Big Zed for business mileage? Feasible or stupid?

[James Junior]

Hi,

 

I am shortly qualifying as a financial adviser and in need of something a little more presentable than my current vehicle for seeing clients.

 

I love my fast cars and currently own a mint yellow late plate MR2 turbo.

 

Depite being a blast to drive it is far from suitable as a company motor for my new vocation however!

 

I had discounted the 350Z despite wanting one since they were released, as the fuel consumption just seems too heavy plus you get raped by Gordon Clown's new road tax travesty.

 

I am not far from purchasing an Alfa GT JTD being drawn to the sleek looks, nice economy and reasonable performance.

 

However, some baaarstard left a copy of Autocar in my reception today and on thumbing through I found an article about top rated second hand performance cars. They were waxing lyrical about the Big Zed and it started my mind working again...

 

Does anyone drive their 350Z as a company car? I would be doing between 15k - 20k a year on 40p per business mile. Autocar reckoned 28 mpg was achievable on long runs but your FAQ's indicate more like 20!

 

Any constructive feedback other than the obligatory '350Z rocks!!!!!' dry humping would be really appreciated.

 

Would it be daft to use such a thirsty beast as a workhorse (albeit a very desirable one)?

 

Kind Regards

 

JJ

[Scrag Meister]

1. Hope you never get a couple needing a lift anywhere for that multi million pound mortgage deal to be finalised.

 

2. If your company is footing the bill then its a good tax break although you obviously have to pay it from company funds.

 

Personally I would think it more appropriate to go for something with a few more seats like an M3, Audi S Series etc... Plenty of oomph but the practicalities as well.

[p1tse]

i just posted asking who does 20k a year in a zed and quite a few do.

 

company car tax on this would be high, due to emissions (not sure how it works entirely)

 

from my understanding, it's benefit in kind a company car with high emissions, so will have to pay 40% (assuming you are on higher tax bracket) on rrp say at £30k, so that's like £12k/year

 

i might be completely wrong, but that's my understanding.

[James Junior]

Sorry - I should have explained my circumstances better.

 

Its not literally a company car. Rather than offering company cars my emplyer adjusts our basic salary's to provide what they feel is adequate room for us to self fund our own privately owned cars.

 

Hence I will be buying and running it from my own pocket (including the tax unfoirtunately) though able to claim back 40p for every business mile.

 

I was hoping to spend around £10k on my new motor as I don't want to take on to big a liability until I've bedded in with my new job. Then hopefully I can trade up to something like and M3, A5 etc which i agree are more civilised and practical.

 

What do you think guys? (sorry for not being clear in the original post)

[Chesterfield]

Company car tax if its company provided would be awful.

 

35% bracket due to emissions, and an RRP on the GT pack car of £29,800 gives you a benefit on kind of £10,271 so multiply this value by your tax rate and thats the tax you pay.

 

It will wipe out your standard allowance of £6035 and leave you with a nice K code of over 4000.

 

i.e. you pay tax on over 4000 that you dont actually earn.

 

If its private car used for business then at 20k miles you will get about £8000 but this will need to be offset against the depreciation on the 350 (which is not pretty at the moment) and of course your fuel (about £3500 for 20k miles by my rough calculations).

[From A to Zed]

Hi James,

 

I drive in and out of London of a fair bit so the majority of my driving is < 40mph and in fairly dense traffic. I like to get out of town on the weekend (and enjoy the car) so I believe my driving is a good mix of conditions the average driver would see.

 

I've covered 5,500 miles since buying the car in March and I have an average economy of 25 mpg. It used to be a little higher but my exhaust and induction kit have brought out the kid in me, especially when I see a tunnel

 

If you're driving on a lot of A roads high 20's is quite common.

 

It's also very reliable...

 

I hope that helps,

Matt

[p1tse]

just like any other car, if you can afford the initial £10k on a good basic 350z and a 2 seater is fine, and then why not?

 

if you need the space or carry more than one passenger often, then no.

[marzman]

Hi James,

 

i can get 31mpg out of mine if i drive it very very sensibly, which is no fun. However i usually get 330 miles out of £75, and i have fun most of the time!

 

As for car tax - get a JDM (import) like a lot of people on here do, myself included. Most of these aren't affected by the tax rise as their Co2 output wasnt recorded when they were first imported. ...i'm still paying £185 for the year

 

Lastly, i've come from a BMW background... i had an E46 328Ci before this, and i apent approx £1k in a year maintaining it... compared to about £50 i've spent on the zed. Its bulletproof.

[Chris`I]

Welcome JJ.

 

Have you test driven one? The first thing I would say to you is get that out the way. If you dont like it then theres no way you're going to get it anyway!

 

On the more practical side, I do a 75 mile round trip, 5 days a week for work - equating to about 20k miles a year. I get paid 37p a mile and that does cover all my petrol and most of the servicing/maintainance. I say most as I tend to go for upgrades when it comes to replacing stuff, and 37p a mile doesnt really cover it! I get on average about 29 miles to the gallon and that does include a bit of A-road fun on the way home. So as far as the money side of it goes, I think you will be covered if you drive sensibly. Also the car is great at munching the miles. A couple of weeks ago we had one of our North Wales drive outs and I covered over 600 miles in 3 days and felt no worse for wear than if I had just driven to the shops.

 

Get out for a test drive and see if you like it. Certainly dont let money put you off it

 

Oh also, dont be put off by the heavyish steering and clutch. You get used to it in no time and other cars feel light and flimsy afterwards!

[Charlie_W]

Just a quick tip - you can only claim 40p / mile for the first 10k business miles in a year - thereafter it's 25p / mile. So you're talking about £6500 mileage refund each year for 20k miles.

 

Yes, I am a sad accountant

But it pays for my beautiful Zed

[p1tse]

Chris'I, out of curiosity, i see your location is basingstoke, where does your work commute take you of 30 odd miles one way?

 

if you're getting 40p/mile for the 15-20k, it's a amount of cost covered for sure

[adncd]

guess its all personal choice, some companies dont like employees turning up to customer sites in flash cars, might be something you want to check before blowing your money on a zed.

 

with regards to mpg i sit on a motorway, for my drive to work, very little city driving or traffic, the car says im averaging 48 mph and 26.4 mpg, taking into account the run to the shops and a few back roads to friends etc. but on my commute i sit at 90ish the engine isnt working hard and it doesnt hurt the mpg, business parks and roundabout are designed for fun only, and that is where i loose out on the mpg but, i woldnt have bought the car if i was worried about that. motorway driving peole have said they get 30+ mpg which i would say is easily possible, even when not cruising at 60 mph.

 

the only other thing is like the others have said, whether you need the extra seats.

[Pingu2]

28mpg is pretty easy on a motorway!

[Sarnie]

guess its all personal choice, some companies dont like employees turning up to customer sites in flash cars,

 

I used to turn up to see clients in a Lambo

[T8 JPE]

I use mine for work every day. do 55miles a day and get 40 pence a mile. i usually fill up once a week and that does me. I opted out of the company car and get an allowance for not taking it, so this covers my petrol and more.

[T8 JPE]

I use mine for work every day. do 55miles a day and get 40 pence a mile. i usually fill up once a week and that does me. I opted out of the company car and get an allowance for not taking it, so this covers my petrol and more.

[WoREoD]

I use mine for work every day. I've done 70k miles from new (3.25 years). Plus I use it for pleasure (88 laps of the ring so far). Overall mpg is reading 23.3!

[Chris`I]

p1tse: I commute to Slough every day. Mostly down the A33 and M4. Sometimes down the back roads if I get out of work early

 

And as Charlie_W points out, its only upto 40p for the first 10k, thereafter its upto 25p, but you do get the tax break back.

[Murdoch]

350Z ROCKS!!!!

 

On a serious note, I run a company car fleet and all notes on here are very good, however if the vehicle is purchased on PCP scheme etc it is not taxed like an actual company car.

 

10k for first 40p, 25p thereafter... although some companys offer less and you have to prove and claim the additional back yourself from the tax man!

 

I would have to say if it were my call... for the kind of mileage your planning to do etc I would be more inclined to go for a Diesel Merc SLK add a few AMG bits to make it look a bit less haridressery and you have a nice looking motor for similar cudos plus a much improved MPG!

[nurrish]

Im a computer engineer and i use my car for business. I get a car allowance and then i can claim 25p a mile. So whenever i do a long journey my petrol is covered and usually end up making some money too. Only downside is that i'm unable to carry large equipment which could be a sticky point in the future.

 

I use my day to day and everyday i look forward to my journey to and from work!!

 

If your looking to keep your zed for a long time then i'd say go for it....But you should make sure it will fulfill your needs and be suitable as it could end up being a very costly mistake....Fun.... But very costly

[M13KYF]

 

 

as a financial advisor shouldn't it be you advinsing us as whether its worth while.

 

 

 

personally I think it's down to how much worht you put down to the enjoyment of driving

[James Junior]

Wow thanks everyone – great response with some very useful feedback.

 

Marzman - I'm with you on that regarding JDM's and road tax. Of course there is nothing to stop our government changing legislation but at least in the short term it would provide some relief.

 

Had a few JDM's in my time and don't have any problem with them. Bonzai cars once provided me with a comprehensive list of the different JDM specs. Can anyone point me in the right direction? If getting an import I would want it to be the same spec as the UK GT model. Do you have to run them on Shell Optimax etc? Does this also apply to the UK cars? I run my MR2 Turbo on high grade only which of course adds you a further 10% onto your running costs…

 

Chris - yeah I test drove one last summer as I was considering one back then. It was a UK car at a dealer. Great quality interior and general feel, though felt a bit slow compared to the MR2 turbo I had at the time, and I seem to remember visibility being a little restrictive. Was impressed overall though – I was left feeling it was more of a cruiser than an out and out performance car. Will have to go to my local dealer on the weekend to get a decent drive of one again to refresh my memory and check out the average mileage reading on the trip computer.

 

Charlie - thanks for that, I had clean forgotten about the drop to 25p after 10,000 miles! Lets hope after all the fuel price inflation the government upwardly revise the mileage allowances in April as its about time!

 

ADNCD - I see your point but don't think the Z is too flash really. Its not exactly an ostentatious car I don’t think and the badge doesn’t shout ‘pretentious’. I have erred away from some flashier cars such as junior Porkers as I don’t think they give the right image but reckon the Zed would be okay. At the end of the day you can’t please everyone. We have some clients who would feel a bit negatively about an adviser turning up in a flash cars whilst others would expect it and not take your seriously unless you turn up in a decent motor. I don’t think I’ll be slamming the car on 19’s with a Veilside kit though…

 

Murdoch - thats an idea I'd not thought of (I didn't know there was a diesel SLK) but aren't they in the high teens/ low twenties in terms of prices?

 

M13KYF - Naturally i am just doing my homework so I can gather some accurate data to take away and work my magic with... Manufacturer's data and Parkers etc can't tell you as good a story about what a car is really like as enthusiastic owners!

 

Thanks for all your feedback guys.