Finding your first company vehicle can be a big deal. Compared to your regular vehicle, your company car needs to exhibit a higher level of functionality, practicality and presentation. It needs to make an impression without necessarily being flashy (the reason you don’t see many real estate agents pulling up to an open house in a red Ferrari).
It is going to take some research. Finding a great car is one thing, but it also needs to be the right car for you, the driver, and that search can take some time and test-driving. You can, however, start your search by considering five basic areas of importance: budget, presentation, financing option, efficiency and safety.
Here are those five options in greater detail.
Table of Contents
Price
Budget is obviously a primary concern when considering vehicles. Break your budget down into a comfortable, reasonable monthly expenditure – that’s where your search starts. You start here because budget is often the one totally immovable factor in finding a company car; it, therefore, provides the perfect constraint on which you can narrow your field of search.
To get the best possible price, look for used cars rather than new. New cars lose a lot of money to depreciation in the first few years, which isn’t a cost you really want to swallow. Finding a used car that is only a few years old is the perfect nexus between affordability and presentation.
Presentation
Put it this way: you don’t want to drive up to a meeting in a clunker. It sends the wrong message to clients, colleagues and customers. To a certain extent, you have to consider the importance of presentation when researching vehicles. This doesn’t necessarily have to conflict with budget; a used luxury car on lease (more on that below) can be quite affordable.
Lease Options
There are two mains reasons why so many companies turn to business car leasing and financing options when searching for a company vehicle: cash flow and tax advantages. Commercial vehicle leasing comes at a much lower monthly cost than purchase financing, meaning that companies can easily incorporate the vehicle in their monthly operating costs, freeing up credit and cash flow for better things. And the tax advantages are superior – you can deduct the amount you use it for business.
Fuel Economy
Put simply, you probably don’t want a gas-guzzler (unless of course, your company requires a heavy duty truck, in which case high gas prices may be unavoidable.) Before you sign the commercial lease for a vehicle, check out its mileage.
Safety
Finally, as with any vehicle private or commercial, safety is a key consideration. When shopping for used cars to lease, ensure you go to a credible, well-respected dealership that offers detailed, transparent vehicle history reports, including the work that’s been done on the car. Research the model’s safety rating in advance and test drive the vehicle to make certain you are comfortable driving it.
Your next company car should be impressive, economical and safe. It might take some searching, but with the above criteria in mind, you should easily land your perfect commercial vehicle.
About Carson Derrow
