Stephen

As most of you know I have been deciding between the LS430, Q45 and S500 to replace my LS400 which comes off lease next month. Well, I have reached my decision....none of them. Several months ago my office offered me an expense package that included a $35,000 car. Now, they've never expensed me before, I've always been on my own so I took this package very seriously. I decided that I didnt want to step down into a lesser car so for a while I had decided to just take the allowance they gave me and put it towards the new vehicle. It worked out to be about $600 a month which would cut my payment about in half. In the end, I drove all the cars back to back with my LS400, and decided that I would let my office buy it out of lease and I would drive it for a few more years. The buyout was 42K, but since it has 90,000 miles on it they let it go for about 34 so it was perfect. They pay for gas, insurance, repairs everything so its a really good deal. If I had gotten the S Q or LS they would have given me the monthly allowance but I would have missed out on the gas, insurance and repairs because they wouldnt own the car. My LS still looks and drives like new, so I figured why not.

I figure I'll enjoy the free ride until 2003 then I'll bite the bullet and trade. By 2003 the S is supposed to get a facelift, hopefully the LS430 will also (I still think my 98 is much better looking, hopefully they can change that) and the Q will still be around, also the new 4.0 RL will be out, the new Jaguar XJs, Audi A8, and the new BMW 7 will be around.

Pretty good deal if you ask me.

SQ-LS

OK, so you buy out at 34.
What happens with the extra 1 G left over?
Over all, that is cool your company pays for your car!

Stephen

Yeah I thought that it was pretty cool. I was always offered a company Taurus (passed on that heh) but included in my new promotion package (hence why I havent been around much) was a $35K car of my choice. They've never done it before and I really want to take advantage of it, if only for a few years until I trade again.

JBrady

Sounds like the smart move. In 2003 maybe you can get a 400hp Lexus

SQ-LS

As you can see John is addicted to HP!

Stephen

Thankya!

SWEETSOUND2001

may i ask what field of work are you in?

Stephen

Commercial Printing Paper sales.

zushwa

Stephen, you don't sell paper for the old Heidleberg's (sp) do you???

Stephen

Nope lol

New Owner

Not to rain on your parade, but beware of the tax liability/impact for "commuting and personal use" of an employer-furnished vehicle. Since they bought it and are now taking over full maintenance and operating expenses, all personal use or commuting use of the car now becomes reportable as income to you.

The "free ride" is not exactly free.

The least painful way to cover this would be for your employer to impute this value into your gross and then deduct income taxes figured on the total gross.

You can escape the "commuting use" tax liability only if you drive directly to your customer(s) from home. If you go by the office first, that trip qualifies as "commuting use" and is taxable. If you stop by the office at the end of the day before going home, the trip home counts as "commuting use" as well.

Also make certain that you have your employer's explicit permission to use the car for personal reasons outside of work if you're intent on doing so. That agreement needs to be in writing. That agreement also needs to clearly spell out who may drive it. (i.e., spouse/family). I merely mention this because it is extremely unusual for an employer to allow personal use of a company owned car unless you are an officer of the corporation.

Make sure you understand the full implication of them owning the car and furnishing it back to you versus you owning it and being reimbursed your business mileage and operating costs. There's a big difference and the IRS hearing examiner will be happy to explain it to you during your audit.

Stephen

Oh dont worry, all of the kinks have been worked out fully. As with every such move I had my lawyer look it over and advise me. I am an officer in the company so use of the vehicle is not an issue. I have this fully in writing stating that the vehicle is for my business and personal use, and the usage of my family. They work the value into my income as well.

Thanks for the tips though.

JBrady

The IRS makes me VOMIT :eek:

Sorry to be graphic but that entity is the scourge of Freedom

Rep **** Armey from Texas and the former Rep Bill Archer from Texas are 2 of a growing number that wants to neuter or eliminate the US Gestapo...

LexRX

Stephen, good move. The 98 LS does look great and the RL will get a V8. I am excited to see what it will look like. I have seen one picture of the front and it looks awesome. Haven't heard much else from it. I think it was supposed to come out as an '02 model but was delayed a year.

Stephen

Mine's in perfect shape inside and out, my son takes great care of it for me. In reward he gets to tool around in the ol' man's car whenever he wants. Hit a rock the other day that cracked the windshield pretty bad, so gotta get that fixed this week. These photos were taken right after he got done Zaino'ing and detailing it.