences would be appreciated.

I'd rather the headache be all theirs.

If there is no restriction on personal use, I would take the company car every time.

I have done both. Company car, unlimited personal use. My car, with monthly allowance and fuel.

If you are going to have another vehicle anyway, the allowance/mileage might be better.

If you think about it though are you really making any money after you figure the maintenance, insurance and car payments that go along with using your personal vehicle? On the other the other hand having a company vehicle where all of that is taken care of seems like a pretty nice deal. Now do you need a personal vehicle for anything in particular such as a truck for hauling things? Now if any vehicle you they give you will do then I say go for it and eliminate the expenses of using your vehicle for business use. I had a family member that was a sales person and when he retired it was the first time since he was 18 that he needed to purchase a vehicle and insurance.

Exactly.

Back in the sixties, when Dad traveled for a company, he received a weekly expense allowance to use as he pleased. He ate simply, stayed cheap, and managed to clear enough after those expenses and his car expenses to keep trading each year.

How often would you get a new company car? Every 4 years?

That's $80,000 you'd get in mileage reimbursements over the same timeframe. I'd have a hard time believing you are paying that much on gas, maintenance and insurance - so it sounds like you'd be money ahead doing the reimbursement.

I'd say do the mileage reimbursement and take a couple guided hunts.

Don't forget the IRS in all this.

I do also own a pick-up truck for hunting, fishing, and other trips to camp and similar.

I've been offered both.. and picked using my own every time..

the reason for it is stated by mudstud....the IRS...

the real choice is do you get the write off or the company get the write off...

you need to figure your taxes both ways based on past years and see what comes out best.


The smartest I ever saw, was a buddy I worked with, was based down in Texas....we got a monthly allowance, and they also paid for all the fuel we used...

This guy went out and rented a car for the week, and became a preferred customer down at Hertz or Avis.. so he ended up getting real low rates for the week...

was always driving a new car, never had to worry about maintenance or tires.. changed for whatever fit his needs for the week or month...and he was always driving top shelf stuff... preferred customer free upgrades etc...

said at the worst, his vehicle needs might have cost him $50 a month....

not bad when you consider putting on 1000 plus miles a week...

4 years at 20k miles per year at $0.55 / , mile is $44,000
Still a lot of $

Almost all of the fabricators and contractors here give out company trucks like candy. One of the contributing factors recently for turning down a job was that I was going to have to use my own truck, it's just not done here. They paid 0.53 per mile but still I didn't want to wear out my truck for company business.

20K miles per year is probably half what the IRS depreciation is bases on, so you probably be a little ahead with a company car but you probably aren't talking about big money. What kind of car would you have as a company car? If it is something the size of a Ford Focus,I'd buy my own car.

I get 56.5 cents per mile from the company. The company lets me use their card for gas but I must deduct the difference from my mileage check. Works well for me. I get an extra 12-1800 bucks per month.

Actually it's $44,000 over 4 years just for the mileage. Not sure how much gas, repairs, oil changes, insurance, and a car note would run over 4 years, but I would bet it would be more than $11,000 a year for your own car. I'd let them give me a car and never look back

Clyde

Choice of cars. Ford fusion, Chevy impala, ford Taurus, or ford escape.

I have done both but currently have the company car. Our car plan is a new car every year ( Ford Escape or Fusion at my level) and we get a gas card to go with it.

We have to declare personal miles on the car, but the company pays for them as well. (we just do a guess at the end of the year)

I typically do 40-50K a year on the car and figure 12-15K of that is personal. Thats a terrific benefit, the savings of not having a registration/insurance/gas/repairs on a personal car is a big benefit.

The other benefit of the company car is the reporting is so much easier. like I said the only thing I have to do is enter a guess for my annual personal miles once a year.

Back in the days when I had reinbursement, there was a monthly report.

If you are reimbursed for using your vehicle you are supposed to inform your insurance company which will raise your rate. If you don't and have an accident and the insurance company finds out it won't go well.

Another thing to think about, at least here almost all company vehicles are trucks and 75% of those the users get exclusive use of themand get to take them home. So lots of guys have a work truck they take home provided by the company and then get a fuel effecient/cheap car so they have a truck and a car. So that saves you from having to buy your own truck for personal use.

Pull up to a hunting camp here in season and 1/2 the trucks are white with a sign for a company on the door.

The only 1 of those I have driven is a Taurus, the 1 I drove was a great car, I select a Taurus & not look back.

I have spent most of my life on the otherside of the desk. If an employee had 2 wreaks in his company car we fired him because the insurance company whould require it.