Hi Everyone,

Every week I have to make a drive to and from my client, 370 mile round trip. For the past few weeks I have been renting a car for the trip and letting my company pay for it.

My other option is to drive the G and use the national per diem rate of .48 cents/mile for reimbursement . So I would get $180/week minus cost of gas. Do you think this is sufficent to cover the maintenance on the G? I know tires are expensive, brakes, etc....

Plus the added miles and depreciation...

What would everyone else do in this situation?

 

Hmm.. 370 miles at about 22 mpg (yeah yeah I know. mostly freeway miles, but no one will get 25mpg driving at 80mph) will need 17 gallons of gas. 17 gal at $2.30 is about $39. $180 - $39 is $141. So you get $141 a week extra.

Tires typically last 15k if you don't take hard turns and your alignment is good. (I'm at 8k right now on the current set and have way more than half tread). Let's say you yourself plus your work trip, you total about 500mi a week. 15000 by 500 is 30. So your tires should last you about 30 weeks. In 30 weeks, when it's about time to change your tires, you'll earn from your per diem about $4230 after the cost of gas. $1000 for a new set of tires, and you're left with $3230.

Now. I don't know how fast a G35 depreciates according to mileage, but a car's depreciation depends on so many other things that you shouldn't worry too much about mileage. I mean you have a dent hear and there, cracks in the leather, previous accident history, your ability to sell the car, will determine the true value of the vehicle in the future. So just think of the $3230 as extra cash in your pocket.

I'd say get your per diem and enjoy your car. Use it what it's meant for, DRIVING!

 

I'd rent an E-class or something similar to cruise in and not risk the damage to my G.

 

Given the choice, I will ALWAYS take a rental car vs. putting the mileage on my own vehicles....

 

So when did people stop buying cars to look at instead of drive? im with badtziscool on this one.

 

By doing the math, I will end up pocketing money on the deal, the Per Diem will also pay for my car each month. lol

The only factor is; My rentals are insured by my company's rental policy. I am liable for the G. If a rock goes through my window, its all on me. I guess I would have to drive safe.

 

People argue about putting miles on your car. But the way I see it, the more miles you have put on your car, the more you have enjoyed it. Sadly, more miles do mean lower resale. But unless you're already considering selling your car, it shouldn't be that big of a deal. I love my G and I couldn't see myself selling it anytime in the near future. With that in mind, I'd rather put the miles on it and enjoy it rather than garage it and get low-balled on resale when I do chose to move onto another car.

 

I agree with overdrve.

I wouldn't worry about putting miles on my car. I bought my car to enjoy it. As **** as I am when it comes to dings and scratches, I just drive my car everyday and everywhere. I am just careful about where and how I park her. I don't plan on selling her anyways. If I do then I won't worry about it because you take a loss on a car the first day you drive it off the lot...

But hey if your company is paying for a rental, then why not leave your personal car at home. In your case, I would take the rental ANYDAY...

 

I keep my cars a fairly long time, so from my point of view why rack up uncnessary miles (wear & tear) for biz use when you can go with a company paid rental car?

Between my wife and I we have three cars, so I can 'spread' my usage/mileage around. I'm not afraid to drive my cars, in fact the car I just sold (replaced by my new G) had 165K miles on it and it's a '94. We put 67K miles on it in the past 4 years. My other daily driver is a '97 Lexus LS with 121K miles, and I'm planning on keeping it 2-3 more years if possible (already had it 5 years).

People have different strategies when it comes to business use of cars....I'd prefer the rental car for business use to extend the useful life of my vehicles, it's not about the resale value.

You folks out here in California know it's pretty easy to rack up 15-20K miles per year...

Sean in Norcal
'05 G35 Coupe 5AT
'94 Mustang Cobra
'97 Lexus LS400

 

You know. I think I'll take my statement back.

According to Edmunds.com, their true cost of ownership says it will cost you 65 cents per mile for a G35 coupe. They are paying you only 48 cents a mile. So for each mile your on the job, you are actually losing 17 cents. In other words, YOU are paying your company 17 cents per mile for work that you do for them.

That's a losing situation. If edmunds is right, then I'd get the company to pay for the rental.

 

That is some good information right there! I would like to know what factors were used. I have a feeling that they might be factoring in insurance or something that I might be paying for regardless. I know the G35 is considered to be "above average" for cost of ownership; if 48 cents per mile is for the average vehicle then this statistic of 65 cents per mile makes since.

 

Straight from edmunds.com. And yes, it does make sense. I found out their true cost of ownership for a chevy cobalt, which is a compact car, and it's right at 48 cents.

The True Cost to OwnSM calculations use the following set of assumptions:

Ownership expenses are considered over a five-year time span
You will drive an average of 15,000 miles per year
You are financing the vehicle using traditional financing, not lease financing
You are in the Gold credit tier for the purpose of determining your finance rate
You are putting a 10% down payment on the vehicle at purchase
Your retail contract term is 60 months
You represent the average demographic for insurance rate consideration

Using proprietary formulas, we calculate the five-year costs for the seven cost categories that make up the TCO (depreciation, insurance, financing, taxes & fees, fuel, maintenance and repairs). We take into account widely available manufacturer to customer cash rebates on new cars, which may result in a lower net cost of ownership. However, we do not account for other types of cash rebates or incentives due to the variability in the offers as well as the eligibility rules for such offers.

 

The IRS allowed mileage reimbursement rate is 48.5c/mile thru year end. If your company reimburses you at a higher rate, it is taxable income to you.

 

i have a question. I'm located in california and my company is only paying me
$.405 cents per mile. Is it required for my company to increase per diem rates to $.485 ??

 

No, your company is not required to match the governments rate, BUT you can take the difference between what the company pays and what the government allows as a tax deduction. It's not the same as getting reimbursed, but it's worth something at least.